Charisms are free gifts of the Holy Spirit to help Catholics live out their life in the Church. From the Greek word for “gratuitous gift”, charismatic graces are given to build up the Body of Christ and the Kingdom of God here on Earth.
The Holy Spirit gives every Christian special gifts or talents which allow them to be powerful instruments of God’s love. These charismatic graces help them manifest God’s presence in the world and contribute to the salvation of others.
Charismatic gifts are not traits inherited from parents or skills achieved through training and practice, but are special abilities given freely by the Holy Spirit as He chooses.
Unlike the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying gifts which are for the Christian’s own good, helping them grow in their own holiness and preparing them for Heaven, charisms are for the good of others and of the Church.
Because they are supernaturally empowered signs of the transcendent character of the Gospel and divine nature of the Church, charismatic gifts can be extraordinary. They can also be quite ordinary.
The Bible lists several charisms including expressions of wisdom and knowledge, faith, prophecy, ministry, teaching, preaching, almsgiving, acts of mercy, healing, miracles, speaking and interpreting tongues, and discernment of spirits.
In addition to the charisms found in Sacred Scripture, there are a variety of unique charisms that the Holy Spirit may give to manifest his presence in the Church and in the world.
While it might seem as if charisms were only evident as powerful signs and wonders during the earliest days of the Church, Catholic men and women have exhibited them throughout the history of the Church, especially during times of renewal.
All Catholics have the right and duty to use the Charisms that God has given them, and should discern their own charisms and develop them under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. They are essential for the Church to carry out the mission of Jesus.
Charisms are free gifts of the Holy Spirt:
Major avenues for the Holy Spirit to manifest in the world:
Gifts given to be used for others:
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another the expression 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 mighty deeds; to another prophecy; to another discernment of spirits; to another varieties of tongues; to another interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as He wishes.
1 Corinthians 12: 4-11
Special charismatic graces from the Holy Spirit:
Gifts that can be unsettling:
Whether extraordinary or simple and humble, charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit which directly or indirectly benefit the Church, ordered as they are to her building up, to the good of men, and to the needs of the world.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 799
Gifts from the Holy Spirit for particular works:
Each person is given a particular charism:
Not every Catholic has the same charisms:
It is not only through the sacraments and the ministries of the Church that the Holy Spirit sanctifies and leads the people of God and enriches it with virtues, but, “allotting his gifts to everyone according as He wills, He distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank. By these gifts He makes them fit and ready to undertake the various tasks and offices which contribute toward the renewal and building up of the Church, according to the words of the Apostle: “The manifestation of the Spirit is given to everyone for profit”. These charisms, whether they be the more outstanding or the more simple and widely diffused, are to be received with thanksgiving and consolation for they are perfectly suited to and useful for the needs of the Church. Extraordinary gifts are not to be sought after, nor are the fruits of apostolic labor to be presumptuously expected from their use; but judgment as to their genuinity and proper use belongs to those who are appointed leaders in the Church, to whose special competence it belongs, not indeed to extinguish the Spirit, but to test all things and hold fast to that which is good.
Pope Paul VI, Lumen Gentium, 21 November 1964
All charisms are essential to the mission of the Church:
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