Without the Holy Spirit, God appears distant and Christ’s presence isn’t a reality in our lives.
The Gospel appears to have no life and the Church is simply an organisation that purports an authority over us.
But in the Holy Spirit all of Creation is giving birth to a New Life of Grace, through Mary.
Christ’s presence is with us and the Gospel becomes alive.
The Church radiates God’s love and service. Authority becomes a blessing for us as we praise, honour and serve our Lord and Saviour.
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit bring about this transformation for us and the Church. Each Gift is a manifestation of God’s power to help build up the Body of Christ.
The text from 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 for the gifts is:
“To one the Spirit gives Wisdom in discourse, to another the power to express Knowledge. Through the Spirit one receives Faith; by the same Spirit another is given the Gift of Healing and still other Miraculous Powers.
Prophecy is given to one; to another power to distinguish one spirit from another. One receives the Gift of Tongues, another that of Interpreting Tongues.”
The Gifts of the Spirit can be personal to sanctify the individual or charismatic for the good of the community.
HOW TO DEVELOP THE GIFTS:
“From His Heart shall flow streams of Living Water” (John 7:38)
The Gifts grow when we pray contemplatively. To contemplate is to gaze upon Jesus, still our minds and open our hearts to receive.
In the silence of faith the Holy Spirit infuses us with His Living Water for the spiritual gifts to develop and mature. This infusion is like us watering and fertilising plants in the garden so they will produce lots of flowers.
God’s Word is how we “gaze upon Jesus” to spiritually grow with these gifts.
“These are the very things that God has revealed to us through the Spirit, for the Spirit reaches the depths of everything, even the depths of God. After all the depths of a man can only be known by his own spirit, not by any other man, and in the same way the depths of God can only be known by the Spirit of God.
Now instead of the spirit of the world, we have received the Spirit that comes from God to teach us to understand the Gifts that He has given us. Therefore we teach, not in the way in which philosophy is taught, but in the way that the Spirit teaches us; we teach spiritual things spiritually.” (1 Corinithians 2:10-13)
Contemplating God’s Word through Scripture and through a collection of Holy Spirit Titles known as a Litany Prayer is an effective way to grow in the spiritual gifts. Both ways complement one another as God’s Word becomes the Living Water and the Litany Titles the fertilizer.
Watering the Gifts:
They were given to us at Baptism and remain dormant until we desire to water them. This way of praying teaches you how to water them.
We seek a quiet place and enter into a meditative state to quieten our thoughts.
We pray for God’s Spirit to overshadow us (like Mary) as we read the Scriptures about God’s Spiritual Gifts
(1 Corinthians 12:7-11) …………
We now visualise ourselves being bathed in light as we place our hand over the Scriptures and breathe in God’s Living Words.
Slowly and meditatively pray
“Come Holy Spirit release within me the Gifts of Your Spirit”
Repeatedly pray these words for five minutes each day.
PRAYER STEPS TO NOURISH THE HOLY SPIRIT’S GIFTS
Fertilising the Gifts:
Involves prayer action as well. We can do this by proclaiming Litany Titles that profess the blessings of the Holy Spirit.
Each Title from the GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT LITANY nourishes our soul so we can abundantly flourish and bloom in God’s Garden of Grace.
Place yourself in the presence of God.
Pray all the Litany Prayer Titles reverently and meditatively.
Then be attentive to the one Title that speaks to your spirit.
Reverently pray this Title like a mantra prayer to an image of Jesus (5-10 minutes).
Now reflect on the Title and ask Jesus if He wishes to enlighten you about this Spiritual Gift.
Give thanks and praise to God for blessing you with the Power of His Love through His Spirit.
PRAYER COMMENT:
The Spiritual Gifts develop and mature in a supernatural way within us the more we contemplate God’s Word and His Litany Titles. It’s a transforming experience that gives birth to a New Life of Grace.