June 10, 1984
1 Cor 12: 3-7, 12-13Don Bosco Tech, Paterson, N.J.
“To
each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Cor 12: 7).
The
Christians of Corinth were very much into charismata, the special gifts of the
Holy Spirit. Above all, they prized
glossolalia, the gift of tongues. (One
almost needs that gift just to use these words.) But those who possessed these gifts seem to
have used them for divisiveness and competition rather than for unity and
family spirit within the community. So
Paul has to recall to his disciples’ minds some essential Christian
truths. This morning Paul lays out 3
points:
1.
Every believer has received the Spirit.
2.
The Spirit gives many kinds of gifts.
3.
All gifts are for the benefit of the whole community.
These
teachings are, of course, timeless. Paul
could give us the same message.
We
have been joined to Jesus, the paschal victim and our risen Lord, by our Baptism
and Confirmation. The link between us
and him is the Holy Spirit, who pours into us the same divine life that Jesus
receives from his Father. That is why we
always pray to the Father through Jesus who lives and reigns in the unity of
the Holy Spirit—we are that unity, we the Church militant on earth, and the
Church suffering in purgatory, and the Church triumphant in heaven—all made one
in Christ by the bonding of the Holy Spirit.
Every
time we confess our faith in thought, word, or action, we do so by the power of
the Spirit who lives within us. The
Father’s gift of the Spirit is not an extraordinary gift but the common
possession of every believer.
The
Spirit himself gives a variety of gifts to believers. In many places in scripture these are
outlined: gifts of teaching, preaching,
administering, speaking in tongues, healing, serving, etc. To these we could add many other charismata
bestowed abundantly on the Church: mystical
prayer, successful parenting, the missionary call, music, hospitality, ready
ears, warm hearts. Immediately after the
section of First Corinthians which we are considering this morning, Paul tells
the Church to strive for the greater gifts and sings his beautiful hymn on
love: “Love is patient, love is kind;
love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude”; and so on (1 Cor
13:4).
Whatever
the gift, Paul says, it comes from the same one God who is our Father. Each gift reveals his Spirit at work. Therefore every gift is important and
necessary.
Why
important and necessary? That’s the 3d
point: for the common good, for building
up the body of Christ. For each of us,
this has 2 implications: I have my own
particular gift or gifts that manifest the Spirit of Jesus to others, and I
must discern and exercise them; and everyone else has his or her own gift or
gifts, and I must respect them.
So,
if I have a gift for administration, I must use it for the good of all. Likewise if my gift is reading the Word or
watching the neighbors’ children or visiting the sick or coaching Little League
or taking the elderly out shopping or bringing Christ into the public forum of
politics or teaching CCD or whatever.
Naturally, it takes a lot of prayer and much practice to know what our
real gifts are and what are the ones we’d like to have.
We
live in a community being built up as it drinks of the one Spirit. It will be strongly built only if we let the
Spirit reign, that is, not only in ourselves but in everyone. How, then, can we criticize a confrere or
neighbor for using and developing his gifts, whether as a pastoral minister, an
almsgiver, a leader in a charitable group?
How can we be jealous of someone else’s popularity if that is the tool
by which the lordship of Jesus is confessed?
This
responsibility of discerning the Spirit’s gifts rests on each one of us. We
have to avoid the temptation to think that everything we like to do is the
Spirit’s gift. We have to put away fear
of what is new or difficult and be open to the Spirit’s voice leading us to use
our true gifts. We have to respect the
movements of the Spirit in every other person, though often we don’t understand
those movements.
The
Father has chosen each of us in Christ.
The Spirit reveals Christ and the Father to us and invites us into their
relationship of love. So may we all be
encouraged. We all confess that Jesus is
Lord. May his Spirit rule our hearts,
shine through his gifts in us, and makes us one in Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment