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Gifts of the Holy Spirit: Understanding

I’m going to explore the next gift of the Holy Spirit — understanding. Understanding is closely related to wisdom as well as knowledge. It shares many of the same attributes as wisdom such as engaging one’s mind. If wisdom is the desire to seek the truth, understanding helps explain the “why” behind those truths.

When I think about understanding, I think about my kids. I find it easy to resort to an authoritarian mode where I expect them to blindly follow my instructions. But it is far more effective to have kids understand the reason behind my requests rather than resorting to “because I said so.” Without understanding, we are in a mode of “because I said so” with God. Our Catholic Faith is reduced to a set of rules we follow merely to stay out of Hell. It’s the gift of understanding that elevates us to follow God because we can see the sound reasoning behind the rules.

Understanding allows us to see the world as God does in a limited way. We cannot comprehend all that God does, but the gift of understanding allows us to partially know and better appreciate God’s plan. The gift of understanding provides us that insight into God’s plan, and hence, passionately follow it as the saints do. Understanding is what moves us beyond obeying God because He’s the ultimate authority figure into wanting to follow Him because we know it’s ultimately beneficial to us.

Understanding in the Rosary

Let’s look at the Fifth Joyful Mystery, Finding Jesus in the Temple. A young Jesus is asking and answering questions amongst the learned scribes and scholars. God doesn’t impart the gift of understanding solely through learned scholars. In this mystery, it came through a child. God has a tendency to pick unlikely messengers whether it be Moses in the Old Testament, Jesus, Saint Peter and Paul, and numerous other saints. God often imparts understanding through unusual means. When you pray this mystery, ask yourself, are you open to all the ways God is speaking to you? Maybe He wants you to better understand Him and you’re not open to the way He delivers His messages.

Another great Rosary mystery that focuses on understanding is the First Sorrowful Mystery — The Agony in the Garden. Jesus begged God to find a different way to redeem the world but ultimately said He would do God’s Will. Jesus understood that God has a reason behind everything He does and allows to happen. Logically, we may not comprehend it or even agree with it, but it’s that gift of understanding that allows us to joyfully obey. It’s not blind obedience rooted in fear, but one where we know that what God asks of us is to our benefit.

Finally, contemplate the Fifth Sorrowful Mystery, Jesus’ Crucifixion. On the cross, one criminal challenged Jesus to save them all from death. The other criminal humbly understood who Jesus was and didn’t dare question why Jesus didn’t save Himself or them. He simply asked Jesus to remember him. That’s the root of understanding — not treating God like some sort of genie who gives us what we ask for. Instead, it’s understanding why God does what He does and seeing the greater good that comes from it.

Understanding is penetrating insight into the very heart of things, especially those higher truths that are necessary for our eternal salvation—in effect, the ability to “see” God.
Summa Theologiae (I/I.12.5; I/II.69.2; II/II.8.1–3)

Understanding is not easy. Like children, we often want to do things our way and resist any authority that tells us otherwise. This is why understanding is a gift since it’s not something easily obtained by ourselves. But it’s important to understand the “why” behind our faith. Everything we believe and do as Christians has a reason. The more we understand those reasons, the happier we will be doing God’s Will.

Gifts of the Holy Spirit: Wisdom

With the conclusion of the Easter season and now well into the Octave of Pentecost, I want to explore the gifts of the Holy Spirit and how they relate to various Rosary mysteries. As you know, I love making connections between various pillars of the Catholic Faith and the Rosary. The Rosary, after all, embodies all aspects of our faith which is why it’s such an important prayer and tool to embrace. Let’s dive into the first gift of the Holy Spirit — wisdom.

I’ll start with a scene from Star Wars, Episode II that explains the difference between knowledge and wisdom.

Wisdom is more than the acquisition and recitation of facts. You could memorize and quote every verse from the Bible. While that certainly makes you smart, it doesn’t make you wise. It won’t necessarily deepen your relationship with God. Knowledge is a matter of brain chemistry, focus, and perseverance. Given enough time and attention, many people could memorize pages in a textbook. But wisdom goes beyond the ability to store data in our brains.

