The ancient Jews were certainly justified in fostering high expectations for their kings. The people of Israel had suffered greatly under foreign kings and had been equally disappointed in some of their own rulers. Psalm 72, this Sunday’s liturgical response to the first reading, expresses hopefully the eager longings of this often oppressed people: “O God, with your judgment endow the king, and with your justice, the king’s son; may he govern your people with justice and your afflicted ones with judgment. He shall rescue the poor man when he cries out and the afflicted one when he has no one to help him. He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor.”
The Jews in Jesus’ era were uneasy about their religious leadership as well. John the Baptist in this Sunday’s Gospel expresses this common disappointment: “When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance (Mt.3:2).” But the Baptizer is hopeful. He perceives great developments in store for the Jewish nation: “I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire (Mt.3:3).”
This Sunday’s service of the Word accordingly begins with Isaiah’s classic account of the fine qualities that a proper king of Israel should have but also that every authentic believer should possess and exercise. The seer mused, “The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD, and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD (Is.11:1).” Isaiah’s words are of course the source of the traditional names of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. (The New American Bible notes that the ancient Greek Septuagint and the ancient Latin Vulgate read “piety” for the first mention of “fear of the Lord” thus completing the seven gifts as often memorized in Confirmation class.) These supernatural dispositions help the believer to grow in the holiness that was begun at Baptism and to live daily in accord with the divine graces bestowed through the Eucharist, the other sacraments, and prayer. The Spirit’s seven special gifts enhance the life of faith to which a believer has already been introduced, making believers even more receptive to God’s plans for them.
In today’s secular world, the ability to make judgments from a Divine perspective sensing God’s Will in all things is truly authentic “wisdom”. And sensing a broad spiritual reality in life alongside the ever present material world is indeed “understanding” in its deepest significance. On a practical level, recognizing God’s will in everyday events and responding sensibly is the fruit of “counsel.” Of course the exercise of the Christian life can indeed be challenging and that is where “fortitude” assures perseverance in daily struggles. The believer is also assured a broader appreciation of God’s providence through “knowledge” which helps make sense of the world’s culture and history. “Piety” measures the efforts necessary for a religious life guided tenderly out of love and devotion. And yet the Christian believer, even in the midst of an earnest and sincere religious life, must always stand in awe and reverence before the grandeur and immensity of God’s excellence, “fearing” anything that might distance the believer from God’s goodness.
Today Catholics face the challenge of abortion and other forms of fetal experimentation. The Biblical notion of marriage has yielded in the Western world to the linking of any couple and has even fallen into total neglect in favor mere habitation. Confusion increases in the very perception of human sexuality. Immigration, so important in history, has become a challenge to both justice and charity. Homelessness is blatantly visible in the alleys and vacant lots of our cities. And of course every believer continues to face the personal challenges of pride, greed, envy, anger and the other capital sins.
But believers also must accept the happy challenges of a meaningful vocation, the right spouse, the joy of children, personal involvement in one’s community, the benefits possible through business, medicine, politics, and certainly through religion. In all of these challenges and in all of these opportunities, the manifold gifts of the Holy Spirit are there to insure right judgment, to discern fruitful methods, to maintain perseverance and to rely on true religion. Tapping the Spirit’s gifts as handy resources must not be neglected!
