By DON FIER
Wisdom, the first and loftiest of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, is “a spiritual gift which enables one to know the purpose and plan of God” (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], Glossary). Under the direct influence of an interior movement of the Holy Spirit, one is able to “judge rightly concerning God and divine things through their ultimate and highest causes” (Fr. Jordan Aumann, OP, Spiritual Theology [SpT], pp. 270-271).
Far surpassing human wisdom, which is the fruit of study and experience, it is precisely this gift that Solomon requested of our Lord as he ascended to the throne of his father David (see 1 Kings 3:9): the ability to see and judge all things through the eyes of God. Wisdom is a certain connaturality with the divine which the psalmist refers to when he says: “O taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Psalm 34:8).
The supernatural gift of wisdom, as we saw last week, is inseparable from the theological virtue of charity. Charity, a faculty of the will, is perfected by wisdom; wisdom itself, however, resides in the intellect. As explained by St. Thomas Aquinas, “Wisdom has its cause in the will . . . but it has its essence in the intellect, whose act is to judge aright” (Summa Theologiae [STh] II-II, Q. 45, art. 2). It is a practical wisdom which guides one in judging human matters according to the mind of God; likewise, it aids one in contemplating the things of God and growing in union with Him.
“With this gift,” says Fr. William Saunders, PhD, “even an ‘uneducated soul’ can possess the most profound knowledge of the divine” (Straight Answers II [SA-II], p. 87). He proposes St. Therese of Lisieux as an example. She died at a tender age with no formal education in theology, but was wise to the ways of the Lord and was declared a doctor of the Church.
As has been highlighted several times throughout this series, the Second Vatican Council placed special emphasis on the “universal call to holiness” (see Lumen Gentium, nn. 39-42). Similarly, many learned theologians and spiritual writers throughout the ages have affirmed that all are called to the heights of sanctity, a sanctity that is possible only through correspondence with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the highest of which is wisdom. Why, then, is there so little evidence of people being guided by divine wisdom in the world in which we live?
Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, OP, in his spiritual classic entitled The Three Ages of the Interior Life (TAI), asks an attendant question that each of us would do well to consider as Lent 2016 begins: “How is it possible that so many persons, after living forty or fifty years in the state of grace, receiving Holy Communion frequently, give almost no indication of the gifts of the Holy Ghost in their conduct and actions, take offense at a trifle, show great eagerness for praise, and live a very natural life?” (p. 233).
While it is true that such souls are, thanks be to God, avoiding serious sin (or quickly availing themselves of the Sacrament of Penance if they fall), something important is missing. Why are not the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are present in all baptized persons in the state of grace, operative in their daily life? Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange suggests that “this condition springs from venial sins [and deliberate imperfections] which they often commit without any concern for them” (ibid.).
Using an analogy, Father goes on to explain that these offenses against an all-loving, all-merciful God — and the unruly inclinations that arise from them — hold these souls earthbound. The gifts of the Holy Spirit, like the wings of a great bird that are tightly secured to his body by a rope, cannot spread so as to lift the soul toward holiness. More than likely, these souls do not maintain a regular prayer life or practice silent recollection; the promptings of the Holy Spirit thus pass by unperceived — inordinate passions and the things of the world hold them in a state of spiritual inertia. To souls such as these are addressed the words, “Today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” (Heb. 3:15).
The second supernatural gift of the Holy Spirit is that of understanding. Fr. Aumann defines it as a gift “to give deeper insight and penetration of divine truths held by faith, not as a transitory enlightenment but as a permanent intuition” (SpT, p. 97). It enables the mind to grasp revealed truths easily and profoundly. As Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ, states, “It differs from faith because it gives insight into the meaning of what a person believes, whereas faith, as such, merely assents to what God has revealed” (Modern Catholic Dictionary [MCD], p. 231).
