Let us take a short moment to reflect one of the basic questions as Catholics
Why God made me?
God made us to know Him, love Him, serve Him, and be happy with Him forever in heaven.
We do not do what we want to do but what we do not want to do (Romans 7:15). We have the desire to do what is good, but we cannot carry it out and we tend to do the evil thing.
So, how then God help us overcome our weakness so we reach our final destination?
- Teach us by means of His law – He gives us understanding about things that we should or we should not do from His commandments and teachings
- God helps us by His grace – He sends us His Holy Spirit to guide us and to lead us to the Godly direction
Right, so now we are entering the gift of the Holy Spirit itself. There are two types of gifts: extraordinary/charismatic gift (1 Corinthians 12:8-10) and also ordinary gift. For this discussion, we will only learn about the ordinary gift.
Ordinary gift of the Holy Spirit begins through baptism. After we emerge from the water, the original sin is washed away and Holy Spirit is poured out for us. We then received the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Boat and Sail
But, is that it? Imagine a boat with its sail. The boat is us, the wind is the Holy Spirit, and the sail is the gift. We cannot control the wind, only the sail. In order for the boat to move, it needs to be open, maintained in good condition, and allow the wind to blow it and the boat moves along the direction of the wind. If the sail is shut or torn, then the boat will struggle to reach its destination. Therefore, the gift of Holy needs to be exercised and practiced through our daily life.
Fear of the Lord – Not merely fear of making a sin because we fear of punishment, but because we love God so much. This is a fear that comes from love. This gift helps us to understand God as our father and make us realize of our weakness.
Fortitude/Courage – Gives us necessary strength to overcome obstacles and remain strong and faithful. We can practice this by being patient in suffering and offering it to God, persevering in our daily work, and stay focus on God
Piety – helps us to trust God as our father, helps us to forgive others when it is hard, helps us to trust that God will bring out something good for us
Counsel – Holy Spirit is our best teacher. He helps us to judge promptly, he helps us decide on the right decision in our life. Never make a decision before counselling in the presence of God and ask the Holy Spirit
Knowledge, Understanding, Wisdom – Knowledge helps us to understand ourselves and the world better. It helps us to see creation as God wants us to see it. It directs us to use them in the right way. Gift of understanding helps us penetrate deeper of who God is. Gift of wisdom makes us able to see everything in the eye of God. We have a sense of what God is thinking about a particular situation.
Conclusion
Each one of us when we are baptized, everyone received the gift of the Holy Spirit to utilize to help us to go to Heaven. We need to always stay close to God at all times and exercise the Spirit throughout our daily life.
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