gifts of the spirit

gifts of the spirit
Question from Maryangelica on 5/4/2008:

I was confirmed two years ago, and each year after that I have alter served in the masses for the confirmandi. I know that in Confirmation we are endowed with the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are mentioned in Isaiah 11:1-3 ( wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge, piety, and wonder and awe) . I learned though that many evangelicals and even Charismatic Catholics when talking about the gifts of the spirit refer to the list mentioned by St Paul in 1 Cor. 12:4-11, which has some similarities but even more differences (wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, mighty deeds, prophesy, discernment of spirits, tongues, and interpretation of tongues). Since it is mentioned that “there are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same spirit” (1 Cor. 12:4) I believe that in addition to the seven gifts there are also the nine which were given to me in Confirmation. Still, I am somewhat confused by this, especially since I have been confronted by Protestants who claim that the Church’s teaching is contrary to scripture (even though the seven gifts are also scriptually based). Could you please explain why the church uses the list from Isaiah but not from 1 Corinthians in regards to the gifts of the spirit? I even checked the Catechism, but it did not help much.

Thank you and God bless
Answer by Fr. John Echert on 5/8/2008:

The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit identified by the Church and listed in the writings of Isaiah are the ordinary graces bestowed in the Sacrament of Confirmation. Those graces identified in the Epistle of Saint Paul--1 Corinthians 12--which you note are charismatic graces, that is, special graces which did not depend upon or contribute directly to sanctification or the living out of the Christian vocation, but were intended for some other purpose, namely, to confirm the presence and activity of God in these communities. Charismatic gifts were especially important in the first generation of Christianty, when the Gospel was facing major obstacles to the Faith in both the Jewish and Gentile components of the world. Just as our Lord performed many signs and wonders through miracles, so too the Apostles were able to perform miracles at will and so too there were many signs and wonders in the Christian communities at large. However, our faith must not be based upon miracles and signs and so it is no surprise that miracles and charistmatic gifts which abounded in the first years dramatically subsided with the passing of that first generation. In fact, the very reason St. Paul mentions these graces is because of abuse already present, occasioned by these graces, since some Christians who possessed such graces were puffed up with pride.

So, charismatic graces are NOT related to sanctification, unlike the sevenfold graces of the Sacrament of Confirmation. Any denomination that is founded upon charistmatic graces is clearly misguided--in this matter and so many others...

Thanks, Mary Angelica

Father Echert