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Pentecost: The Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit
In the Jewish faith, Pentecost was celebrated fifty days after Passover to observe the gift of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. We listened to the first reading from the second chapter of Acts of the Apostles, which describes how the Christian disciples were in Jerusalem to celebrate this feast. They left the upper room where they were hiding in fear for ten days, nine nights (the first novena). They preached the good news in the power of the Holy Spirit, and therefore we celebrate this day as the birthday of the Church.
We have received a rich spirituality from this faith passed onto us from the Apostles. The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are: wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge, piety (at Latin word for loyalty), and fear of the Lord. The three theological virtues are: faith, hope, and love. The four Cardinal virtues are: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. How often do you hear those words???
The twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit are: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity. How often are those last three virtues ridiculed in movies, literature, and music???
Let us not forget the seven Corporal Works of Mercy and the seven Spiritual Works of Mercy. What a rich spiritual Catholic spirituality given to us!
Can we clearly hear the message? Every time we sing "Come Holy Ghost" it makes me think of the story of a young girl who grew up in a small town near a cemetery. Her parents never took her to church, but often she heard ministers preside at burials. As she grew older she decided to have a formal funeral for her teddy bear. She dug the grave and as she lowered the teddy bear into the ground she solemnly said the words she thought she had heard so often, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and in the hole you goes." Are we hearing?
What’s the point? Moral superiority is not the goal of these Catholic virtues. Rather, the goal of virtue is to actually live in this world as Jesus would live; indeed, to be His presence in our time and our place. The goal of virtue is to be the kind of people who do not forget those who live in incredible poverty in places like Indonesia where they experienced a horrible earthquake. The goal is to be the kind of people who, by cultivating the virtues, try to resist the many forms of self-indulgence the dominant popular culture encourages in a thousand seductive ways.
The goal of the Catholic virtues is to become more and more deeply human by becoming more and more authentically disciples of Jesus, the risen Lord. The more deeply human and Christian we become, the more authentically we will live in a culture of self-indulgence. We will not condemn; rather, we will follow the direction of Jesus when He said that His followers live in the world but not of the world. That is, they will live according to values and standards that are different from those cherished by the world. This is the goal of the Catholic virtues.(1)
When I talk to young men about being a priest I have to express what poverty, chastity, and obedience mean to me. Those are the three primary virtues of a priest. They will respond, “That is too hard. I think I will get married instead!” What fantasies they must have about life. The one vocation mirrors the other. No wonder Satan has to attack it! What is the spirit of poverty in marriage? The couple drops from their speech and their thoughts the possessive pronouns “mine” or “my.” Look how much parents sacrifice for their children! What is the spirit of chastity? They forsake the affections of all others for the spouse. How often do spouses experience time of deep chastity in marriage? What is the spirit of obedience? I once heard a wife say to her husband, “Yes dear you are the head of the family, but think of me as the neck.”
I cannot give you sure-fire ways to know that we are being authentically virtuous. There is the desire to follow Jesus, to love God without our whole self, to be persons of joy and compassion. This is a lifelong project! When we take our last breath and move through the veil that divides us from eternity, only then will we be able to abandon the effort to be a more virtuous person. Until then we can make the prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola our prayer.(2)
Dear Lord, teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve You as You deserve;
To give and not to count the cost;
To fight and not to heed the wounds;
To toil and not to seek for reward,
Save that of knowing that I do Your will, Oh God.
1. "The Catholic Virtues: Seven Pillars of a Good Life," by Mitch Finley. Liguori Publications, 1999. Page 115.
2. Ibid. Page 116