The gifts of the Holy Spirit are exciting and important. However, God is always more exciting and more important than any gift. In using the gifts, we must let God lead us. God can do amazing things, and we are blessed to participate as God's instruments. St. John of the Cross, a Doctor of the Church, is a trustworthy teacher whose writings provide reliable guidance for the wise use of charisms to glorify God, spread the Gospel, and avoid excess and an unnecessary dismissal of charisms.
"St. Catherine of Genoa used to say that she did not love God for the sake of His gifts, but that she loved the gifts of God so that she might love Him the more." - St. Alphonsus Liguori, On the Love of God and the Means to Acquire It, 9
Using Charisms with Wisdom and Humility
St. John of the Cross wrote about the spiritual life in a profound book called The Ascent of Mount Carmel. While he believes in and encourages using the gifts of the Holy Spirit, he also teaches we need to be wise and humble. Out of the whole book, one chapter in particular addresses the misuse of charisms. He lists three main problems that arise if one is too attached to the charisms such that a person seeks and loves the gifts more than the Giver. Those problems are deception, diminished faith, and vanity. In the words of St. John of the Cross, the following excerpt from The Ascent of Mount Carmel, book 3, chapter 31, explains how those areas can become problems if wisdom and humility are neglected.
Love and desire God more than loving the desiring the gifts.
2. It is a very easy thing to deceive others, and to deceive oneself, by rejoicing in this kind of operation. And the reason is that, in order to know which of these operations are false and which are true, and how and at what time they should be practiced, much counsel and much light from God are needful, both of which are greatly impeded by joy in these operations and esteem for them.
And this for two reasons: first, because joy blunts and obscures the judgment; second, because, when a man has joy in these things, not only does he the more quickly become eager for them, but he is also the more impelled to practice them out of the proper season.
Being prompted by God, and not by ourselves, ensures that we use the gifts when and how God intends.
And even supposing the virtues and operations which are practiced to be genuine, these two defects suffice for us to be frequently deceived in them, either through not understanding them as they should be understood, or through not profiting by them and not using them at the times and in the ways that are most meet. For, although it is true that, when God gives these gifts and graces, He gives light by which to see them, and the impulse whereby a man may know at what times and in what ways to use them; yet these souls, through the attachment and imperfection which they may have with regard to them, may greatly err, by not using them with the perfection that God desires of them therein, and in the way and at the time that He wills. We read that Balaam desired to do this, when, against the will of God, he determined to go and curse the people of Israel, for which reason God was wroth and purposed to slay him. [Numbers 20:22-23] And Saint James and Saint John desired to call down fire from Heaven upon the Samaritans because they gave not lodging to Our Savior, and for this He reproved them. [Luke 9:54-55]
3. Here it is evident that these persons were led to determine to perform these works, when it was not meet for them to do so, by a certain imperfect passion, which was inherent in their joy in them and esteem for them. For, when no such imperfection exists, the soul is moved and determined to perform these virtues only in the manner wherein God so moves it, and at His time, and until then it is not right that they should be performed. It was for this reason that God complained of certain prophets, through Jeremiah, saying: I sent not the prophets, and they ran; I spoke not to them, and they prophesied.' [Jeremiah 23:21] And later He says: They deceived My people by their lying and their miracles, when I had not commanded them, neither had I sent them.' [Jeremiah 23:32] And in that place He says of them likewise: They see the visions of their heart, and speak of them' [Jeremiah 23:26] ; which would not happen if they had not this abominable attachment to these works.
Being too attached to the gifts, rather than the Giver, is an opening to pride and naivety that Satan can enter through and deceive people.
4. From these passages it is to be understood that the evil of this rejoicing not only leads men to make wicked and perverse use of these graces given by God, as did Balaam and those of whom the prophet here says that they worked miracles whereby they deceived the people, but it even leads them to use these graces without having been given them by God, like those who prophesied their own fancies and published the visions which they invented or which the devil represented to them. For, when the devil sees them affectioned to these things, he opens a wide field to them, gives them abundant material and interferes with them in many ways; whereupon they spread their sails and become shamelessly audacious in the freedom wherewith they work these marvels.
