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Today we celebrate Pentecost Sunday – the day considered to be the Church’s birthday. The readings focus on the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, sent by the Father to empower believers to be witnesses of Christ. The focus is on the Holy Spirit’s presence and guidance in the lives of the apostles and, by extension, in the lives of all Christians. People from different nations were able to hear the apostles speaking in their own language. The Holy Spirit enabled a sense of unity in diversity, uniting people despite their differences. In his writings Paul teaches that living according to the Spirit leads to life. The Spirit gives us strength to overcome sin and live righteously; gives us courage and wisdom to help us overcome our fears and live as witnesses of God’s love.

In traditional Catholic teaching we are told that the Holy Spirit has given us seven special gifts: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety and Fear of the Lord. As a child I was told that these gifts are given to help us live out our faith and serve others. I taught in the Catholic school system in Ontario before I moved here and I remember trying to explain what each of these gifts might mean. In as simple a way as I could I relayed what I thought each gift meant. These are my interpretations:

WISDOM: It is not the quoting of facts. Wisdom is a gift that allows us to understand things, allows us to recognize truth and turn our hearts to the ways of God. It corresponds to the virtue of courage.

UNDERSTANDING: People sometimes have a hard time understanding ( no pun intended), how it differs from Wisdom. Understanding allows us to grasp, at least in a limited way, truths of our faith; a perceptive intuition which illuminates the mind, much like having faith does.

COUNSEL: Counsel enables us to judge promptly and rightly in the best way we can. It is the care and good sense that someone shows when making a decision or taking actions. It is the ability to control and discipline ourselves by the use of reason.

FORTITUDE: Fortitude is the gift of courage, to no longer be afraid to stand up for what is right and good. Those who have this gift are convicted to take a stand when the occasion rises.

KNOWLEDGE: The gift of Knowledge allows us to understand the meaning and purpose God has for us, to see the world more clearly from God’s perspective. It is an action to live up to the ways of the Lord, a knowing that we should act as God wants us to, to live out our faith.

PIETY: Piety involves the willingness to worship and to serve God out of love, the way children desire to honour their parents and do what they wish. Relying on God like this brings humility, trust and love.

FEAR OF THE LORD: Fear of the Lord is not the fear that God is vengeful, someone to be afraid of. With this gift we understand the greatness and awesomeness of God. It is an awareness of the glory and majesty of God while understanding who we are and why we are here in relationship to God who holds us in wonder, love and grace. It could correspond to the virtue of hope.

The world we live in today seems to have forgotten what the Holy Spirit has given to us. We can’t see the ‘ tongues of fire ‘ over us. The Holy Spirit isn’t above us, isn’t beyond us; it is within us like the very air we breathe. Richard Rohr once wrote ” Isn’t it amazing that air, the thing that’s most essential, necessary to life, most invisible to most people is the one thing that’s everywhere all the time and free? The Holy Spirit likewise has been given to us freely.” Maybe we should all take in a big breath to try to keep our footing during difficult times and trust that, by using our own talents, we can survive guided by the Holy Spirit.

Richard Houwing, a deacon wrote this: ” On Pentecost Day the apostles spoke a new language. What was this new language? 

It was the language of peace rather than of war;
the language of cooperation rather than of competition;
the language of forgiveness rather than of vengeance;
the language of hope rather than of despair;
the language of tolerance rather than of bigotry;
the language of friendship rather than of hostility;
the language of unity rather than of division;
the language of love rather than of hate. “

Let us pray to the Holy Spirit that He will remain with us and guide our lives and actions as we celebrate on this Pentecost Sunday.

~Cathy  Keirstead