Gifts of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is not distant—He dwells within you. In this powerful reflection, we explore the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit—wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord—and what they look like in the life of a man striving to live with purpose, faith, and conviction. These aren’t abstract ideas—they are real tools given by God to guide your decisions, strengthen your character, and shape your life at home, at work, and in the world. The challenge is simple: recognize them, activate them, and live them.
MC: Steve Larsen
Presenter: Jonathan Larsen
Brought to you By: The Knights of Columbus
Jackson Michigan & Surrounding Area Catholic Parishes
Queen of the Miraculous Medal: https://queenschurch.com/
St John the Evangelist: https://saintjohnjackson.org/
St Mary Star of the Sea: https://stmaryjackson.com/
St Joseph Oratory: https://saintjohnjackson.org/new-here/st-joseph-the-worker-oratory/
Our Lady of Fatima: http://www.fatimaparish.net/
St Rita: http://www.stritacatholicparish.com/
St Catherine: https://stcatherinelaboureconcord.org/
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The biggest one, that is the National Day of Prayer for Jackson. It was, Jackson's been divided up into several different parks, where people will be praying. We have decided that we would, our location would be May 7th, that's Thursday, May 7th, at noon.
If you're not working, at Nixon Park, right across the street from St. John's Playground. St. John's Community Playground. There's a little flyer here, if you're interested in doing that.
In addition to that, for the same week, this week, the 3rd through the 10th, is a walk in Jackson. Jackson has been divided up into several one-mile walks, sections. The section that we have is out on the east end of Gansey Street.
You turn left on Horton Road. I've got a little map here, and that can be any time during the week. Again, there's a little map here on the section that we have.
Anywhere from the 3rd to the 10th, this whole week. The idea is, if you walk this block, at your own leisure, and pray for Jackson. Maybe the people of Jackson stay safe, and for the betterment of Jackson.
We have two scheduled times. Our council, and this doesn't necessarily have to be a council thing. It isn't necessarily a nice thing.
It isn't necessarily a male-female thing. Wives can be in on this. We have one scheduled time, for sure.
Our council, and you're welcome to do it at that same time. May 5th, that's this coming Monday, at 5 o'clock. Sorry? Tuesday the 5th.
Thank you, thank you. I'm sorry. Tuesday the 5th.
Yeah, Tuesday the 5th at 5 o'clock is one of the times that we're going to walk our one-mile stretch, or the one-mile section. And then the other time that we have talked it over with Joseph Gruber, and we announced we may be doing it is the 10th, Saturday, next Saturday, after core, somewhere around, this is 7 to 8, somewhere around between 8.30 and 9. We'll do it next Saturday, the same section. This section starts at Horton Road, which is out east end of Ganson, just before you get to Michigan Ave.
There's a map on the back side, I mentioned that. It starts at Horton Road, you just walk Ganson Street to Horton, just before you get to Michigan Ave, you turn left, about less than a block down on the left side, there's a huge parking lot there, and you can just park there and walk it. I'll repeat one more time, this can be done on your own, with your family, with anyone you like, your council, any combination, during the week.
Two times we have schedules for Tuesday the 5th at 5, and then next Saturday. So, I'll leave these up there, if you're interested. Is that clear? Are there any questions? Sorry to take up so much of your time.
You don't have to apologize, Mayor, thank you. Anyone else have any other announcements that we want to talk about? How's the rosary ministry coming? Good, great turnout, a lot of volunteers, a lot of residents last week, so it'll begin next week, next Saturday, we'll do another one. And I started, we went on vacation, came back last night, coming through, you have to go through, what's the tax stuff you have to come through? Customs, and then they go to my wife, hey, got anything to declare? She goes, nope.
And she looked at me, no, right? No, I got something to declare. I got the weirdest look from the customs guy. I declare I love my wife.
The customs guy goes, rolls his head, he shakes his head. My wife goes, I can't take you anyway. I have a couple stories like that too, so I appreciate that, Mark.
Alright, anyone new here today? Is there anyone new here? Alright. Is there anyone that hasn't been here in a while? I like all the pointing of that too, so I appreciate that. So one of the rules, I don't know if you guys know, but I'm a toastmaster or have been a toastmaster for a while, but you're not supposed to introduce yourself, so I'm going to actually have my dad come up and introduce me here as well.
