Applying the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit to Our Work - Part 3
We're continuing our series about applying the Seven Gifts of the
Holy Spirit to our work by first considering each gift in order, using
the solid foundation of this
oldest of novenas to help us understand each. Then we'll try to
apply our understanding and see how each gift can help guide us each day
as we strive to work for the greater glory of God.
Today we consider Fortitude, beginning with how this gift is presented to us in the Novena to the Holy Spirit:
"By the gift of Fortitude the soul is strengthened against natural fear, and supported to the end in the performance of duty. Fortitude imparts to the will an impulse and energy which move it to undertake without hesitancy the most arduous tasks, to face dangers, to trample under foot human respect, and to endure without complaint the slow martyrdom of even lifelong tribulation..."
All of us are called to be diligent in carrying out the duties of our state of life. Whether you're single, married, or a member of the clergy or religious order, fortitude will bolster your mind, body, and spirit no matter the nature of the work you do. And it's efficacy is not restricted to facing physical or spiritual threats.
For example, fortitude may help a police officer find the calmness and steadiness he or she needs when facing physical danger. But it may also assist them when they face the mountains of paper cops are required to submit for virtually every action they take in the course of their duties on patrol, whether it's having to use their service weapon, responding to a call for domestic abuse, or giving a ticket to a motorist for a moving violation.
The work of a parish priest may find him assaulted by temptations to purity in the course of his interactions with his flock; or discouragement when attendance at Sunday Mass is sparse; perhaps disappointment if his next assignment takes him to a rural part of his Diocese, far from family and friends and the life he knew growing up in a bustling metropolis. Fortitude helps him resist temptations, reinvigorates his desire to spread the Good News despite the seeming disinterest of his parishioners, focuses his attention away from his personal preferences and onto the needs of those in his flock.
If you have a family to support, you'll have many uses for the gift of fortitude. Let's look at two seemingly opposite circumstances that might illustrate our point.
If you earn very little, barely providing a modest security for your family, you might require fortitude simply to get up each morning and, without feeling sorry for yourself, apply yourself diligently to work that yields meager rewards. Having been in this situation, I can attest that the anxiety of staying one step ahead of your needed expenses, day after day, week after week, month after month - even year after year - can wear you out with anxiety. Fortitude helps you buck up, not seek immediate and constant comfort by - well, use your imagination - and simply grit your teeth and grind it out.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you happen to earn good money - maybe even great money - you'll likely be assaulted by all sorts of temptations ranging from the relatively innocent "sitting on our laurels" to things like overindulgence in material comforts, and much worse (again you can use your imagination). You'll need strength to resist such temptations and if you're a serious Catholic you know that with our fallen natures, we'd be foolish to rely on ourselves here. By the grace of God we are saved, and the Gift of the Holy Spirit we call Fortitude will be one manifestation of His grace.
Aside from how much you make, we all need strength from time to time to apply ourselves diligently and persistently to the work at hand, especially when it's tedious, not very interesting, or simply so difficult that we can't quite figure out how to begin to get the assignment completed. Maybe we've decided we need to take a risk to advance our career, or simply to secure the one we have, but we hold back due to fear of failure. Or perhaps we're too concerned with what others think of us (human respect).
Here, as the Novena instructs us, Fortitude "imparts to the will an impulse and energy which move it to undertake without hesitancy the most arduous tasks, to face dangers, to trample under foot human respect, and to endure without complaint the slow martyrdom of even lifelong tribulation..."
Depending on what we do, the work day can bring a wide range of challenges. From the physical dangers faced by the likes of police officers to the tedium of mundane tapping on computer key boards to execute the necessary tasks that keep the business flowing, Fortitude will intercede and keep us on our toes - ready, willing and able to do whatever it takes to perform out duties forthwith, effectively and efficiently. Frankly, I find myself praying for this gift sometimes every day, given my natural inclinations to avoid the unpleasant, if not the outright dangerous.
I hope you will avail yourself of this Gift of the Holy Spirit at least as needed if not every day. Remember, our bodies are Temples of the Holy Spirit, which means, quite literally, that He dwells within us (as long as we are in the state of grace). Getting in touch is much simpler than connecting with just about anyone else in our lives. We don't have to wait to pray the Novena, or even to pray in any formal way at all. However we speak - vocally, mentally, emotionally, He's always listening.