5. Nor does the evil stop here. To such a point does their joy in these works and their eagerness for them extend that, if before they had a secret compact with the devil (and many of them do in fact perform these works by such secret compacts), it now makes them bold enough to work with him by an explicit and manifest compact, submitting themselves to him, by agreement, as his disciples and allies. Hence we have wizards, enchanters, magicians, soothsayers and sorcerers. And so far does the joy of these persons in their works carry them that, not only do they seek to purchase gifts and graces with money, as did Simon Magus, in order to serve the devil, but they even strive to obtain sacred things, and (which cannot be said without trembling) Divine things, for even the very Body of our Lord Jesus Christ has been seen to be usurped for the use of their wicked deeds and abominations. May God here extend and show to them His great mercy! Joy in these works goes so far that some, as Simon Magus, not merely want to buy gifts and graces with money (Acts 8:18) for the service of the devil, but they even try to get hold of sacred and divine objects - which cannot be mentioned without trembling - as has already been witnessed in the theft of the most sacred body of our Lord Jesus Christ for evil practices and abominations. May God extend and show forth His infinite mercy in this matter!
6. Everyone will clearly understand how pernicious are such persons to themselves and how prejudicial to Christianity. It may be noted here that all those magicians and soothsayers who lived among the children of Israel, whom Saul destroyed out of the land, because they desired to imitate the true prophets of God, had fallen into such abominations and deceits.
We are not the center of attention. We need to let God work through us, and then miraculous things happen in God's time.
7. He, then, that has supernatural gifts and graces ought to refrain from desiring to practice them, and from rejoicing in so doing, nor ought he to care to exercise them; for God, Who gives Himself to such persons, by supernatural means, for the profit of His Church and of its members, will move them likewise supernaturally in such a manner and at such time as He desires. As He commanded His faithful ones to take no thought as to what they were to say, or to how they were to say it, since this is the supernatural business of faith, it will likewise be His will (as these operations are no less a supernatural matter) that a man should wait and allow God to work by moving his heart, since it is in the virtue of this working that there will be wrought all virtue. The disciples (so we read in the Acts of the Apostles), although these graces and gifts had been infused within them, prayed to God, beseeching Him to be pleased to stretch forth His hand in making signs and performing works of healing through them, that they might introduce the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ into men's hearts. [Acts 4:29-30]
Real faith is an avenue for miracles.
8. From this first evil may proceed the second, which is a falling away from the faith; this can come to pass after two manners. The first has respect to others; for, when a man sets out, unseasonably and needlessly, to perform a marvel or a mighty work, apart from the fact that this is tempting God, which is a great sin, it may be that he will not succeed, and will engender in the hearts of men discredit and contempt for the faith. For, although at times such persons may succeed because for other reasons and purposes God so wills it, as in the case of Saul's witch [1 Samuel 28:7-15] (if it be true that it was indeed Samuel who appeared on that occasion), they will not always so succeed; and, when they do so, they go astray none the less and are blameworthy for having used these graces when it was not fitting.
The gifts are meant to help increase our faith, not to replace it.