But I'm also going to have Brandon, and I'm going to do this as close to table topics as I can do, but Brandon, can you come up and do a prayer first? Amen. Yeah, that's what my thought was. Good morning, everyone.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen. Amen. Heavenly Father, help us this morning to know your word and grow together to become closer as a family and to just focus on becoming better men of Christ.
Amen. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen. Well, gentlemen, Jonathan's taking a real big chance letting his dad introduce him.
Let's see if I can hold it together long enough to do this, but Jonathan, and I have to throw in some, I mean, he gives me a script that I'm supposed to read here, but at the same time, it took him 26 hours to come into the world, and sometimes it took him about that long, relatively speaking, in order to find his groove. But once he did, these introductions will probably tell you where his groove is and what he's going to try and share with us today. But Jonathan grew up Catholic.
He was rooted in faith from an early age at Queen of the Miraculous Medal, where going to Mass wasn't just something that the family did on Sundays. It was part of who we are. And at the same time, Jonathan then helped with the youth group and helped with other different things in church.
But that foundation has carried him through life and continues to shape the man that he is today. Professionally, Jonathan serves as, and he keeps telling me, he explains what he does, and he keeps threatening me that he has to take me out if he really tells me what he does. But he's the vice president of digital products and data standards at the Auto Care Association, and if you can say that after you've been drinking, you probably can still drive.
If you can't, then you have to find a designated driver. But anyway, where he leads that kind of work that requires both precision and vision. He knows what it means to take something complex and make it clear and useful for the people who need it most, unless it's his mother.
You'll find that the same approach in how he shares today. But perhaps what defines Jonathan most is what he's building at home. He and his wife are coming up on 10 years of marriage this July, and together they are raising three daughters, of which, another footnote, the oldest one is celebrating her first communion this Sunday out to Concord.
So, with the fourth one on the way, and I would tell you what the name is, but I'd be shot for that one too. He's a husband, a father, and a man who has said yes to a full and abundant life. He's not here today as an expert standing above us, but he's also one that likes to get his dad into more things than his dad wants to get into.
But as a brother in faith walking alongside us, sharing what the Holy Spirit has been placing on his heart. So let's please welcome my son, my oldest son, Jonathan Larson. Alright, I'm not going to lie, that's pretty cool to have your dad do an intro for you.
Brandon, thank you for the prayer. I appreciate that here as well. And then, I have to think about Joseph here, he's like, okay, where are the people going to sit? And you guys have changed it up once again of where you're going to sit, so I appreciate that.
So I've got to play around with moving back and forth from this hole here, and we'll work through that here as well. Alright brothers, I want to begin with a question. And I'd like you to sit with it for a moment before I answer it.
When was the last time you thought about the fact that the Holy Spirit actually lives within you? And I'll say it again. When was the last time you thought about the fact that the Holy Spirit actually lives within you? It's not in a distant theological sense, but truly dwells in you. Right now, in this room, the third person of the Holy Trinity has taken up residency in your soul since the day you were baptized and was strengthened and sealed in your confirmation.
We know this. We believe this. And yet, for many of us, myself included, it feels abstract, remote.
Like a truth we hold in our heads, but haven't quite let land in our hearts. Today, I want to make that concrete. I want to talk about something very specific related to the Holy Spirit, and how it brings it into your life.
The seven gifts. And one of the things that I've done in the last couple weeks is read this book. Ooh, I'm going to lose the mic.
The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit. So, Kevin Vost is one of the books that I'd recommend if you want to dive deeper into the gifts, check this book out here as well. But these gifts are drawn from the prophet Isaiah.
Chapter 11, where he describes the spirit that would rest upon the Messiah. The church, from her earliest days, has recognized that through Christ and our union with Him in baptism, these same gifts are poured into us. Isaiah 11-2 Before we begin, take a look at those handouts in front of you.
You'll see those seven gifts listed there, each with a short description. As we move through the talk, I'd encourage you to follow along. Circle the one that resonates with you.
Jot a note. Or simply let each gift land before we move to the next. At the end, you'll have a moment to use the reflection questions on the bottom half.
Hold on to it. It's yours to take home. So let's walk through each one of these gifts.
What does it mean? What does it look like in the life of a man? And why does it matter? Alright, so we're going to start with one of the seven gifts. Wisdom. The first gift, and in many ways the highest, is wisdom.