According to Saint Thomas Aquinas, wisdom is both the knowledge of and judgment about “divine things” and the ability to judge and direct human affairs according to divine truth (I/I.1.6; I/II.69.3; II/II.8.6; II/II.45.1–5). I think the keyword is truth. Wisdom is about applying your knowledge to discover truth. Specifically, it’s about understanding the source of truth — God. Furthermore, wisdom forms the foundation of these gifts of the Holy Spirit. Because it’s through wisdom we learn about divine truths, our faith, and eventually God. Without wisdom, there can be no understanding of God’s Will and all the gifts and virtues He gives us.

Wisdom in the Rosary

We’ll first take a look at the Fourth Joyful Mystery, the Presentation. In the Gospel, we are introduced to Simeon and Anna, both prophets. They tell Mary and Joseph about Jesus’ destiny. They are speakers of truth because they have devoted themselves to following God’s Will. They sought out God in their lives through prayer and obtained the gift of wisdom that they could impart to others.

How about you? How devoted are you to follow God’s Will like Simeon and Anna? How much time and energy do you dedicate to learning about God? Are you devoted to prayer and forming a deep relationship with God like Simeon and Anna? Or is your focus solely on acquiring earthly knowledge without the desire to use it to discover God’s truth?

I also like what the Fourth Glorious Mystery has to teach us about wisdom. God assumed Mary into Heaven because He had a special role for her to play in our lives. She’s our guide who desires us to be in communion with God. To be in communion with God, we need wisdom to exercise correct judgment in learning God’s Will. That is no easy task. But God gives us Mary and the saints to help guide us. We aren’t left alone to our feeble minds and will to discover God’s truth like some sort of million-piece jigsaw puzzle. Mary offers us her assistance to acquire this wisdom of divine truth.

Finally, we look at the Third Glorious Mystery which is Pentecost. The fruit of this mystery is wisdom. When the Holy Spirit came to the apostles, he endowed them with wisdom. That wisdom transformed them from scared, confused individuals to brave, determined leaders of the early Church. They received a huge helping of truth at Pentecost which changed the course of human history. We too can tap into the wisdom the Holy Spirit gives as a gift to us to go out and bravely live according to God’s Will.

Wisdom Makes Saints

What makes a saint a saint is that wisdom or understanding of God’s truth. Because when you understand the truth about God, why would you have the desire to do anything the runs against it? We fall into sin because we do not fully possess this wisdom. If we truly understood God’s divine truth as the saints do, we wouldn’t refuse to live according to God’s Will. When we pray the Rosary, let’s ask the Holy Spirit that we open our hearts and minds to the gift of wisdom. This way, we remain in God’s grace which is a powerful defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.

Removing Distractions for Better Rosary Prayer

There are so many distractions in our world that it is becoming increasingly harder to carve out time for earnest prayer. Although I know the benefits of prayer, I often find ways to avoid it. It’s like knowing that exercise, sleep, and a healthy diet will lead to a good life but we don’t always want to put in the effort. So we instead pick up some fast food and binge watch something on Netflix.

Probably the single largest distraction and source of mental junk food is the smartphone. It has all sorts of apps trying to get our attention all day long. I get notified by Duolingo that I haven’t done my Polish language training for the day. My sudoku app reminds me that there is a new puzzle. My journaling app tells me it’s been a while since I’ve written something. It’s so easy to cram my day with all these little apps that it doesn’t leave room for prayer.

I recently finished reading Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport. It is a great read for anyone needing to declutter their day from all the mindless distractions offered through our phones. Some of the better chapters talk about the value of solitude or finding ways to have higher quality interactions with family and friends. Even if you’re already pretty good about your phone usage, give this book a read as I’m sure you’ll learn even more ways to keep your phone usage in check.

Why do I bring up Digital Minimalism on my RosaryMeds site? I think many of us find our phones chewing into our prayer life. Because God isn’t pinging us on our phones telling us He hasn’t heard from us, we forget to pray. Or, prayer just becomes another todo item alongside our daily Elevate lesson. But prayer needs to be more than just something to cram into our day. Prayer needs to be the foundation for our day. Our relationship with God and having His grace is what will sustain us, not how many people liked our post on Facebook.

