By Nicholas Soellner
Connecting Faith and Life
When I was growing up, my grandfather used to crack a frequent joke. He’d put a hand on my shoulder and say, “This one needs to come with a sign that says: Stand back! We don’t know how big this thing’s gonna get!” I’m a pretty tall guy. My five children seem to be on a similar track so far, and so over the last year, my wife and I have been hunting for a bigger house. As many of you have probably seen, the market hasn’t been the most friendly, and it’s been easy to get discouraged. Why couldn’t we have been in a position to upgrade when the rates were near 2 percent a few years ago? The struggle against envy has been real.
It’s not a new struggle either. When I first had my reversion back in 2005, I read about the miraculous healings performed in the New Testament by the Apostles and desired so badly to have such a gift bestowed on me. Who wouldn’t want to work miracles by the help of the Spirit!? But these types of gifts are far from guaranteed to all Christians. Let me explain. Through the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to all the faithful. To varying degrees, according to God’s wisdom and the needs of the community, we receive Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety and Fear of the Lord. Beyond these, there are times when the needs of the Church give rise to particular outpourings of the Holy Spirit. As St. Pope John Paul II wrote in his Apostolic Exhortation, “Christifideles Laici,” “There is only one Spirit who, according to his own richness and the necessities of service, distributes his different gifts for the welfare of the Church (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11)”.
As we see detailed in the New Testament letters, in addition to gifts of healing, the Holy Spirit may grant the charisms of the utterance of wisdom, the utterance of knowledge, faith, the working of miracles, prophecy, the ability to distinguish between spirits, various kinds of speaking in tongues, and interpretation of tongues (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:7-10). Later in the same letter, Paul gives some guidelines for how these gifts are to be used: “tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers. If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds?” (1 Corinthians 14: 22-23) Paul continues, pointing out that prophecy would reveal the hearts of nonbelievers, compelling them to believe, just as the woman at the well did with Jesus, as she “went away into town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?’” (John 4:28-29).
In his first letter, Peter echoes similar instruction, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies — in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 4:10-11) Notice here how Peter places the gift of prophecy and the gift of strength in the same sentence. Whether we interpret the strength here as physical muscle or mental endurance, these gifts are both made manifest through our bodies.
There’s a temptation to overemphasize the spiritual when we ponder that which comes from God. We must always remember that God’s grace builds upon nature. God has created each of us with psychological, emotional and physical traits that are called to be put to the service of his people and the mission of the Church. This perspective also helps handle the temptation toward envying those who have physical or spiritual gifts we desire. To be good stewards of God’s varied grace, we must be grateful for the grace we have received and shrewd enough to put it to good use. Which helps assure me that my house is big enough … for now.