Day 113: The Temple of the Holy Spirit (797-810)

• It’s Day 113!!

• THE CHURCH IS THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

• How many times have we said that the mission of THE SON and the mission of THE SPIRIT are THE SAME MISSION??

• This is the overarching takeaway that we underestimate as Christians

• There is something so powerful about how the Holy Spirit makes the Church the Temple of the Living God

• Just like the Holy Spirit makes each individual Christian the Temple of the Spirit and the Temple of God

• Paragraph 798 says, “‘The Holy Spirit is ‘the principle of every vital and truly saving action in each part of the Body…’”

• THE PRINCIPLE

• THE FOUNDATION

• THE ACTIVE AGENT

• That is the MISSION of the Holy Spirit

• Paragraph 798 lists how the Holy Spirit does this

• BY GOD’S WORD

• BY BAPTISM

• BY THE SACRAMENTS

• BY THE GRACE OF THE APOSTLES

• BY THE VIRTUES

• BY THE MANY SPECIAL GRACES CALLED “CHARISMS”

• CHARISMS

• This is exciting to learn about the ways in which charisms are given

• These are gifts from the Holy Spirit which are given to each person in the Body of Christ as Temples of the Holy Spirit

• They are meant to be used to BUILD UP THE BODY

• They are meant to be used up to BUILD UP GOD’S KINGDOM ON EARTH

• So let’s say a prayer!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we thank you. We give you praise. We ask you to please receive our prayer. Receive our gratitude. Receive our praise for who you are and what you have done. We ask you to please send your Holy Spirit into our lives. Send your Holy Spirit of unity, your Holy Spirit of sanctity, your Holy Spirit of love. Because we know, Lord God, that no matter how many gifts any of us receive, no matter how many gifts any of us exercise, the greatest gift of your Spirit is Love. Without love, we are nothing. So pour out your Spirit of Love in our hearts so that we can be your love in this world. Help us to say yes to you in this moment and in every moment of our lives. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”

• So there we are!!

• GOSH!!

• THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!

• Paragraph 797 says, “‘What the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ, which is the Church.’”

• THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE SOUL OF THE CHURCH!!

• Our bodies are made up of a bunch of different parts

• What brings them unity is that we have a SOUL

• We have this massive diversity in the Church

• So what brings US unity?

• WE SHARE THE SAME SOUL

• THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THAT SOUL!!

• WHICH IS JUST INCREDIBLE!!

• THE CHURCH IS THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

• How does the Holy Spirit build up the whole Body of Christ?

• Paragraph 798 says, “The Holy Spirit is ‘the principle of every vital and truly saving action in each part of the Body.’”

• Fr. Mike wondered how they could reach all the students and faculty members on his campus

• St. John Paul II said, “Evangelization cannot happen without the Holy Spirit.”

• So Fr. Mike decided they needed the Holy Spirit

• They did retreats

• They had times of prayer where they specifically asked God to send His Holy Spirit

• They recognized they could do NOTHING without Christ UNLESS we are branches remaining on the vine

• BUT…

• Without the HOLY SPIRIT we can do NOTHING

• Paragraph 798 continues, “He works in many ways to build up the whole Body in charity: by God’s Word ‘which is able to build you up’; by Baptism, through which he forms Christ’s Body; by the sacraments, which give growth and healing to Christ’s members; by ‘the grace of the apostles, which holds first place among his gifts’; by the virtues, which make us act according to what is good; finally, by the many special graces (called ‘charisms’), by which he makes the faithful ‘fit and ready to undertake various tasks and offices for the renewal and building up of the Church.’”

• The grace of the apostles and their successors, the bishops, is the grace of GOVERNANCE, TEACHING, SANCTIFYING

• None of us are virtuous on our own

• We are virtuous because of the Holy Spirit

• THIS IS SO REMARKABLE!!

• Have you ever prayed on the reality that God has not only given you the gift of Faith, Hope, and Love

• The gift of Eternal Life

• Bringing you into His Church

• Making you a son or daughter of God if you are Baptized

• BUT…

• Paragraph 799 says, “Whether extraordinary or simple and humble, charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit which directly or indirectly benefit the Church, ordered as they are to her building up, to the good of men, and to the needs of the world.”

• There are extraordinary charisms like healing, mighty works, miracle working, etc.

• There are simple and humble charisms like the charism of administration or hospitality or writing or teaching or counsel etc.

• Charisms are NOT a sign that a person is HOLIER

• Charisms are not just given to super saints

• Charisms are given to EVERY SINGLE MEMBER of the Body of Christ

• Why?

• Not for THEM

• BUT…

• TO BUILD UP THE CHURCH!!

• Fr. Mike calls charisms “KINGDOM GIFTS”

• If we have been given a charism, it is not a gift for US

• IT IS A GIFT TO BUILD UP THE KINGDOM!!

• What do we do with charisms?

• How do we accept them?

• Paragraph 800 says, “Charisms are to be accepted with gratitude by the person who receives them and by all members of the Church as well.”

• Sometimes we may want the extraordinary charisms

• The Church says that ALL charisms are to be accepted with GRATITUDE

• When you see someone who has charisms BE THANKFUL TO THE LORD FOR THEIR GIFTS

• THIS IS SO REMARKABLE!!

• We can find ourselves being jealous or envious of the charisms others have been given

• St. Paul said, “Can the hand say to the foot, ‘I don’t need you!’?”

• WE ALL NEED EACH OTHER!!

• Paragraph 800 continues, “[Charisms] are a wonderfully rich grace for the apostolic vitality and for the holiness of the entire Body of Christ, provided they really are genuine gifts of the Holy Spirit and are used in full conformity with authentic promptings of this same Spirit…”

• THIS IS SO HELPFUL FOR ALL OF US!!

• Imagine if every person who had been given charisms USED those charisms for the GLORY OF THE LORD and for the SERVICE FOR OTHERS

• Think how the world would be changed?

• We can ASK GOD to give us these gifts

• We SHOULD ASK GOD to give us these gifts

• We have to discern that they are GENUINE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

• THAT IS SO IMPORTANT!!

• We also have to discern WHEN is the time to use this GENUINE spiritual gift and when it is NOT the time?

• There are times when someone may CLAIM a spiritual gift when it isn’t really one

• So we have to have that discernment of spirits

• There are also times when someone actually has a gift of the Holy Spirit but there are times when it is not appropriate to use that gift

• Paragraph 801 says, “It is in this sense that discernment of charisms is always necessary. No charism is exempt from being referred and submitted to the Church’s shepherds. ‘Their office is not indeed to extinguish the Spirit, but to test all things and hold fast to what is good,’ so that all the diverse and complementary charisms work together ‘for the common good,’”

• Is their discernment always going to be perfect?

• NO!!

• BUT…

• If we place ourselves in a posture of HUMILITY and RECEPTIVITY and TEACHABILITY then all of these gifts will FLOURISH

• Ask the Lord to pour out these charisms in your life and the lives of the people around you

• OR…

• God may have already given you these charisms 

• So ask God to reveal those charisms to you 

• Ask God to give you a chance to use them

• Ask God to give you a humble heart that you can refer and submit these gifts and everything you do to the authority of the Church that God has appointed to care for you, guide you, and guard you

• There are people in the history of the Church who had real charisms but used them at their own peril

• So pray for God’s help and protection

• Pray that if you submit these gifts to the leadership of the Church then you know you’ll be safe

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU

• Fr. Mike is praying that God reveals the charisms He has given to you and also for the opportunity to use those charisms

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!