God gives us many gifts and we are called to be good stewards of those gifts.
Topics Covered:
Gifts in Scripture-
We learn about God through Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. We can look to Sacred Scripture to discern what God wants us to know about the gifts He has given us.
Look up the following scripture verses and reflect what God is trying to tell us about our gifts.
Romans 12:3-8
1 Peter 4:10-11
1 Corinthians 12:7-11
1 Corinthians 12:28-31
1 Corinthians 13:1-3
A few main points to notice from the scripture verses are:
Everyone has a gift but no one is to think their figt is better than other's.
Everyone has at least one Spiritual Gift and believers are to use their gifts to glorify God.
We cannot choose our gifts; God does that job
No one has all the gifts
Gifts used without love do not accomplish God's intended purposes.
Gifts of the Holy Spirit-
The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, A spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD, and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD. Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide,
Isaiah 11:2-3 reveals the gifts that we recieve from the Holy Spirit.
These are the gifts the Holy Spirit gave us at our Baptism. They are freely given to us to help us live as followers of Jesus and build up the Body of Christ...the Church. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit are sealed and strengthened within us at Confirmation. These are the gifts God has given us to keep. They are part of our inner transformation to be more Christ-like.
Reflect of the meaning of each gift and which gift is the strongest within you and which gift needs the most strengthening.
1. Wisdom helps us to see the world through God’s perspective – not our own. 2. Understanding is the ability to comprehend the meaning of God's message. 3. Knowledge is the ability to think about and explore God's revelation, and also to recognize there are mysteries of faith beyond us. 4. Counsel or Right Judgement is the ability to see the best way to follow God's plan when we have choices that relate to him. 5. Fortitude or Courage is doing what one knows is right. 6. Piety helps us pray to God in true devotion and to recognize what is holy and sacred. 7. Fear of the Lord is the feeling of amazement before God.
Here is a way to pray for the strengthing of the gifts of the Holy Spirit...Prayer to the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit gives other spiritual gifts. We may recieve one or more of these gifts and they stay with us for a long time, if not forever. They may be extraordinary or simple gifts but they are always for the benefit of the church. While the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are meant for us to keep within us, these spiritual gifts are meant for us to share.
Take the Charisms Quiz to determine which is your strongest gift...Charisms Quiz
For definitions, characteristics, and saints who also had the charism...Charism Discriptions Read and reflect on the definition and characteristics of the charism that is the strongest in you. Do you see those characteristics in yourself? How can you use your charism to give back? What can you learn from the saints who share your charism?
Stewardship-
All of our gifts are meant to be shared. At Resurrection, we are blessed because we have Bishop Bob. He is known around the world for his writings and teachings on stewardship. Here are two quotes from him:
“I have a dream that I die and the Lord says, ‘Morneau, you were an eight-cylinder car and you only used two cylinders.’”
“The core of stewardship is gratitude – a gratitude that overflows into giving as a way of thankfulness for all that God has given us.”
What can you take away from these quotes?
Reflection Questions What is your charism? Do you feel it is accurate? Do you believe you’re already using your spiritual gifts? How so?
For January 4
•Sponsor Name Due •Parents or Sponsors should come •Sacraments and Liturgy •Well Built Faith: pages 49-62, 67-69, 75-80