Category Archives: The Gifts of the Holy Spirit

posted 5/26/20 When a priest hears confessions, there are occasions when he hears himself say something to the penitent that surprises him.  When that’s happened to me, I think to myself: “Whoa! Where did that come from?”  There have also been times when I’ve gone to confession and the priest says something that seems to express exactly theContinue reading “The Gift of Counsel”

posted 5/25/20 The last full-length novel that Mark Twain ever published was his book The Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc.  And of all the great stories he ever wrote, he thought this one was his very best.  Twain was not Catholic, he grew up in the South at a time when there was much anti-Catholicism there, andContinue reading “The Gift of Understanding”

posted 5/23/20 “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” (1 Cor 1:25)  Two months before she died from tuberculosis, one of the nuns in her community said to the 24-year-old Sr. Therese of Lisieux, “you are a saint.”  In response, Therese pointed to the tops ofContinue reading “The Gift of Wisdom”

posted 5/22/20 During this 9-day period between the Ascension and Pentecost, it is fitting to reflect on the significance of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.  We first receive the Holy Spirit at our baptism, but at Confirmation we receive a full share in the Holy Spirit and a strengthening in the Spirit’s Gifts. I have vivid memories of my own Confirmation at the handsContinue reading “The Gifts of the Holy Spirit”