Editor’s note: This article is a continuation of Bishop Kagan’s commentary (which began in the Aug. 2021 issue) on his recent pastoral letter regarding knowledge of the Catholic faith.
This month, I will comment on part one of my recent pastoral letter, which is addressed to all the Christian faithful, namely, all clergy, consecrated religious and Catholic laity. However, before I do so allow me to give the correct and complete answer to last month’s question: the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord. I urge all to read the section in the Catechism of the Catholic Church on confirmation as it gives an excellent explanation of the essential connection between the three sacraments of initiation (CCC, 1285-1321).
Since I address all the Christian faithful at the beginning of the pastoral letter, what I say applies to you, to me and to every Catholic in our diocese, no matter our ages or our particular vocations. This is most important since each of us has received, from the Lord, a specific vocation as priest, consecrated religious, married Catholic or single Catholic and these specific vocations are all grounded on our baptismal vocation to holiness of life.
As you read the pastoral letter, you will note the ample use of Sacred Scripture from the Gospels and the Epistles and then the ample use of the Catechism to underscore the holy tradition of our Church in its understanding and living the truth of the Gospel in full communion with the apostolic faith. Again, it is in baptism that we are cleansed of original sin, immediately incorporated into the Body of Christ, and receive our first and life-long vocation to holiness. Saint Paul teaches that in baptism we are clothed with Christ (cf. Gal 3: 27) which makes us holy and sets us on that path of holiness.
Our present age, like all ages before this one, is afflicted with the ways of the world and especially the great temptation to limit or eliminate God from daily life. The advances in communication technology seem to highlight this danger by the way many Catholics use the internet as the sole source of their information about the things Catholic. As I note, this is a real danger since it has created a kind of artificial catholicism with a small “c.” The internet is not the place to learn about our faith and our Church. Sacred Scripture and holy tradition give us all we need to continue to live our vocation to holiness of life in our particular vocations. We have the responsibility to keep our faith and vocations strong and vibrant by our daily prayer, our study and our works of mercy.
Meditate on St. Paul’s exhortation in the Epistle to the Romans 12: 2. All of us can and must do this if we claim to be Catholic.
Question: Name the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit.
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Last month’s question: Name the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Answer: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord
To read the pastoral letter online go to the diocesan website at bismarckdiocese.com/letters and scroll to the bottom of the page.