Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Confirmation Class
Overview
 Holy Spirit
 Effect of Holy Spirit during Confirmation
 Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit
 Transforms us, leads us, guides us, and inspires us
 Source of holiness, our comforter and advocate
 Gives life to the individual believer and to the whole
Church
 Leads us to truth, guiding the work of the Church
 The bishop’s laying on of hands while praying the
epiclesis is a symbol of God’s warm embrace of those
with when he shares his own divine life through the
gift of the Holy Spirit
Effect of Confirmation
 A seal or character imparted on the soul (so this
sacrament may not be repeated), and
 A strengthening of actual grace so that the recipient is
enable to fearlessly profess the faith and fight against
temptation
 One of the effects of the sacrament is that "it gives us
a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and
defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses
of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and
never to be ashamed of the Cross“ -- making the
confirmed person "a soldier of Christ"
Gifts of the Holy Spirit
 Capabilities or dispositions that help us grow in our
relationships with God and others
 We believe the Holy Spirit …
•
•
•
•
•
lives in us,
acts through us,
assists us,
strengthens us and
guides us
Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Wonder
and Awe
Wisdom
Reverence
Understanding
Right
Judgment
Knowledge
Courage
Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Wisdom
 This is where you combine the knowledge and
understanding and apply it to your life
 The spirit enables you to understand more deeply the
truths of faith and to discover their intimate meaning,
their hidden treasures and sublime harmonies
 You comprehend that there is no contradiction be
between rational truths and the divine mysteries
Social Life
Work
Sports
Describe how wisdom, in your
personal life, has served you well
Home Life
Personal Life
Family
Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Understanding
 This is where we apply the knowledge to our lives
 Enables us to understand created things in their
relation to God
 Understanding helps us become aware of God's
plan for us
Social Life
Work
Sports
Describe how understanding, in
your personal life, has served
you well
Home Life
Personal Life
Family
Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Knowledge
 This is knowing the facts (e.g., the difference
between Old and New Testament, the seven
sacraments, the books of the Gospel, etc.)
 The believer in whom the Gift of Knowledge is
active will recognize, when confronted with facts,
ideas, circumstance, or any created being, what is
in harmony with the truths of Faith
Social Life
Work
Sports
Describe how knowledge, in your
personal life, has served you well
Home Life
Personal Life
Family
Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Right Judgment
 Judgment is what we should do or not do in a
specific situation
 It deepens and perfects our human power of
deliberation
 We are more sensitive to the movement of the Holy
Spirit so with become motivated to act
 Avails us to the guiding insights and direction of the
Holy Spirit
Social Life
Work
Sports
Describe how judgment, in your
personal life, has served you well
Home Life
Personal Life
Family
Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Courage
 Enables you to undertake without hesitation, and to
carry on their ultimate ends, the most arduous
tasks for God’s glory and the good of souls
 Kind of firmness of mind and spirit that we need for
doing good and for enduring evil
 This gift is especially evident in the lives of the
martyrs
Social Life
Work
Sports
Describe how courage, in your
personal life, has served you well
Home Life
Personal Life
Family
Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Reverence
 The Holy Spirit himself enables us to come to God
paying the kind of homage and worship that is
appropriate and best
 Creates a love toward God as our Father, and
sentiments of fraternal love toward our neighbor,
including those who may have wronged us
 Total dedication to God’s glory and the good of
souls
Social Life
Work
Sports
Describe how reverence, in your
personal life, has served you well
Home Life
Personal Life
Family
Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Wonder and Awe
 Creates a fear which does not interfere with an
intimate union with God, our Father, but which
keeps us away from anything which might offend
God
 Leads us to withdraw from any evil and abstain
from any action that would ever offend God or
impair our relationship with Him
 Inspires us to reject all unwarranted affections and
discipline our senses
Social Life
Work
Sports
Describe how “wonder and awe,”
in your personal life, has served
you well
Home Life
Personal Life
Family
Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Synopsis of the Gifts
to acknowledge the awesome
power and holiness of God and
consequently, to dread our sins
to love god
and obey
Him because
we love Him
to desire the things of God
and to direct our life to the
His honor and glory
Wonder
and Awe
Reverence
superior knowledge of God
as a lovable Being, and an
appreciation of all created
things in God
Wisdom
Holy
Spirit
Knowledge
Understanding
to know more
clearly the
mysteries of our
Faith
Judgment
Courage
warns us of the
deceits of the devil,
and of dangers to
salvation
the strength to do the will of God
As a Result of These Gifts
This Sacrament’s effect “is the full outpouring of the Holy
Spirit as once granted to the apostles on the day of
Pentecost” (1302-1303)
• Brings an increase and deepening of baptismal grace
• Unites us more firmly to Christ
• A full outpouring of the Holy Spirit into the soul
• Renders our bond with the Church more perfect
• Gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread
and defend the faith by word and action as true
witnesses of Christ, to confess the Name of Christ
boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross”
• It gives an indelible mark or character
Calling of the Confirmed
 Defender of the Faith
Living the Faith
• You are called to know your Faith, the teachings of
the Holy Church, and be willing and able to defend
the Faith against those who would attack it
 Defender of the Faith
Living the Faith
• You are called to know your
Faith, the teachings of the
Holy Church, and be willing
and able to defend the Faith
against those who would attack it
Summary
 Holy Spirit
 Effect of Holy Spirit during Confirmation
 Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Backup Slides
Small Group Exercise
 Divide into small groups
 Designate a Recorder and a Reporter
 You have 10 minutes to answer the following
questions
• Who is the wisest person you know?
• What are some qualities of a wise person?
 Reporter will share results with the group