Just as the gift of wisdom perfects the virtue of charity, the gift of understanding brings the virtue of faith to perfection. In a manner of speaking, it “penetrates beneath the surface” of what has been revealed. The gift of understanding discloses the hidden meaning of Sacred Scripture by illuminating the mind with divinely intended connections between the Old Testament and New, reveals the significance of symbols and figures (e.g., manna as prefiguring the Eucharist), opens the mind to the meaning of the parables, shows the hand of God at work and gives meaning to life’s most mysterious events, and reveals spiritual realities that underlie sensible appearances (cf. SA-II, pp. 86-87). As expressed by St. Thomas, “the (mind’s) eye being cleansed by the gift of understanding, we can, so to speak, see God” (STh I-II, Q. 69, art. 2, ad 3).
Fr. Hardon characterizes the gift of understanding as producing three principal effects in those in whom it is operative: 1) they are able to penetrate to the very core of revealed truths, without fully comprehending their meaning; 2) they are confirmed in their belief by acquiring great certitude in the revealed word of God; and 3) they are brought to the knowledge of a greater number of truths by drawing numerous conclusions from revealed principles (cf. MCD, p. 231).
Although the supernatural gift of understanding does not give us a full comprehension of the sublime mysteries of our faith (e.g., the Most Holy Trinity, the Incarnation, etc.), it enables us to see that they are in accord with reason and greatly confirms motives of credibility.
Following the thought of St. Thomas (see STh II-II, Q. 8, art. 1), Fr. Adolphe Tanquerey, DD, further explains how the gift of understanding enables us to penetrate into the very core of revealed truths in six different ways: 1) it discloses the substance hidden beneath the accidents; 2) it explains the meaning hidden beneath the words; 3) it makes manifest the mysterious signification of sensible signs; 4) it makes us lay hold of the spiritual realities contained beneath outward appearances; 5) causes us to see the spiritual effects contained in their cause; and 6) lets us see the cause through their effects (cf. The Spiritual Life, pp. 627-628).
We saw last week how the gift of wisdom corresponds to the seventh beatitude: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matt. 5:9).
According to the thought of St. Augustine, the gift of understanding corresponds to the sixth beatitude: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8). Quoting St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas writes: “The sixth work of the Holy Ghost which is understanding, is applicable to the clean of heart, whose eye being purified, they can see what eye hath not seen” (STh II-II, Q. 8, art. 7).
The pure of heart permit their minds to be cleansed of all error, of all heretical thoughts. They are able to receive the truth of God in all its purity. Outside of the beatific vision, which will not be experienced until the life to come, they are most able to perceive God as He is.
Interior Recollection
What must we do to best dispose ourselves to allow the Holy Spirit to actuate the gift of understanding in its fullness? Fr. Aumann proposes five principal means by which we might best prepare ourselves:
1) the practice of an authentic faith through correspondence with ordinary grace — to do all we can by diligently exercising the infused virtues; 2) by striving for perfect purity of soul and body — by a determined effort to live the sixth beatitude; 3) by practicing interior recollection — detach oneself from created things and enter into the quiet of your heart where the Indwelling Trinity awaits, especially in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament; 4) through fidelity to grace — strive never to ignore opportunities to offer sacrifices and avoid at all costs any thought, word, or action that “would grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30); and 5) with great regularity, invoke the Holy Spirit with the utmost possible fervor — implore the intercession of the Most Holy Virgin, heavenly spouse of the Holy Spirit and the universal Mediatrix of all graces.
To be sure, actuation of the gift of understanding — as is true for all the gifts — cannot be accomplished on our own; it depends entirely on the Holy Spirit. However, we can be confident that He will come to our aid if we do all we can to properly dispose ourselves.
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(Don Fier serves on the board of directors for The Catholic Servant, a Minneapolis-based monthly publication. He and his wife are the parents of seven children. Fier is a 2009 graduate of Ave Maria University’s Institute for Pastoral Theology. He is doing research for writing a definitive biography of Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ.)
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