My brother, Fr. Isidore Clarke, O.P., and I have decided to do a series of mini meditations on the 7 Gifts of the  Holy Spirit. Later we shall Touch on the Fruits  of the Holy Spirit.       This project is entitled:

                       THE SPIRIT IS BLOWING!

                                                                                                     

                                                                                 

                                        

                                                                      

                                                                                 

PROLOGUE 1

I shall never forget that glorious day when  we  were  standing  on the deck of a schooner   sailing  between the islands  of Grenada and  Carriacou.  There, at the foot of the mast, we gazed up at the sails embracing the strong breeze that enabled   our boat to carve  its way through the waves towards our destination.

St John tells us that “the wind blows where it pleases,” and that “so it is with everyone that is born of the Spirit,” (Jn. 3.8).  It has been suggested that the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit may be compared to the sails of a boat  awaiting the breeze that would be its driving force.

In this scenario we can see ourselves as being like the crew of the schooner with the choice of hoisting the sails  so that  their boat might  be enthusiastically on the move  or of  leaving them furled on deck with their tethered  boat  rocking  gently in  port. The obvious parallel is you and I being content to be laid-back, lack-lustre Christians or  ones  eager to be empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Our  Heavenly  Father wants us to be activated by the Gifts of  the Holy Spirit which we received at our Baptism. It was then that  we became  Temples of the Holy Spirit – dynamic people who would lead lives that gave great  glory to God.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: “By the Sacrament of Confirmation the baptized are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength  of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed,” (1285).

The Catechism also tells us:

“The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They belong in their fullness to Christ, Son of David. They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations,” (1831).

More about these Gifts next week in Prologue 11

Peter Clarke O.P.