everythingcatholic

November 25, 2008

My Dear Friends in Christ,

I am the way the truth and the life.  Jn 14:5

In the time of gift giving again I am going to focus on the gifts from our Lord.  Many Catholics forget about the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Yesterday we talked about justification.  According to Kenneth Baker in Fundamentals of Catholicism, justification is the process by which a person, through faith in Jesus Christ and sorrow for his sins, receives sanctifying grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit.  This gift of sanctifying grace is accompanied by the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are:  wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, piety and fear of the Lord.  (Is 11:2-3)  Again in John 14-16 our Lord states that the Holy Spirit exist in the just.

In my life this would explain why I have made such terrible decisions in my life for the lack of the Holy Spirit.  Two marriages later I realize my mistake.  What these gifts allow one to do is to remain holy.  This would explain why people say that once you embrace the Lord’s path, that it does become a bit easier to not sin.  I understand this, although far from being Holy, I can relate to the impulse to sin.  I am a sinner and knowing that these gifts exist can be very soothing, knowing that the Lord cares about us enough to give us some relief from pangs of whatever sin pounds at our soul.  As a sinner I know that sin can sit with you like hunger.  When I embraced the Lord, those hunger pangs disappeared.  I can truly attest to that.  Is this the Holy Spirit?  Perhaps, I believe it is.  The trick is to keep your soul clean. 

Unlike some protestant faiths, Catholics believe that we can lose these gifts.  This makes sense to me.  I have had times in my life that I know the Lord was absent, not in the sense he was totally gone but I was definitely lacking the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  I can not speak for others but only from my own heart and truly living with out the Holy Spirit is like living in Hell.  It is Hell on Earth.  I went through a long time in my life where I felt God was not important.  Sure I went to Church but I went to fill a seat. I even taught religious education classes and confirmation classes. Sinning was easy and the gifts were not there.  It is a time that I want to forget.  It is a time I cried out for help.  It is a time that I am finally recovering from in my life.  I have taken back the Lord.  Although I am spending Christmas by myself this year, I am not truly alone.  I have the Lord who is filling my life with Joy.  I am happy for the first time in a long time.  It is funny many people ask me, “How can you be happy when you are alone?”  I never thought I would say this, but I am happy for I am blessed to have and know the Lord.

I pray that we are all filled with the grace of the Lord and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  What a great gift for the season.  Give it to a friend.  Join our Cause, and let us clean up the internet. Email me, at vernpaul@catholicamericatoday.net

Vern Paul

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