After finishing Digital Minimalism, I’m trying to be much more deliberate in what I do. I put my phone away when I’m eating with my family. I also put it away when I’m playing with my kids. I’m working on my phone not being filler to my day. Because once you pick it up to check an app or website quickly, you often find yourself wasting minutes or hours mindlessly clicking links and watching movies. I don’t want to be a slave to my phone.

If I do have a few minutes of downtime, I’m going to do what people did not too long ago — just be alone with my thoughts. It’s okay to not always be doing something. Our brains need that break from being constantly connected. I find that when I’m alone with my thoughts, prayer often follows. That turns low-quality swiping into high-quality communication with our #1 fan, God.

In short, whatever you do throughout the day, do it deliberately. Don’t sort of be present at the breakfast table, but fully present. Don’t sort of talk to people, but actually have a conversation. And don’t rush through prayers, but say them with focus. That is why I wake up at 6 am now, don’t touch my phone, and launch straight into Rosary prayer. Whatever messages and emails that came through the night can wait 30 minutes. If I want a good day, then I have to start it correctly.

What about you? Do you want your day to go well? If so, how are you starting it? Is it checking in with God through the Rosary or checking your Twitter feeds?

Rosary Prayer Resources for the Month of May

Naturally, in this month of May, we should turn our attention towards Rosary prayer. In our current situation, Rosary prayer takes on an even more important role. While skeptics will balk at what I’m about to say, our Rosary prayers and intentions are as essential as masks, ventilators, disinfectant, and a revived economy. Much like how all the masks and ventilators are keeping people alive and safe physically, our prayers are keeping us safe and strong spiritually. And what good is physical health without spiritual strength? We need both.

I’ve linked prayers that Pope Francis has asked us to pray at the end of every Rosary. Mary has always been a powerful intercessor throughout the ages. She loves to bring us closer to her Son, Jesus Christ. And what better way to show that love than bringing peace and comfort in times of distress.

The Vatican published a free ebook with prayers and homilies for difficult times. Naturally, anything papal isn’t going to be a light read. But please try reading a few pages every day this month in conjunction with the Rosary and additional prayers. Because a world united in prayer can’t be miserable and hopeless no matter what virus or situation we find ourselves in. The world has always been a tough place but the one constant through the ages is people finding peace and ultimately joy through God’s grace.

https://www.vaticannews.va/content/dam/lev/forti-nella-tribolazione/pdf/eng/strong-in-tribulation.-20042020.pdf

Prayer Sets Us Free

I think by now many of us are coming down with cabin fever. You can only binge-watch so many series on Netflix and Disney+. You can only play video games and read books for so long. Even getting out and taking a walk is starting to feel a bit repetitive. I feel anything but free.

And yet, Pope Francis teaches us that freedom is exactly what the Holy Spirit provides us. In a homily on April 20, Pope Francis said: “The definition of the Holy Spirit that Jesus gives here is interesting … unconstrained. A person who gets carried from both sides by the Holy Spirit: this is the freedom of the Spirit. And a person who does this is docile, and here we talk about docility to the Holy Spirit.”

I like this idea of being docile. We are flexible and open to new ideas. When we listen to the Holy Spirit through prayer, we need to be open to how he guides us. Just choosing prayer over TV, video games, and other media shows the beginnings of openness. You are choosing to block out distractions to try to listen to the Holy Spirit. That’s a great start.

I often complain that one of the hardest things about sheltering in place is the constant noise. Someone is always talking. Of, if you have kids, someone is always shouting or running around. The constant movement and volume is tiring. That is why it’s important to deliberately carve time for prayer. Otherwise, the wisdom of the Holy Spirit gets drowned out by the daily noise in our lives. And that’s how we feel trapped. We can no longer feel the Holy Spirit’s gentle nudge to break us out of our suffocating routines.

