Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption by Deacon Jerry Franzen
Isaiah 62:1-5
I Corinthians 12:4-11 John:1-12
Praised be Jesus Christ Good Morning!
Abraham Lincoln once
apologized to an acquaintance.
He said, “I am sorry that I
wrote such a long letter to you.
I didn’t have time to write
a short one.”
I have been working on
giving shorter homilies.
So, if you find this homily
is too long, I apologize;
I didn’t have time to write a shorter one.
Usually we cite the gifts of
the Holy Spirit, which we receive at
Baptism
as wisdom, understanding,
knowledge, counsel, fortitude,
piety
and fear of the Lord.
These are found in chapter
11 of the book of the prophet Isaiah.
They are for our own
internal spirituality, our relationship to God,
for us to use for our own salvation.
In the second reading from the 12th
chapter of St. Paul’s first letter
to the Corinthians we just heard another list of spiritual
gifts,
gifts again distributed
by the Holy Spirit.
They are: the expression of wisdom, the
expression of knowledge,
faith, healing, mighty deeds, prophecy, discernment of
spirits,
a variety of tongues and interpretation of tongues.
One might replace the word “tongues”
with “forms of prayer.”
Elsewhere, St. Paul refers
to praying in tongues.
These gifts certainly will
be supported by those received at Baptism;
but there is a distinction.
This second list states these gifts are to be used for the benefit of all.
These are the gifts that we
are to use as our part of the Body of Christ,
which St. Paul lays out very clearly in very next part of
this same chapter in this letter to the
Corinthians.
You will hear that part of
this chapter next week.
We may not receive all of
these gifts to the same degree;
Paul told the Corinthians that the gifts are distributed
individually.
It is very clear from the
later part of this chapter,
that the distribution of these gifts by the Holy Spirit is determined
by what is needed within the Body of Christ.
Notice in this list we have
the expression of wisdom and
the expression of knowledge, not just wisdom and knowledge.
These are the gifts by which we express
our wisdom
and express knowledge for all within the Body of
Christ.
Each of these gifts is to be
used to build up the Body of Christ.
How would this description
of gifts distributed through out
the Corinthian community compare
to the perception
of this list by Catholics of today?
All too many Catholics seem
to feel that
they have
nothing to offer the Christian community.
They still believe that our
part in the work of redemption
has been farmed out to a small group of the ordained.
They see themselves, not as
mediators of God’s grace and salvation,
but only as passive recipients of God’s grace and salvation.
This view can spell the
death of true Christian spirituality,
for it is
destructive of the Christian community.
The manifestation of the
Spirit is given to each for the common good.
I have touched on three
points:
1) God’s gifts
are given to each of us.
2) These gifts
stem from the Holy Spirit.
3) They are
given for the good of all.
I
The first point: God gives
His gifts
to EACH Christian, not just to a select few like the
saints,
the pope, the bishops, and the local clergy,
but to each of His
adopted daughters and sons.
They equip us to deal with
our own life experiences
in the community of followers of Christ.
Father or mother, child or
parent, student or teacher,
lawyer or
doctor, business person or government worker,
white collar or blue, robust or infirm,
whoever you
are, you are equipped with those very gifts
in a unique way to carry out a specific
vocation.
The Christian doctor can
become a conduit for the healing of Christ,
empowered with gifts that make for a healing beyond the
physical.
The Christian lawyer rises
above the level
of a clever
counselor seeking justice to a person
whose love for the law is invigorated
by the law of love.
The Christian student no
longer just seeks knowledge and understanding, but sees in them the manifestation of God himself.
YOU, as recipients of these
gifts from God, can expect a deeper insight
into the human
mysteries that mystify you.
YOU should experience a
greater delight in the things of God,
in the people
of God and in God himself.
Point number 1 – we have
each received spiritual gifts from God.
II
The second point is: This
“new you” stems from the Holy Spirit.
We need periodic reminders
of that,
because there are two common extreme errors at large in the world.
The first extreme is the
incurable optimist that is convinced
that he can pull himself up to salvation by his bootstraps.
No concern for original sin,
no need to be reborn.
By his free will, he can
lead himself to salvation;
maybe an occasional nudge
from God might be needed.
That's hogwash!
We reach God, not by our own
efforts, but by God’s gracious mercy.
And we can work out our own
specific Christian calling
only if the Spirit is living and active within us.
To do freely what we ought
to do, our part in God’s plan,
we need the
freedom of the gifts which flow from the Spirit.
Without them we are lost.
The other type of extreme
is one of pessimism:
Oh, I’m homely with acne,
I’m too shy or insecure; I stutter.
I can’t sing or dance; I’m not particularly smart;
I’m not experienced in the
ways of the world;
I am not a theologian; I
don’t even like myself.
Don’t tell me that God has
given me special gifts.
That's baloney!
These gifts are not gifts
from Ebay, Target or Macy’s;
they are gifts of the Holy Spirit,
the Spirit that Jesus said that the Father would
send.
It might help if you have a
great personality and are a “ten,”
in some people’s eyes,
but the Spirit works through you AS YOU ARE.
You will find that you are
more proficient in one or more gifts.
Bishop Sam Jacobs says that
he didn’t know he had the gift of tongues until he tried to develop that gift.
The Spirit illumines your
mind to know the way you should go,
AND fortifies your will to go that way
despite obstacles on the outside
and weaknesses from within.
Second point – your gifts
are designed for you by the Holy Spirit.
III
And thirdly, these gifts are
given to you for others.
Yes, gifts from God should
do something for YOU personally,
as faith, hope and love increase our intimacy with Christ,
but these
gifts mentioned by St. Paul are those
given to you for others.
With these gifts we are to
look beyond ourselves
to our lives with others, to the community, to our call to minister,
to serve others.
We cannot be closet
Christians; no Christian is an island.
Wherever you have been
called: home, campus, workplace, parish
wherever that
is, others are there.
The Holy Spirit makes you
what you are
to help your community to become what it ought to be.
That can be no truer than in the case of abortion and other life
issues.
How can each of us make use
of the gifts we have been given
to change the
character of our country to what it should be?
The March for Life is over,
but the scourge of abortion is not.
How can we each do our part?
Through the Holy Spirit we
can share the knowledge and wisdom
that can help others to understand that abortion is
immoral.
Like the prophets, we can
spread God’s word about the sanctity of life.
We can help others discern the evil spirits that fortify the false
but convenient
view that abortion is a right.
We can pray in a variety of
forms for an end to abortion.
We can volunteer to help in
the healing of those victimized by abortion.
Each of you can speak out in
your own way using your gifts.
That could be in assisting
adoption agencies and
encouraging mothers of unplanned pregnancies to consider
adoption.
That could also be in volunteering
in agencies
that assist mothers of unplanned pregnancies
to care for their new-born children.
We must do all of this in
the faith that God will fashion an end
to this
horrible situation that plagues our nation.
Take joy in the gifts
implanted in you by the Holy Spirit, AND
joy in the fact that your gifts can touch others, even the
unborn.
You can use these gifts to
make another’s life more endurable,
And to make your life and that of another more Christian.
You may even surprise
yourself and others with that joy.
