The Charismatic Gifts: Gifts for the People of God
Maybe you are having an electrical problem … an unwelcome event to be sure. You are very relieved that the electrician has arrived at your house, but you notice right away that he is empty-handed. He has no toolbox, no wrenches, no electrical tape, nothing. You strongly suspect that he is not going to be able to fix your problem.
Without God in our lives, we have no tools either. James 1:17 states, “All that is good, all that is perfect, is given us from above; it comes down from the Father of all light; with Him there is no such thing as alteration, no shadow caused by change.” It also states in 1 Corinthians 13:13, “There are in the end three gifts that last; faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these is love.” God is the giver of these gifts, and they have a tremendous impact on our lives.
Let’s contemplate a simple illustration. Faith is the engine: strong and capable, but perhaps occasionally shaken by hardships. Hope is the fuel that re-energizes the engine and keeps it going. Love is the product of faith and hope—the engine’s power—ready to share the love that God offers us first. And this is why love is the greatest gift—it is the outpouring of our heart.
In 1967, yearning for more after meeting at The Ark and the Dove, a retreat in Pennsylvania, a group of students from Duquesne University experienced a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This was the start of the Catholic Charismatic Movement. They began to explore more specifically how the Holy Spirit gifts us and fits us to do the work of building up the Church—especially recalling the letters of Saint Paul.
The movement grew, and charismatics recognized special graces called “charisms,” given to them by the Holy Spirit to better serve God and to build up the Church. Section 2003 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “There are furthermore special graces, also called charisms after the Greek term used by Saint Paul and meaning ‘favor,’ ‘gratuitous gift,’ ‘benefit.’” The Church acknowledged their efforts and called it a “current of grace,” support given by Popes Paul VI and John Paul II.
Charismatic gifts are referred to as “gifts” to distinguish them from our natural talents and abilities, which have a natural or human origin. The charismatic gifts are called “gifts” because they have a supernatural origin—namely, the Holy Spirit working within us. They are pure grace and are given to us according to divine providence and the specific plan of God. This surrendering to the Holy Spirit is often called “the baptism in the Holy Spirit.”
In the Diocese of Youngstown, the “Community of Praise” prayer group meets at St. Paul Parish in North Canton monthly on Mondays from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the old part of the church; a stalwart assembly of 15 to 20 people. It does contrast to the hundreds who used to flock to St. Paul’s years ago for charismatic meetings, but Rosemary Pfiffner, a past and present leader, does not allow that to deter her.
She recalls the first time she heard about the charismatic gifts from a religious sister, when she was a student at St. Benedict School in Canton. The movement recognizes more than 20 graces that fall under the umbrella of “charismatic,” and Pfiffner provided an example of one of the gifts from her own life. When her children were young, they would often come to her for advice. She would listen and offer her thoughts, and then later think, “My advice was pretty good, wasn’t it?” In other words, Pfiffner had no idea where her words came from, other than that they must have come from God—this is the gift of “counsel.”
Many years ago, Magnificat of Stark County hosted Renee Marazon of Florida, author of several publications on charismatic gifts, for a day-long seminar. Participation in this seminar was life-changing for me and helped me identify the gifts of writing, music and art in my life. Marazon created the following inventory of 20 charisms to help people identify their own gifts: writing, teaching, knowledge/wisdom, leadership, faith, pastoring, prophecy/word of knowledge, encouragement/exhortation, evangelism, discernment of spirits, intercession/prayer, giving, healing, help/service, administration, mercy giving/compassion, craftsmanship, hospitality, music and voluntary poverty/simple living.
In recent years, Pope Francis started a service organization, CHARIS, to support communities in the charismatic renewal. Thus, the “current of grace” continues and is being recognized further. Today, as many as 150 million Catholics worldwide identify themselves as charismatic. At the heart of this effort, people are recognizing their gifts from the Holy Spirit, and that using them to serve God is a blessing unto itself.
We are often asked how we are using our time, talent and treasure. The charismatic gifts cover talent, and the charismatic philosophy teaches that nothing should go wasted.
As The Catholic Echo describes, charismatic gifts are alive across the Diocese of Youngstown. Many of our parishes have robust music programs (the gift of music). All parishes have programs to provide support for the needy (the gifts of service, giving and hospitality) and seek to offer excellent religious education programs (the gift of teaching). There are also some who offer grief counseling (the gifts of mercy, giving and compassion).
The charismatic gifts are graces that God gives to us at any point in our lives. They are not mere talents or a “knack” for something, and unlike many hobbies, the person so gifted never grows tired of using the gifts. Once you know about them, you will see the gifts being used nearly everywhere.
Karen Nelsen, writer and musician, is retired from The University of Akron Department of Marketing, and is a member of SS. Philip and James Parish in Canal Fulton.
