In Mass and the Sacraments, Father Laux discusses the sacrament of Confirmation and its gifts of the Holy Spirit. The seven gifts are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. Together, these attributes allow a Christian to make moral decisions provides the strength to carry them out. The first of the gifts is wisdom. The Catechism defines wisdom thus: “A spiritual gift which enables one to know the purpose and plan of God” (CCC, Glossary). Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger addresses the importance of wisdom in his letter on meditation: “For Paul the Mystery of God is Christ, "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col 2:3) and, the Apostle clarifies, "I say this in order that no one …show more content…
Fortitude is the gift that makes one strong enough to act upon the gift of counsel. “He always comes to sustain us in our weakness and he does this by a special gift: the gift of fortitude” (Pope Francis, 14 May 2014). Fortitude allows someone to surpass his normal limits for the service of God. It is the virtue of the martyrs that allows them to suffer death rather than to renounce the Christian Faith. It is not normal human strength that separates martyrs from other people, but the fact that their closeness to God granted them great fortitude. Pope Francis clarifies that fortitude also helps people to live through the ordinary unpleasantness of life: “When we face daily life, when difficulties arise, let us remember this: ‘I can do all things in him who strengthens me’” (Pope Francis, 14 May 2014). The fifth gift of the holy spirit is knowledge. While wisdom allows one to know the purpose of God, knowledge allows one to apply truth to one’s own life. “Consequently, the illumination or superior knowledge of the Spirit ("gnosis"), does not make Christian faith something superfluous. Finally, for the Fathers, the authentic sign of a superior knowledge, the fruit of prayer, is always Christian love” (Letter, 8). While knowledge in the everyday use is just a group of facts, as a gift of the Holy Spirit it is the ability to do the Christian thing-