It works the same way on a parish or diocesan level.
Therefore, rather than be content with asking the Holy Spirit for what we want or think we need, we are also open to what the Holy Spirit may want to give us, whether (at the time) we think we need it or not. The Lord alone knows all that we truly need. We remember that even our best efforts to discern the Lord’s will are limited, because we are limited. What then? Do we reject them? Do we try to make them fit into our own little plan? No. However, we may also notice that the Spirit has given us some gifts we have not asked for gifts we did not know we needed. As our lives unfold, we notice that the Holy Spirit has indeed given us at least some of the gifts we asked for. We then ask the Holy Spirit for these gifts. We seek to discern what gifts we need in order to be faithful to this calling. As individuals or families, we seek to discern, with all the insight and other resources at our disposal, what the Lord is asking of us. In doing so, however, we can run into an unexpected difficulty. It reminds us of a certain truth about us as individuals and, even more importantly, us as Church that we may unwittingly forget. Our story may be drawn from a different time of year, but its punch line is very appropriate for the feast we celebrate today. Sarah replied, “But, Mom, if I tell Santa what I want, I’ll never know what he wanted to give me!” A week later, her mother asked her why she hadn’t made a list for Santa. When dinner was over, Sarah’s mother told the children, “Now that Christmas is only a month away, be sure to make a list of what you want Santa to give you.”Īnd so it happened! Sarah’s siblings made their lists, but Sarah didn’t. While eight-year-old Sarah and her siblings were watching the Macy’s parade, their parents were preparing Thanksgiving dinner.
All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.It was Thanksgiving morning. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.
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