Ave Maria Meditations
Fr. Francis Fernandez writes about the seven gifts
and their influence in the Christian life:
“But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me.” Our Lord announces this news in the Gospel, and the liturgy of the Church invites us, in various ways, to get our souls ready for the action of the Holy Spirit.
A resolute battle against every deliberate venial sin prepares us to receive the light and the protection of the Parac1ete, by means of his gifts. The light which is bestowed on our intellect makes us know and understand the things of God; the assistance to our will permits us to use successfully the opportunities for doing good which we encounter every day, and to reject the temptations of everything that would separate us from God.
The gift of understanding shows us the riches of the Faith with greater clarity. The gift of knowledge enables us to judge created things in an upright manner, and to keep our heart fixed on God, and on things insofar as they lead us to him. The gift wisdom enables us to comprehend the unfathomable wonder of God, and it urges us to seek him in preference to all other things, amid our ordinary work and obligations. The gift of counsel points out the paths of holiness to us.- God’s will Will in our ordinary daily life– and encourages us to choose the option which most closely coincides with the glory of God, and the good of our fellow man.
The gift of piety inclines us to treat God with the intimacy with which a child treats his father. The gift of fortitude uplifts us continually, helping us to overcome the difficulties which we inevitably meet on our journey to God. The gift of fear induces us to flee the occasions of sin, resist temptation and avoid every evil which could sadden the Holy Spirit, and to fear above all the loss of the One whom we love, and who is the reason of being of our life.
These are days to prepare for the celebration of the solemn sending out of the Holy Spirit on the Church, represented by the Apostles gathered in the Cenacle, along with Mary the Mother of God. We pray constantly that we may be docile to the work of the Holy Spirit in our soul, and that he may not cease to move and inspire the people of these times in which we live, who are particularly hungry for the Spirit, and so much need his protection and his help.
We tell him:
Come, 0 Holy Spirit, come,
And from thy celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!
Come, thou Father of the poor,
Come, thou source of all our store,
Come, within our bosoms shine!
Thou on those who ever more
Thee confess and thee adore
I n thy sevenfold gifts descend;
Give them virtue’s sure reward,
Give them thy salvation , Lord,
Give them joy that never ends.
Recourse to Our Lady, the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, is the surest way for us to dispose our soul for whatever new gifts the Paraclete wishes to give us.
