Fr. Frank Majka, SJ – The Bridge

Overlooked Gifts

The Holy Spirit bestows many gifts on us. That’s what the first letter to the Corinthians says (chapter 12). In general, though, we probably don’t pay as much attention to our gifts as we should. After all, we live in a critical culture and probably grew up more aware of our deficiencies than our gifts.

But we should recognize and appreciate the gifts we’ve been given. We should be grateful for our talents of mind, heart and body, our abilities to be creative, express ourselves effectively and love others. At the same time, there are two gifts that we may easily overlook: our prayer and our good desires.

St. Ignatius Loyola certainly considered them to be very important gifts from the Holy Spirit. In the constitutions of the Society of Jesus, he wrote that the leaders of Jesuit communities and works very much needed to have these gifts. They were as essential as talents for organization and clear thinking. Similarly, our relationship with God in prayer and the desires that flow from that relationship are important gifts for us, the people whose lives we touch and the work we want to do.

If you’ve never considered your prayer and good desires as gifts from God, then give some time to thinking about how important they are. And as you start to appreciate more deeply that they are indeed gifts given for your own benefit and that of others, be sure to thank God for them.