But wisdom in the spiritual sense is not simply intelligence or life experience. The gift of wisdom is the ability to see life from God's perspective. It's the grace to judge rightly about what matters and what doesn't.
A wise man doesn't just know facts. He knows what things are worth. He can cut through confusion and noise and ask, What does God want here? What is the right order of things in my life? Think about a father deciding how to spend his Saturday.
Guess what? We all get to decide what we're going to do for Saturday, right? Wisdom doesn't just manage a schedule. It orders priorities. It asks, is it what I'm chasing actually worth chasing? Am I investing my time in what lasts? Wisdom also flavors everything it touches.
St. Thomas Aquinas said that wisdom makes divine things sweet to us. It's the gift that makes prayer satisfying. Scripture nourishing and sacrifice worthwhile.
Without wisdom, faith feels like duty. With it, faith becomes delight. We're going to move on to two, understanding.
The gift of understanding is closely related to wisdom, but distinct. Where wisdom helps us judge rightly, understanding helps us see deeply, to penetrate beneath the surface of faith, to grasp its inner meaning. Have you ever read a passage of Scripture that you've heard a hundred times, and suddenly it opens up? Something clicks.
You didn't just hear the words, you grasped that meaning. That's the gift of understanding at work. Understanding enables us to see connections between our faith and our lives, between the truths of creed and the decisions of Monday morning.
It's what allows a man to give an account of his faith, not just repeat formulas, but genuinely explain why he believes what he believes. For us as men, understanding it is what moves faith from the pew to the workplace, from Sunday to the rest of the week. We're going to move on to three, counsel.
Counsel, sometimes called right judgment, is the gift of knowing what to do in specific situations where wisdom gives us right perspective and understanding gives us insight. Counsel gives us practical direction. We face decisions every day where the right answer isn't obvious.
How do I handle a conflict with a co-worker? What do I say to a son who is struggling? Do I speak up or do I stay quiet in this situation? Counsel is the Holy Spirit guiding us in those moments, giving us clarity when things are murky. This gift also equips us to give good counsel to others. Men are often called to be the voice of reason, steady heads in the storm.
The gift of counsel is what separates advice rooted in worldly wisdom from guidance rooted in the Spirit. Men with the gift of counsel are the ones others turn to, not because they have all the answers, but because they've learned to pause, to pray, and to listen before they speak. Number four, fortitude.
Brothers, this one I think we understand, at least instinctively. Fortitude is courage. It is the gift that enables us to do what is right, even when it is hard, costly, or unpopular.
We live in a world that increasingly asks men to compromise, to be quiet about what they believe, to go along, to get along. Fortitude is the antidote to this pressure, but I want to be careful here, because fortitude is not stubbornness. It's not hardness.
It's not the absence of fear. In fact, the church tradition is clear. Courage is not the man who feels no fear.
It's the man who acts rightly in spirit of his fear. Fortitude gives us the strength to have the hard conversations, to hold the line when everyone else is retreating, to endure suffering without losing faith. Think of the martyrs.
Think of the men who have carried illness, job loss, family crisis, and held on to God through it all. That's fortitude. For us today, fortitude may not mean physical courage, though it might.
More often, it means the quiet, the daily courage to be the man God is calling us to be. Number five. I don't know how I'm going to do six and seven, but we'll get there.
Number five, the knowledge. The gift of knowledge is something confused with understanding, but they're distinct. Knowledge is the spiritual sense, is the ability to see creation rightly, to look at the world, at the events, at our own lives, and perceive them in relation to God.
The gift of knowledge also includes a clear-eyed awareness of our own sinfulness and limitations, not in a way that discourages us, but in a way that keeps us humble and dependent on grace. St. Augustine captured the two sides of this gift beautifully. Knowledge shows us what to avoid, the vanity of created things when we cling to them wrongly, and it shows us to pursue God himself, the only thing that fully satisfies.
A man with a gift of knowledge isn't naive. He sees the world clearly. He knows where the traps are.
He isn't dazzled by the wealth, the status, or the pleasure, not because he's indifferent, but because he's seen them for what they are, goods that point to a greater good. Number six, piety. It perhaps is the most misunderstood of the seven gifts because in common usage it can sound soft or overly sentimental, but the gift of piety isn't something very different.
I'm sorry. Piety is something very different and very powerful. Piety is a gift of right relationship.
It's the grace to relate to God as a true father with love, reverence, and trust, and to relate to others accordingly. It flows outward to our families, to our church, to our neighbors. A pious man is not a man who is always on his knees and rarely in the world.