The second manner in which we may fall away is in ourselves and has respect to the merit of faith; for, if a man make much account of these miracles, he ceases to lean upon the substantial practice of faith, which is an obscure habit; and thus, where signs and witnesses abound, there is less merit in believing. In this way Saint Gregory says that faith has no merit when human reason provides experience. [Homilia 26 in Evangelium 1, in Migne, Vol. 76., p. 1137]
And thus these marvels are never worked by God save when they are really necessary for belief. Therefore, to the end that His disciples should not be without merit, though they had experience of His resurrection, He did many things before He showed Himself to them, so that they should believe Him without seeing Him. To Mary Magdalene, first of all, He showed the empty tomb, and afterwards bade the angels speak to her [Luke 24:6; John 20:2) (for, as Saint Paul says, faith comes by hearing); [Romans 10:17] so that, having heard, she should believe before she saw. And, although she saw Him, it was as an ordinary man, [John 20:15] that, by the warmth of His presence, He might completely instruct her in the belief which she lacked. And He first sent to tell His disciples, with the women, and afterwards they went to see the tomb. And, as to those who went to Emmaus, He first of all enkindled their hearts in faith so that they might see Him, dissembling with them as He walked. [Luke 24:15] And finally He reproved them all because they had not believed those who had announced to them His resurrection. [Luke 24:25-26] And He reproved Saint Thomas because he desired to have the witness of His wounds, by telling him that they who saw Him not and yet believed Him were blessed. (John 20:29)
In times when there is lots of faith, miracles are not needed as much. In today's world which is often hostile to faith, miracles are important especially for the many people whose faith is weak or needs more support.
9. And thus it is not the will of God that miracles should be wrought: when He works them, He does so, as it were, because e cannot do otherwise. And for this cause He reproved the Pharisees because they believed not save through signs, saying: Unless ye see marvels and signs, ye believe not.' [John 4:48] Those, then, who love to rejoice in these supernatural works lose much in the matter of faith.
Being humble keeps our priorities straight; God is God, and we are His instruments.
10. The third evil is that, because of their joy in these works, men commonly fall into vainglory or some other vanity. For even their joy in these wonders, when it is not, as we have said, purely in God and for God, is vanity; which is evident in the reproof given by Our Lord to the disciples because they had rejoiced that devils were subject to them; [Luke 10:20] for which joy, if it had not been vain, He would not have reproved them.
Being humble in using gifts glorifies God
Chapter 32, 1. Besides the benefits which the soul gains by being delivered from the three evils aforementioned through its renunciation of this joy, it acquires two excellent benefits. The first is that it magnifies and exalts God: the second is that it exalts itself. For God is exalted in the soul after two manners: first, by the withdrawal of the heart and the joy of the will from all that is not God, in order that they may be set upon Him alone. This David signified in the verse which we quoted when we began to speak of the night of this faculty; namely: Man shall attain to a lofty heart, and God shall be exalted.' [Psalm 64:6-7] For, when the heart is raised above all things, the soul is exalted above them all.
2. And, because in this way the soul centers itself in God alone, God is exalted and magnified, when He reveals to the soul His excellence and greatness; for, in this elevation of joy, God bears witness of Who He Himself is. This cannot be done save if the will be voided of joy and consolation with respect to all things, even as David said also, in these words: Be still and see that I am God.' [Psalm 46:10] And again he says: In a desert land, dry and pathless, have I appeared before Thee, to see Thy power and Thy glory.' [Psalm 62:1-2] And, since it is true that God is exalted by the fixing of the soul's rejoicing upon detachment from all things, He is much more highly exalted when the soul withdraws itself from the most wondrous of these things in order to fix its rejoicing on Him alone. For these, being supernatural, are of a nobler kind; and thus for the soul to cast them aside, in order to set its rejoicing upon God alone, is for it to attribute greater glory and excellence to God than to them. For, the more and the greater things a man despises for the sake of another, the more does he esteem and exalt that other.
3. Furthermore, God is exalted after the second manner when the will is withdrawn from this kind of operation; for, the more God is believed and served without testimonies and signs, the more He is exalted by the soul, for it believes more concerning God than signs and miracles can demonstrate.
4. The second benefit wherein the soul is exalted consists in this, that, withdrawing the will from all desire for apparent signs and testimonies, it is exalted in purest faith, which God increases and infuses within it much more intensely. And, together with this, He increases in it the other two theological virtues, which are charity and hope, wherein the soul enjoys the highest Divine knowledge by means of the obscure and detached habit of faith; and it enjoys great delight of love by means of charity, whereby the will rejoices in naught else than in the living God; and likewise it enjoys satisfaction in the memory by means of hope. All this is a wondrous benefit, which leads essentially and directly to the perfect union of the soul with God.
