We are getting there, 5 gifts down, 2 more to go! The great feast of Pentecost is only a few days away now! It is time to really get excited, to pray more fervently than ever for the gifts of the Holy Spirit, that they may come down on the people of God like never before, and put us on fire like never before for the Gospel!
These last three gifts (understanding, knowledge, and wisdom), as I stated last time, sound similar, but are distinct. We discussed understanding in the last post. Tonight, we will discuss the gift of knowledge. Here is my definition of knowledge that I gave in my summary several posts back.
The gift of knowledge is a result of the gift of wisdom. Whereas wisdom allows us to desire the things of God, and therefore see the world and our life in it accordingly, knowledge is our actual seeing of those aforementioned things.
As I said before, we are not going in the order we originally listed them. Since wisdom is the highest gift, we are ending with it, not starting with it, even though it is traditionally known as the 1st Gift of the Spirit. Therefore, that definition I just gave may not make much sense, since we have not discussed wisdom yet. Let's just say for now that wisdom deals directly with God, especially as the cause of all things, whereas knowledge deals with the created things of God. (Again, we will discuss wisdom more in the next post.)
This gift of knowledge has many profound effects. Now, as you read these, some of these may seem like sad things, and after reading this, you may not think this gift will make you happy. Indeed, some of the things this gift enlightens us to can, and perhaps should, trouble us. However, this gift also gives us the peace and consolation that comes with all the gifts of the Spirit. We who are graced to receive it will know true peace and joy, true happiness.
Here are the effects:
1) It helps us see created things as God sees them. It teaches us how to use them in a holy way. For example, we come to know how and when and when not to use our sexual faculties. We see that our end cannot be created things alone. We see there is another life, that this one is a "valley of tears".
2) It engenders a sense of sorrow for when we were wrong about things. We see our defects and the defects of mundane things in general.
3) It enlightens us to the state of our souls. It enables to know quickly and rightly where we are in the spiritual life, and what we need to do for our sanctification, and for that of others.
4) Often suffering accompanies this gift because we see how difficult things truly are (for example, the reality that many souls may be in jeopardy because of how bad things are in the Church with poor attendance and poor catechesis). True reality is seen and felt in all its splendor, and in its depths of misery, as well.
5) It helps us to discern when someone or something is saying or doing, or not saying or doing, something in harmony with the Faith. It helps us overcome those challenging the Faith, and gives us what we need to effectively share it with others.
6) It allows us to discern the best way to interact with our neighbor so it leads us both to eternal life.
This gift is connected with the Beatitude "Blessed are those who mourn." Matthew 5:4. I think we can see why when we consider the effects of the gift as summarized above. Those who are in tune with reality know that they must lament their sins, their state in life, as well as the state of the world, so as to truly acknowledge reality, and turn to God for meaning, purpose, strength, and guidance.
To dispose us to receive this gift, we can:
1) As for all the gifts, practice prayer, recollection, and mortification.
2) Consider the vanity of created things.
3) Refer all created things to God.
4) Oppose the spirit of the world.
5) See the hand of God in the government of the world and our lives.
6) Cultivate simplicity of heart, so we desire God, and not the things of the world.
So far, the gifts of the Spirit have led us to acknowledge our place in the order of things (fear of the Lord), garner strength to begin and persevere in our journey to God (fortitude) , gain a healthy respect, love and devotion to God and others (piety), receive and give insight from God and others on our journey to God (counsel), understand the Faith he has gifted us with (understanding), and see his hand in the created world (knowledge).
Now, in the next post, we will discover the greatest gift, wisdom, which points us more directly to the mystery of God himself than any of the other gifts have.
Joseph, solace of the wretched, pray for us.
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