A pious man is one who brings the interior life of prayer into every relationship he has. His faith is not compartmentalized. It shapes how he loves his wife, how he raises his children, and how he treats employees and coworkers.
Piety also includes a proper reverence for sacred things, the Eucharist, prayer, the Mass. It's what prevents faith from becoming merely a set of ideas and keeps it rooted in encounter with the living God. Seven, the fear of the Lord.
The seventh gift, the fear of the Lord, is the foundation beneath all other things. And like piety, it is frequently misunderstood. Fear of the Lord is not terror.
It is not the cringing fear of a slave before a tyrant. The church is very clear on this. It is a philia fear, the fear of a son who doesn't want to disappoint a father he loves and respects.
The word philia, and this is our, Joseph is trying to help us with Latin here. Don't worry, I'm bringing the Latin in here for us here as well. From the Latin philius, meaning son, it's the same root from which we get the words such like affiliation and family.
So when the church calls this philia fear, she is being precise. This is not a dread of a prisoner before a judge, but the reverential love of a child before a father. It is at its heart, the recognition of who God is, infinite, holy, all knowing, all powerful, and yet personally concerned with you.
That combination, the greatness in intimacy, produces a profound awe, and that awe keeps us rightly ordered. The man who fears the Lord is the man who doesn't fool himself. He knows that his choices matter, that sin has consequences, that he will one day give an account.
But this knowledge doesn't crush him, it frees him. Because he also is the man who knows that this awesome God is also his father, and that nothing is beyond his mercy. Fear of the Lord is what gives a man a spine and a heart at the same time.
All right, I'm going to bring it home here. We've just walked through the seven gifts, and I had Jim Fisher, I messaged him and said, like, yeah, I'm going through the seven gifts. He was like, how are you going to do that in 15 minutes or 30 minutes or whatever? And I was like, it's okay.
We just got through them. Everybody's okay. We're good to go.
So we've just walked through the seven gifts. We talked about wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and the fear of the Lord. Seven supernatural graces that the Holy Spirit has deposited in your soul.
Not because you earn them, but because you belong to Christ. These gifts are not trophies on a shelf. They are tools for living.
They are equipment God has given you to be the man he is calling you to be in your home, in your work, in your parish, and in the world. But here's the thing about tools. Does anybody have any tools? Okay, that was a joke.
Okay, I'm going to throw that one out too, but I know we do. But here's the thing about them. They only work when you pick them up and you use them.
The Holy Spirit doesn't override your will. He works with it, through it, and in it. These gifts are activated through prayer, through the sacraments, through deliberate cooperation with grace.
A man who is never still, who never prays, who avoids confession, who treats Sunday Mass as optional, that man has these gifts, but they lie dormant. So my challenge to you today is simple. Take the handout that you guys have in front of you.
Sit with it. Ask yourself honestly, with all of these gifts, what is the one that's most alive in me right now? And which one do I need to cultivate? Then pick one concrete thing you're going to do this week to respond to that. It might be 15 minutes of quiet prayer each morning.
It might be a conversation you've been avoiding. It might be getting back to confession. Whatever it is, do it.
The Holy Spirit is not passive. He is moving. He is working.
He is present in this room right now, in each of you. 1 Corinthians 6.19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have through God? You are a temple. Act like one.
Pray like one. Lead like one. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to stir up these gifts with us today.
We're going to close with the Glory Beat. So in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen. The Glory Beat of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen. Gentlemen, thank you. Jonathan, thank you so much.
What's amazing is some of you guys, most of you guys, one of the things he just covered in the Seven Spirits, you've been doing, we're in our third year of the core program. Some of you guys have been here from day one. And that takes a lot more than just discipline.
And that's what is, you take discipline and you apply a why to it, and then you get devotion. Your devotion to core, for being here Saturday morning instead of sleeping in, shows your devotion to the fraternity, to prayer and formation, and respect of God in our life. So you guys, yourselves, a big round of applause.
Three years, you guys are doing great. So thanks for being here, guys. Thank you so much.
Take a moment with the sheets, fill them out, and then we have some additional questions in the back as we go into small groups as well. One challenge that Jonathan gave you, do one thing this week, you can't do piety next Saturday. That's already a given.
(Transcribed by TurboScribe. Go Unlimited to remove this message.)
