REMEMBER: Natural talents are just that: “natural”! They can be attributed to the natural genetic material existing within all of us, passed down from generation to generation. Spiritual gifts, on the other hand, come directly from the Spirit of God; that's why they are called “gifts” in the first place!
Charisms: Charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit which directly or indirectly benefit the Church, ordered as they are to her building up, to the good of men, and to the needs of the world (CCC 799).
Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit (Catholic Tradition)
Wisdom/Understanding/Counsel/Fortitude/Knowledge/Piety/Fear of God
Dynamic Catholic Decision Point : “Finding Your Mission – Episode 11.4”
Small Group Discussion question:
Encountering your Spiritual Gifts
Cure for the Common Life- Living in your sweet spot (Max Lucado)
Sweet Spot- We all have one
- To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good (1 Cor 12:7)
- God endows us with gifts so we can make his goodness known to the world
- Your ability unveils your destiny
Our Challenge
- Use your uniqueness (what you do)
- to honor God (why you do it)
- every day of your life (where you do it)
Use your Uniqueness to worship and honor God every day
God gave us the tools to do the job
- You can do something no one else can do in your unique way
Our past presents our future
- We are set apart for a special work
- God’s design leads to our destiny
Study your S.T.O.R.Y
- What are your strengths (verbs/ to accomplish results)
- What is your topic (nouns/objects you enjoy working with)
- What triggers your optimal conditions (trigger motivation)
- What about relationships (how do you best relate to people)
- Yes (God created me to do this)
Success not defined by status/wealth (Be content with who you are)
Use your Uniqueness to worship and honor God every day
Use your uniqueness to take great risks for God
- God gives gifts abundantly
- The only mistake to risk is not making one
God is with us; We are not alone
- Use our spiritual gifts with the help of the Holy Spirit to build God’s Kingdom
Honest worship of God
- Lifts our eyes from self and lifts them to God
- We worship God because we need to
Join God’s family of friends
- Find your place in Church/Community/Family
God grants us an uncommon life to the degree we surrender the common one
- When we empty ourselves God has a useful vessel
Use your Uniqueness to worship and honor God every day
Take delight in your work
- Take Christ to work with you
Pause on Purpose
- Jesus escaped the noise of the crowd to hear the voice of the Father
Trust little deeds
- God does uncommon works through common deeds
Don’t be Too Big to Do Something Small
- God’s cure for the common life includes service
- Jesus came to serve
Think back on your life and on those times when you used your God-given spiritual gifts and abilities to make God’s goodness present in your life known through your service to others. Describe one example on how you used your uniqueness (what you do) to honor God (why you do it) every day of your life (where you do it)-
- (Reference “Cure for the Common Life- Living in your Sweet Spot” by Max Lucado).
Situation:
List some details on how you went about doing it:
What felt most satisfying to you?
Take this example and what this reveals about your spiritual gifts to share your S.T.O.R.Y
(Reference “Cure for the Common Life- Living in your Sweet Spot” by Max Lucado).
Strengths- What I naturally do to accomplish what I love to do.
Topics- What things I prefer to work on.
Optimal Conditions- Where and When I am most engaged.
Relationships- How I appear to relate to others.
(My) Yes- Primary outcomes that brought the most satisfaction and joy
Called and Gifted Workshop - Catherine of Sienna Institute
All three parts of the process are necessary for discovering where you are gifted.
Part One is the Called and Gifted workshop, which lays the foundation for the beginning of discernment.
Part Two is the one hour “Gifts Interview”, an invaluable part of the process.
Part Three helps you begin discernment in the real world. It will teach you how to:
- develop charism experiments
- evaluate your results
- identify ways you learned to control life as a child that get in the way of using
your charisms as an adult.
Discover Your Gifts
Here are nine ideas to help you discover some of your not-so-obvious gifts.
Ask others to let you know. Sometimes we don’t see in ourselves what others can see in us. Ask a friend, relative, or Church leader to write you a note about a gift or talent they see in you.
Look for gifts in adversity. During hard times we can choose between letting our best qualities or our worst qualities come out. When times are tough, focus on discovering and using your best qualities and gifts.
Pray for the help to recognize your gifts. Heavenly Father knows our divine potential. If we have a difficult time seeing that in ourselves, He can help. You can pray for help to recognize your gifts.
Don’t be afraid to branch out. Do we only develop the gifts that we already know we have because we’re too afraid to do something we haven’t done before? Now’s the time to try something new and discover unknown gifts.
Search the word of God. Heavenly Father helps us discover and develop our gifts through clues found in the scriptures—usually through invitations to act. Take this scripture for example: “Cease to contend one with another; cease to speak evil one of another” (D&C 136:23). What gifts could you develop from this invitation? The gift of speaking kind words, the gift to calm others, the gift of restraint, and more. And that’s just from one verse!
Look outside yourself. Sometimes our best qualities come out when we’re not focusing on ourselves but focusing instead on how we can work with and help others. When we do that, we’ll see that we have many Christlike gifts.
Think about people you look up to. Who are some of your role models? You can make a list of all of the gifts your role models have and, instead of focusing on which gifts you don’t have in common, celebrate discovering the ones you do.
Reflect on your family. What gifts do you have that your siblings, parents, or grandparents have too? Go further! Research family history, discover stories, and identify even more gifts you share with your family.
Receive and study your patriarchal blessing. Your blessing could talk about gifts you have and should develop, and it could also point you to the path that will lead to the discovery of other new gifts and talents.
https://activateyourbaptism.com - Catholic
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