If you’re looking for something new, try praying the Rosary. If you already pray the Rosary, try adding more to it like meditations or scriptural passages. Think about the Third Glorious Mystery and how the Holy Spirit came down and inspired the Apostles. Think of how couped up they must have felt hiding after Jesus’ death and resurrection out of fear of the Jews. They were the definition of confinement. And what was it that set them free? The Holy Spirit! What released them from their bondage of fear? The Holy Spirit! And what guided them across the known world teaching in Jesus’ name? The Holy Spirit! In the words of Pope Francis, “With this freedom of the Holy Spirit, you will never know where you will end up.”

https://www.rosarymeds.com/intentions/the-glorious-mysteries/third-glorious-mystery/

Why You Should Fill Your Soul with the Rosary

A while ago I wrote a 15-part series about Mary’s promises to those who pray the Rosary. Those promises alone should be reason enough to pray the Rosary with unceasing regularity. But I came across this article on the National Catholic Register laying out 10 reasons why the Rosary is so powerful. They are reasons not often mentioned when talking about the benefits of Rosary prayer.

You should read the entire article. It’s a light read; short and to the point. But for the TL;DR crowd, 10 additional reasons to pray the Rosary are:

It Engages Your Will
It is Physical
It Engages our Linguistic Functions
It Involves Our Imagination
The Rosary Occupies the Language Facility
The Sub-Linguistic is Accessed
The Healing Mysteries are Applied
Spiritual Warfare is Engaged
The Battle Against Evil in the Word in Opened
It is Accessible and Easy for All

Like I said in my book, The Rosary Prayer Guide for the Rest of Us, the Rosary has many facets that, when combined, make it exponentially more powerful than each aspect alone. The NCR article touches on that same idea. The Rosary combines physical, conscious, subconscious, and imaginative elements making it a rich prayer. Each of those elements is good on its own, but each one is incomplete. For example, what good is engaging your linguistic functions if your mind is occupied on something else? You’re just mindlessly reciting. But when combined, you are fully engaged with God’s miraculous power.

Engaging all these aspects of Rosary prayer also fills every aspect of our being with God’s grace. And if you’re filled with God’s grace, you don’t leave any room for Satan to infiltrate your soul. Satan will try to infect your mind, but that’s occupied. He’ll try to infiltrate your imagination, but that’s will also be busy. Someone committed to deep, meditative Rosary prayer doesn’t leave room for temptation. You become a spiritual fortress Satan cannot conquer.

The Rosary is a hard prayer to master. I’ve been praying it for years and yet I still often struggle to find the motivation to pray it and the will to focus. I know all the benefits and yet, Satan’s pull to drive me away from the Rosary is still there. Satan doesn’t give up easily. But it’s the fact that the Rosary requires so much engagement that makes it so effective. Like how a full-body workout is exhausting but beneficial, a full body-and-soul Rosary prayer is also exhausting. But you stand to lose so much by not investing in this spiritual exercise. And you gain so much more than what you put in if you stick with it. So please, in this season of Easter, invest in your spiritual well being and pick up those beads!

Time to Re-establish my Rosary Routine

I have a confession to make. I haven’t prayed the Rosary regularly this Lent and I’m not off to a good start this Easter either. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not abandoning Rosary prayer. I still love it and see the value of praying it every day. However, lately, I only manage to get through a mystery or two every day. In this time when I should increase my prayer, I’m actually praying less. Why?

Like many people, I thought that sheltering in place was going to give me more time to pray, read, and learn. I thought I could finally tackle the growing pile of books and tasks that I normally “didn’t have time for.” But the reality is that I have less time and energy to pray.

Normally, I stopped by my church after dropping my kids off at school to pray the Rosary. But with the kids studying from home and requiring my wife and me to coordinate their lesson plans, I lost my convenient prayer routine. Trying to pray throughout the day is difficult as I’m constantly wrangling kids, work, and home life. By the time I get some “alone time,” I’m so tired that I just want to turn my brain off and watch video clips.

So like the prodigal son, I need to realize that I need to come back “home.” In this case, I need re-establish my prayer routine. It may not be the same or as convenient as my usual routine, but we are living in unusual times. I’m sure many of us find ourselves in a similar situation. Now is the time to double our efforts in prayer.