Next time we continue our discussion of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit with the gift of Knowledge.
Until then, we pray
Today we consider Fortitude, beginning with how this gift is presented to us in the Novena to the Holy Spirit:
"By the gift of Fortitude the soul is strengthened against natural fear, and supported to the end in the performance of duty. Fortitude imparts to the will an impulse and energy which move it to undertake without hesitancy the most arduous tasks, to face dangers, to trample under foot human respect, and to endure without complaint the slow martyrdom of even lifelong tribulation..."
All of us are called to be diligent in carrying out the duties of our state of life. Whether you're single, married, or a member of the clergy or religious order, fortitude will bolster your mind, body, and spirit no matter the nature of the work you do. And it's efficacy is not restricted to facing physical or spiritual threats.
For example, fortitude may help a police officer find the calmness and steadiness he or she needs when facing physical danger. But it may also assist them when they face the mountains of paper cops are required to submit for virtually every action they take in the course of their duties on patrol, whether it's having to use their service weapon, responding to a call for domestic abuse, or giving a ticket to a motorist for a moving violation.
The work of a parish priest may find him assaulted by temptations to purity in the course of his interactions with his flock; or discouragement when attendance at Sunday Mass is sparse; perhaps disappointment if his next assignment takes him to a rural part of his Diocese, far from family and friends and the life he knew growing up in a bustling metropolis. Fortitude helps him resist temptations, reinvigorates his desire to spread the Good News despite the seeming disinterest of his parishioners, focuses his attention away from his personal preferences and onto the needs of those in his flock.
If you have a family to support, you'll have many uses for the gift of fortitude. Let's look at two seemingly opposite circumstances that might illustrate our point.
If you earn very little, barely providing a modest security for your family, you might require fortitude simply to get up each morning and, without feeling sorry for yourself, apply yourself diligently to work that yields meager rewards. Having been in this situation, I can attest that the anxiety of staying one step ahead of your needed expenses, day after day, week after week, month after month - even year after year - can wear you out with anxiety. Fortitude helps you buck up, not seek immediate and constant comfort by - well, use your imagination - and simply grit your teeth and grind it out.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you happen to earn good money - maybe even great money - you'll likely be assaulted by all sorts of temptations ranging from the relatively innocent "sitting on our laurels" to things like overindulgence in material comforts, and much worse (again you can use your imagination). You'll need strength to resist such temptations and if you're a serious Catholic you know that with our fallen natures, we'd be foolish to rely on ourselves here. By the grace of God we are saved, and the Gift of the Holy Spirit we call Fortitude will be one manifestation of His grace.
Aside from how much you make, we all need strength from time to time to apply ourselves diligently and persistently to the work at hand, especially when it's tedious, not very interesting, or simply so difficult that we can't quite figure out how to begin to get the assignment completed. Maybe we've decided we need to take a risk to advance our career, or simply to secure the one we have, but we hold back due to fear of failure. Or perhaps we're too concerned with what others think of us (human respect).
Here, as the Novena instructs us, Fortitude "imparts to the will an impulse and energy which move it to undertake without hesitancy the most arduous tasks, to face dangers, to trample under foot human respect, and to endure without complaint the slow martyrdom of even lifelong tribulation..."
Depending on what we do, the work day can bring a wide range of challenges. From the physical dangers faced by the likes of police officers to the tedium of mundane tapping on computer key boards to execute the necessary tasks that keep the business flowing, Fortitude will intercede and keep us on our toes - ready, willing and able to do whatever it takes to perform out duties forthwith, effectively and efficiently. Frankly, I find myself praying for this gift sometimes every day, given my natural inclinations to avoid the unpleasant, if not the outright dangerous.
I hope you will avail yourself of this Gift of the Holy Spirit at least as needed if not every day. Remember, our bodies are Temples of the Holy Spirit, which means, quite literally, that He dwells within us (as long as we are in the state of grace). Getting in touch is much simpler than connecting with just about anyone else in our lives. We don't have to wait to pray the Novena, or even to pray in any formal way at all. However we speak - vocally, mentally, emotionally, He's always listening.
Next time we continue our discussion of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit with the gift of Knowledge.
Until then, we pray
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy Love.
Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created.
And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
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