Orchestrating the different gifts

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

WE know that the Church is both hierarchical and charismatic in nature. As charismatic, the Church continues to receive from God through Christ in the Holy Spirit special gifts and charisms to keep the Church strong, vibrant and faithful. These gifts and charisms are first given to certain persons who have to try their best to live out those charisms for the good of the whole Church.

To be sure, these gifts and charisms are not meant only for the persons who are the direct recipients of such gifts and charisms, nor for the institutions that are inspired by these charisms. These gifts and charisms are meant for the whole Church.

While each gift and charism has its distinctive character and purpose, and those involved with it should be faithful to it, it has to be understood also that no gift and charism can stand on its own alone. It has to refer itself to the hierarchy of the Church and to the other gifts and charisms that the whole Church has received.

Between the hierarchical and the charismatic aspects of the Church, the former has dominance over the latter, since it is the hierarchical aspect that Christ established in a visible way from the Church’s foundation, while the latter, though already present in the beginning of the Church, is largely invisible and therefore needs to be acknowledged and regulated by the former.

This means that those involved with these special gifts and charisms should submit themselves to the Church hierarchy. They should also try their best to relate themselves to those of the other gifts and charisms in the Church, so that a certain synergy can be achieved among them for the good of the whole Church. What should be avoided is to have an individualistic and isolationist outlook, and to fall into petty rivalries, envies and fault-finding among themselves.

This way, they live out what St. Paul said about the different parts of the body that work together under the same spirit for the good of the body. These are his words: “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

“We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is show mercy, do it cheerfully.” (Rom 12,4-8)

Obviously, the hierarchy has the great responsibility not only of supervising and encouraging those with these special gifts and charisms, but also and more importantly of orchestrating all these gifts and charisms so that the ideal synergy can be achieved among all of them for the good of the Church.

The practical implications of this concern can be that those in the hierarchy should develop the keen interest in knowing more about each of these special gifts and charisms, spending time with those involved, knowing and monitoring the developments in those charism-inspired institutions, etc.

Those of the hierarchy obviously have many things on their plate, but this fact does not excuse them from their grave responsibility toward those with special gifts and charisms. They have to have a pro-active attitude toward them, an attitude that should be nourished in their prayers and sacrifices.

They certainly have to thoroughly study about how to orchestrate these different gifts and charisms, always asking for guidance from the Holy Spirit.

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No spirituality has it all. That’s right. No spirituality has the exclusive right to Christianity. No spirituality can claim to be the only way to holiness. No matter how effective and appropriate to some people, no spirituality can claim a universal coverage of all the faithful in the Church.

But, yes, each spirituality can be the only way to holiness for some people, for that is what is truly meant for them.

That, of course, is something that only God can judge.

And so we cannot make judgments as to whether a person is meant for this particular spirituality or that. That matter is between God and the person concerned alone. It’s a matter of conscience. And so we just have to respect one another in this matter and offer some help, if we can.

There are different spiritualities in the Church and in the world. There’s the religious spirituality that can lend itself to many variations—Jesuit, Redemptorist, Dominican, etc., and the lay spirituality. But even if we already have a good number of spiritualities, we can never say that we already have reached the maximum and that no other new spirituality that can found. That would be tying the hands of the Holy Spirit.

Ours is, of course, to discern what spirituality is proper to us. For this, we need to be most judicious, going deep into prayer and contemplation to know God’s will and availing of all the means to help us see the spirituality most appropriate for us. This is a very important task that each one of us should give due attention and effort. In fact, this the most important task of our life here on earth.

And given that we already have a good idea of the spirituality meant for us, we should, of course, embrace it and live it as faithfully as possible. But we have to realize that we have to be not only respectful of the other spiritualities, including those that may be different and in some ways and practices in conflict with ours, but also know how to work together with them for the good of all.

In other words, no spirituality should be so isolated and detached from the others that it would have no relation with them. To clarify, it might be good to remit some words of St. Paul in this regard, to wit:

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and still another the interpretation of tongues.

“All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.

“For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.” (1 Cor 12,4-14)

Let us hope that each one of us is faithful to the spirituality meant for him, and knows how to work or interact with those of the other spiritualities for the good of whole Church, the mystical body of Christ.

E-mail: roycimagala@gmail.com