I know that many of us think that once things get back to normal, we can resume our normal prayer routine. But that’s backward thinking. We actually need to resume our prayers now and ask God to return our world back to normal. Actually, now is a good time to ask God to elevate us to a new normal — one of increased faith and prayer. But we have to ask. As the Gospel tells us, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8)

Covid-19 is the Opportunity Satan’s Been Waiting For

“Know thy self.” It’s a saying that goes back to ancient Greece and is a fundamental concept in modern developmental psychology. It’s about knowing your strengths and weaknesses and then addressing those weaknesses and building on those strengths. It’s an important time to build up our defenses against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. The Catholic Exchange ran an article highlighting the attacks Satan uses to exploit our weaknesses. They are:

Desolation
Kryptonite: Our major weak point
Social Environment
Demonic Proliferation of Impurity
Devil of Despair

Many of us are under quarantine due to the Covid-19 virus. Unfortunately, this makes Satan’s tools more effective, especially if we aren’t wise about our weaknesses. Many of us are feeling more isolated from others than we’ve ever been. And this can foster a greater sense of despair because we feel so alone and powerless. We may start to question God’s love for us and maybe start believing it’s not as absolute as we’ve been taught. That’s what Satan wants us to believe so he can infect us with his lies and lead us away from God’s grace.

Isolation can also breed unhealthy habits. Many people may feel tempted to visit impure websites and watch trashy television shows out of boredom and a lack of entertainment options. Again, this allows Satan to creep into your life and influence you. The Covid-19 virus is Satan’s once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take possession of unprepared and unsuspecting souls.

For many of us, the lack of attending Mass has weakened us. I know that we’ve all been given a dispensation from attending Mass and physically receiving the sacraments. But still, not being able to physically celebrate Mass has left even the strongest of us in a weakened state. Watching Mass online or on TV is okay, but not a substitute for physically celebrating Mass and receiving the Eucharist. And it looks like we may be locked down through Holy Week and Easter which means that even the casual Mass-goer won’t be receiving their yearly dose of God’s grace.

The Catholic Exchange article goes on to highlight five ways we can protect ourselves from Satan’s increased influence. At their root, it’s knowing your weaknesses and building spiritual defenses through:

Fervent Prayer
Practice of Penance and Fasting
Periodic Spiritual Direction and Transparency
Nunc Coepi—Begin Again!
Mary

This time of isolation can be a blessing if you choose to make it one. It can be a time where you build up your spirituality through prayer and fasting. If your bored or feeling alone, use this time to build your relationship with the Lord. Don’t mindlessly watch YouTube clips and binge watch Netflix. Set aside some time to pray the Rosary and read Scripture and other books to build your faith.

Pray the Fifth Glorious Mystery and ask Mary, our queen in Heaven, for her intercession. She doesn’t live in Heaven for her gratification. She’s there to bring souls closer to her son, Jesus. She wants us to come to her and lay down our worries and concerns at her feet so that she can amplify them and bring them before Jesus. She desires us to know ourselves better so that we learn our strengths and weaknesses. She can then work through her son, Jesus Christ, to increase our desire to live for God’s Kingdom. Our queen doesn’t want to lose any of us to Satan.

Ask Mary, Queen of Heaven, to:

help end the Covid-19 pandemic
help comfort those affected by this virus, either directly or indirectly
help medical and emergency professionals on the front lines of this outbreak
help those who have fallen under Satan’s influence in this time of increased isolation
help us use this time to draw closer to God and trust in His ability to see us through this difficult time.

Showing Humility in Times of Crisis

In my previous article on humility, I quoted Fr. John Tauler about how Mary was an empty vessel ready for God to pour His grace into Her. I’m going to continue discussing humility as I believe we are living through events that are calling us towards greater humility. And through greater humility, we can find peace in God’s grace.

On DesiringGod, David Mathis talks about how the early Christians practiced humility through trials and persecution. He says:

We don’t teach ourselves to be humble. There’s no five-step plan for becoming more humble in the next week, or month. Within measure, we might take certain kinds of initiatives to cultivate a posture of humility in ourselves (more on those in a later article), but the main test (and opportunity) comes when we are confronted, unsettled, and accosted, in the moments when our semblances of control vanish and we’re taken off guard by life in a fallen world — and the question comes to us: How will you respond to these humbling circumstances? Will you humble yourself?
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-do-i-humble-myself

I like the idea that humility doesn’t happen in a vacuum; that there needs to be some sort of outside source prompting us to respond with humility. In other words, it’s easy to think we are humble if there are no outside factors forcing us to act otherwise. Right now, there is a huge outside factor forcing people to choose whether or not to act humbly — Covid19. How can we use this current pandemic to respond to Jesus’ call to humility?