"St. Catherine of Genoa used to say that she did not love God for the sake of His gifts, but that she loved the gifts of God so that she might love Him the more." - St. Alphonsus Liguori, On the Love of God and the Means to Acquire It, 9
Using Charisms with Wisdom and Humility
St. John of the Cross wrote about the spiritual life in a profound book called The Ascent of Mount Carmel. While he believes in and encourages using the gifts of the Holy Spirit, he also teaches we need to be wise and humble. Out of the whole book, one chapter in particular addresses the misuse of charisms. He lists three main problems that arise if one is too attached to the charisms such that a person seeks and loves the gifts more than the Giver. Those problems are deception, diminished faith, and vanity. In the words of St. John of the Cross, the following excerpt from The Ascent of Mount Carmel, book 3, chapter 31, explains how those areas can become problems if wisdom and humility are neglected.
Love and desire God more than loving the desiring the gifts.
2. It is a very easy thing to deceive others, and to deceive oneself, by rejoicing in this kind of operation. And the reason is that, in order to know which of these operations are false and which are true, and how and at what time they should be practiced, much counsel and much light from God are needful, both of which are greatly impeded by joy in these operations and esteem for them.
And this for two reasons: first, because joy blunts and obscures the judgment; second, because, when a man has joy in these things, not only does he the more quickly become eager for them, but he is also the more impelled to practice them out of the proper season.
Being prompted by God, and not by ourselves, ensures that we use the gifts when and how God intends.
And even supposing the virtues and operations which are practiced to be genuine, these two defects suffice for us to be frequently deceived in them, either through not understanding them as they should be understood, or through not profiting by them and not using them at the times and in the ways that are most meet. For, although it is true that, when God gives these gifts and graces, He gives light by which to see them, and the impulse whereby a man may know at what times and in what ways to use them; yet these souls, through the attachment and imperfection which they may have with regard to them, may greatly err, by not using them with the perfection that God desires of them therein, and in the way and at the time that He wills. We read that Balaam desired to do this, when, against the will of God, he determined to go and curse the people of Israel, for which reason God was wroth and purposed to slay him. [Numbers 20:22-23] And Saint James and Saint John desired to call down fire from Heaven upon the Samaritans because they gave not lodging to Our Savior, and for this He reproved them. [Luke 9:54-55]
3. Here it is evident that these persons were led to determine to perform these works, when it was not meet for them to do so, by a certain imperfect passion, which was inherent in their joy in them and esteem for them. For, when no such imperfection exists, the soul is moved and determined to perform these virtues only in the manner wherein God so moves it, and at His time, and until then it is not right that they should be performed. It was for this reason that God complained of certain prophets, through Jeremiah, saying: I sent not the prophets, and they ran; I spoke not to them, and they prophesied.' [Jeremiah 23:21] And later He says: They deceived My people by their lying and their miracles, when I had not commanded them, neither had I sent them.' [Jeremiah 23:32] And in that place He says of them likewise: They see the visions of their heart, and speak of them' [Jeremiah 23:26] ; which would not happen if they had not this abominable attachment to these works.
Being too attached to the gifts, rather than the Giver, is an opening to pride and naivety that Satan can enter through and deceive people.
4. From these passages it is to be understood that the evil of this rejoicing not only leads men to make wicked and perverse use of these graces given by God, as did Balaam and those of whom the prophet here says that they worked miracles whereby they deceived the people, but it even leads them to use these graces without having been given them by God, like those who prophesied their own fancies and published the visions which they invented or which the devil represented to them. For, when the devil sees them affectioned to these things, he opens a wide field to them, gives them abundant material and interferes with them in many ways; whereupon they spread their sails and become shamelessly audacious in the freedom wherewith they work these marvels.
