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Charism Of Revelation
By Pat Kennedy |
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From the beginning the Spirit hovered over all that was created and in our present day, through our Baptism and Confirmation, the Spirit hovers over all of us and invites us to be part of that ongoing creation. “You are a letter from Christ written , not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God; not on stone tablets, but on the tablets of human hearts.” 2 Cor 3; 3 We are all born with the richness of the Holy Spirit. Baptism graces us to grow to maturity in the Christian Life. The Holy Spirit, which was there at the beginning of creation, continues to work in the world bringing it to fruition and the fullness of the promise. Jesus was led by the Spirit to the fulfilment of his life, death and resurrection and so it is with each of us. Confirmation graces us to move into an adult mature state. The gifts and graces we receive mature according to our psychological development. The Spirit works with each person as they are and as they are willing, capable and able to respond.
As a mature person we have responsibilities and duties. The Spirit draws us into the mystery of Christ and our responsibility is to come to know Him more and our duty is to reveal Him to others through our own lives and behaviour. A child in its life mostly receives in order to grow and mature; but the mature Christian adult begins to give back, to serve and to appreciate the need of community. Do I? - According
to Methodius of Olympus, later Bishop of Tyre, who was a theologian
and martyr; “ Every Christian whose faith is adult, assumes the
role of the Church as a mother of the human race, one who dispenses
salvation in the name of Christ”
THE WORD OF KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM ( 1 Cor 12) These are insights into the past, present or future which we did not know before and could not have read or known. These can bring us to the root of a problem, not as yet disclosed by the person or people we are ministering to. In John 4;18 Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman of things he could not have known about her. In verses 48-49 he tells Nathaniel that he saw him under the fig tree. There have been many instances when I have been praying with people when a picture or a word, sometimes from scripture, has come into my mind. When I have shared these with the person concerned, they have often turned out to be the very areas which were the nub of the problem, and which have greatly helped advance the healing process. These words can also be used to highlight healing which is taking place in those seated and who perhaps, as yet, have not come forward or sought healing. Words of Wisdom guide us to live our life in the best way we can. They direct us in the right path and give us insight into the mind of God for us at a particular time in a given situation. They can broaden the Word of Knowledge and guide us into grace-filled action. DISCERNMENT, WISDOM AND PRUDENCE I have already shared on the gift of discernment of Spirits. Ignatian spirituality helps us in this to look at our moods and feelings and examine what is affecting us and helping us or hindering us from moving forward. Part of this also includes growing in self knowledge and being aware of how I react and behave in relation to what is going on around me. The spirits I am discerning are usually my own spirits, not spirits coming from outside. These can be such things spirits of fear, selfishness, timidity, non-belief in self , blaming others (whether alive or dead) for the position in which I find myself, etc. All this manifests itself in attitudes which prevent me from coming to mature ownership of my own life and actions. Mature discernment works hand in hand with Wisdom and Prudence. I mentioned this in the last teaching. Wisdom enlightens us as to the mind of God and the Cardinal Virtue of Prudence graces me to choose correctly and wisely. This can be simplified to the fact that Wisdom allows me to say yes to God while Prudence allows me to say no to myself. Discernment then enables me to work out the best way of doing this - which part of it relates to me, my life etc. Jesus in all this should be my model. Wisdom enables me to recognise what His mission really was, and my place in it. It’s about using my gifts and discerning my life in order to take adult responsibility for myself. Discernment is prayer meeting action; consequently if I am not praying or reflecting on my life and my prayer, nothing will happen. Using the Word of God as a guideline in discernment as mentioned before is invaluable. DISCERNMENT STEPS
If I am not practising this gift in my own life I cannot help others to do the same. Some people have this as a major charism, but we all need discernment in our lives and therefore we all need to practice it. We can constantly ask others for advice or we can try to discern for ourselves, and then ask a wise person if we have come to the right decision. This way we will gain confidence in using and discerning the gift for ourselves. Advice for all is always a good thing to have. Next Time we will look at the gifts of Power & Service and perhaps why with all of these gifts available to us in the Church and in Charismatic Renewal we never seem to move mountains.
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The
Holy Spirit is divine revelation but the Spirit does not exist to reveal
himself. The Spirit is, at it were, the voice speaking which gives life
and meaning to the Word. He is not the Word but the one through whom
the Word is transmitted and revealed. “He will not be speaking
of his own accord, but only what has been told..he will glorify me,
since all he reveals to you will be taken from mine.” Jn 16;
13-15