Previously, I discussed how our pride can fill our hearts and minds leaving no room for God’s grace. Humility is accepting that we need God in our hearts if we’re to find true peace and happiness. But it’s not just a pride-filled heart that can block us from living humbly. Our fears and anxiety can block God just as easily as pride. We need to avoid letting our fears build in a way that leads us to believe that we face these challenges alone or God is powerless to intercede.

Covid19 is the factor that really tests our humility. It’s easy to say we’re humble when there’s no challenge. But when there is widespread fear and panic, we now need to make a choice. How much are you going to let fear and anxiety occupy your heart and mind and how much are you going to leave open for God to work within you?

I know many people ask in these uncertain times, why doesn’t God do something? And we all look to the sky hoping that God will just make this virus disappear. But looking for a global miracle may be missing the point. We should instead be looking internally and seeing how God is working with us individually. This is our opportunity to build our relationship with God through prayer and letting Him work in us and through us to build true happiness. Let’s not look only for a worldwide miracle in this time of hardship but also for the greater miracle of God’s grace transforming a humble and willing heart.

Look at Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane which we pray in the First Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary. Jesus was afraid of what was to come. But he didn’t let that fear entirely consume Him. He took His situation as an opportunity to turn to God in prayer. Jesus was humble enough to understand that He wasn’t facing His crucifixion alone and was left to His own devices to find a way through it. Instead, Jesus put his faith in God’s plan for Him to see Him through. Similarly, we should remember that our lives are ultimately in God’s hands, not our own. That should actually give us a sense of peace knowing that an all-loving God ultimately is in control, not a virus and society’s response to it.

Remember, the Covid19 virus is a mix of biology and chemistry. It is just one of many diseases or natural phenomena to worry about. It’s also one of the many ways we can become distracted and not achieve the full humility that God asks of us. At least Covid19 has our attention while many of the other distractions in our lives can go unnoticed. Now that it has our attention, ask yourself whether you’re going to allow it to spark an interest in making yourself more humble by making more room in your life for God to work in you.

The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery: Jesus is with Us in Turmoil

People are understandably anxious and stressed out over the covid19 pandemic. People are getting sick, store shelves are empty, and many of us (myself included) are on lockdown in our homes. Besides their health, many people are worried about their jobs and finances as the world economy has tanked. In these times, it’s natural to ask, “Where’s God and why doesn’t He do something?”

In these times of uncertainty, I choose to meditate on the Fifth Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary, Jesus’ Crucifixion. Instead of seeing Jesus as someone detached and unconcerned with the world’s suffering, I see Him as someone suffering along with us. Although He was God made man and sinless, Jesus suffered and died on the Cross. He died in the same way as the two criminals next to Him.

Jesus remains among us through our suffering today. The question to meditate on when we pray the Fifth Sorrowful Mystery is whether we choose to see Him in our lives or not. So many people at the crucifixion refused to see Jesus as the Son of God unless He performed some sort of miracle. Similarly, many people today might not see Jesus in their lives unless He performs a miracle like making this pandemic magically disappear.

But then there’s the other group that knows that Jesus is here with us even in the absence of signs and miracles. The good criminal on the cross saw that Jesus was the Son of God suffering alongside him. He used that opportunity to ask Jesus simply to remember him. And we can use this opportunity of being locked down, quarantined, sheltered in place, etc. to acknowledge that Jesus is with us through the turmoil. We can turn to Him in prayer and ask Him to remember us. Because Jesus isn’t a distant, uncaring deity. He’s here with us and ready to comfort us if we just ask.

In this time when many of us are cooped up in our homes, let’s take the time to pray more than usual. It is still Lent after all. Pray hard so that you may see that Jesus is present in this world. He understands us because He’s with us. Pray and meditate on that when you’re feeling anxious.