5. Nor does the evil stop here. To such a point does their joy in these works and their eagerness for them extend that, if before they had a secret compact with the devil (and many of them do in fact perform these works by such secret compacts), it now makes them bold enough to work with him by an explicit and manifest compact, submitting themselves to him, by agreement, as his disciples and allies. Hence we have wizards, enchanters, magicians, soothsayers and sorcerers. And so far does the joy of these persons in their works carry them that, not only do they seek to purchase gifts and graces with money, as did Simon Magus, in order to serve the devil, but they even strive to obtain sacred things, and (which cannot be said without trembling) Divine things, for even the very Body of our Lord Jesus Christ has been seen to be usurped for the use of their wicked deeds and abominations. May God here extend and show to them His great mercy! Joy in these works goes so far that some, as Simon Magus, not merely want to buy gifts and graces with money (Acts 8:18) for the service of the devil, but they even try to get hold of sacred and divine objects - which cannot be mentioned without trembling - as has already been witnessed in the theft of the most sacred body of our Lord Jesus Christ for evil practices and abominations. May God extend and show forth His infinite mercy in this matter!
6. Everyone will clearly understand how pernicious are such persons to themselves and how prejudicial to Christianity. It may be noted here that all those magicians and soothsayers who lived among the children of Israel, whom Saul destroyed out of the land, because they desired to imitate the true prophets of God, had fallen into such abominations and deceits.
We are not the center of attention. We need to let God work through us, and then miraculous things happen in God's time.
7. He, then, that has supernatural gifts and graces ought to refrain from desiring to practice them, and from rejoicing in so doing, nor ought he to care to exercise them; for God, Who gives Himself to such persons, by supernatural means, for the profit of His Church and of its members, will move them likewise supernaturally in such a manner and at such time as He desires. As He commanded His faithful ones to take no thought as to what they were to say, or to how they were to say it, since this is the supernatural business of faith, it will likewise be His will (as these operations are no less a supernatural matter) that a man should wait and allow God to work by moving his heart, since it is in the virtue of this working that there will be wrought all virtue. The disciples (so we read in the Acts of the Apostles), although these graces and gifts had been infused within them, prayed to God, beseeching Him to be pleased to stretch forth His hand in making signs and performing works of healing through them, that they might introduce the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ into men's hearts. [Acts 4:29-30]
Real faith is an avenue for miracles.
8. From this first evil may proceed the second, which is a falling away from the faith; this can come to pass after two manners. The first has respect to others; for, when a man sets out, unseasonably and needlessly, to perform a marvel or a mighty work, apart from the fact that this is tempting God, which is a great sin, it may be that he will not succeed, and will engender in the hearts of men discredit and contempt for the faith. For, although at times such persons may succeed because for other reasons and purposes God so wills it, as in the case of Saul's witch [1 Samuel 28:7-15] (if it be true that it was indeed Samuel who appeared on that occasion), they will not always so succeed; and, when they do so, they go astray none the less and are blameworthy for having used these graces when it was not fitting.
The gifts are meant to help increase our faith, not to replace it.
The second manner in which we may fall away is in ourselves and has respect to the merit of faith; for, if a man make much account of these miracles, he ceases to lean upon the substantial practice of faith, which is an obscure habit; and thus, where signs and witnesses abound, there is less merit in believing. In this way Saint Gregory says that faith has no merit when human reason provides experience. [Homilia 26 in Evangelium 1, in Migne, Vol. 76., p. 1137]
And thus these marvels are never worked by God save when they are really necessary for belief. Therefore, to the end that His disciples should not be without merit, though they had experience of His resurrection, He did many things before He showed Himself to them, so that they should believe Him without seeing Him. To Mary Magdalene, first of all, He showed the empty tomb, and afterwards bade the angels speak to her [Luke 24:6; John 20:2) (for, as Saint Paul says, faith comes by hearing); [Romans 10:17] so that, having heard, she should believe before she saw. And, although she saw Him, it was as an ordinary man, [John 20:15] that, by the warmth of His presence, He might completely instruct her in the belief which she lacked. And He first sent to tell His disciples, with the women, and afterwards they went to see the tomb. And, as to those who went to Emmaus, He first of all enkindled their hearts in faith so that they might see Him, dissembling with them as He walked. [Luke 24:15] And finally He reproved them all because they had not believed those who had announced to them His resurrection. [Luke 24:25-26] And He reproved Saint Thomas because he desired to have the witness of His wounds, by telling him that they who saw Him not and yet believed Him were blessed. (John 20:29)
In times when there is lots of faith, miracles are not needed as much. In today's world which is often hostile to faith, miracles are important especially for the many people whose faith is weak or needs more support.
