Loading...Last week I introduced Lent Madness 2021 with a new twist. Specifically, this year instead of a play-by-play of the progress in the voting, I will be exploring the workings of the Holy Spirit in the lives of these 32 saints.
This does not minimize the educational and entertainment aspects of Lent Madness. You should definitely participate in the daily voting and cheer for your favorites. I will certainly be doing that! There are quite a few lesser-known saints this year, so it will be fascinating to see who are the favorites and who ultimately wins the Golden Halo.
When Joe John asked me to write another Lent Madness blog, and, as he always does, challenged me to take a fresh look at the competition, I decided this would be a good opportunity to see how the lives of these holy people reflected the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
To begin, let’s clarify the difference between the gifts and the fruit of the Holy Spirit. All baptized Christians receive the gifts of the Spirit in the sacrament of Baptism. Does everyone have all the gifts all of the time? St. Paul, who is the subject matter expert on the workings of the Holy Spirit says,
“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 to 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.” (1 Cor. 12: 8-11).
Not everyone is a prophet, nor a healer, etc. The distribution of the gifts is as diverse as the men and women who constitute the church.
While the gifts are selectively given by the Spirit, all receive the fruit of the Spirit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Stated another way, the fruit is evidence that the Holy Spirit is working in that person’s life regardless of their gift. However, without the fruit of the Spirit, there is no value to the gift of the Spirit.
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. (1 Cor. 13:1)
One final important point is that we cannot just sit back and expect these fruits to mature. The Holy Spirit expects us to commit ourselves to growing the fruit in our lives. In the following weeks, we will look at the saints from Lent Madness and try to understand how they were open to and actively involved with growing the fruit of the Spirit.