9. And thus it is not the will of God that miracles should be wrought: when He works them, He does so, as it were, because e cannot do otherwise. And for this cause He reproved the Pharisees because they believed not save through signs, saying: Unless ye see marvels and signs, ye believe not.' [John 4:48] Those, then, who love to rejoice in these supernatural works lose much in the matter of faith.
Being humble keeps our priorities straight; God is God, and we are His instruments.
10. The third evil is that, because of their joy in these works, men commonly fall into vainglory or some other vanity. For even their joy in these wonders, when it is not, as we have said, purely in God and for God, is vanity; which is evident in the reproof given by Our Lord to the disciples because they had rejoiced that devils were subject to them; [Luke 10:20] for which joy, if it had not been vain, He would not have reproved them.
Being humble in using gifts glorifies God
Chapter 32, 1. Besides the benefits which the soul gains by being delivered from the three evils aforementioned through its renunciation of this joy, it acquires two excellent benefits. The first is that it magnifies and exalts God: the second is that it exalts itself. For God is exalted in the soul after two manners: first, by the withdrawal of the heart and the joy of the will from all that is not God, in order that they may be set upon Him alone. This David signified in the verse which we quoted when we began to speak of the night of this faculty; namely: Man shall attain to a lofty heart, and God shall be exalted.' [Psalm 64:6-7] For, when the heart is raised above all things, the soul is exalted above them all.
2. And, because in this way the soul centers itself in God alone, God is exalted and magnified, when He reveals to the soul His excellence and greatness; for, in this elevation of joy, God bears witness of Who He Himself is. This cannot be done save if the will be voided of joy and consolation with respect to all things, even as David said also, in these words: Be still and see that I am God.' [Psalm 46:10] And again he says: In a desert land, dry and pathless, have I appeared before Thee, to see Thy power and Thy glory.' [Psalm 62:1-2] And, since it is true that God is exalted by the fixing of the soul's rejoicing upon detachment from all things, He is much more highly exalted when the soul withdraws itself from the most wondrous of these things in order to fix its rejoicing on Him alone. For these, being supernatural, are of a nobler kind; and thus for the soul to cast them aside, in order to set its rejoicing upon God alone, is for it to attribute greater glory and excellence to God than to them. For, the more and the greater things a man despises for the sake of another, the more does he esteem and exalt that other.
3. Furthermore, God is exalted after the second manner when the will is withdrawn from this kind of operation; for, the more God is believed and served without testimonies and signs, the more He is exalted by the soul, for it believes more concerning God than signs and miracles can demonstrate.
4. The second benefit wherein the soul is exalted consists in this, that, withdrawing the will from all desire for apparent signs and testimonies, it is exalted in purest faith, which God increases and infuses within it much more intensely. And, together with this, He increases in it the other two theological virtues, which are charity and hope, wherein the soul enjoys the highest Divine knowledge by means of the obscure and detached habit of faith; and it enjoys great delight of love by means of charity, whereby the will rejoices in naught else than in the living God; and likewise it enjoys satisfaction in the memory by means of hope. All this is a wondrous benefit, which leads essentially and directly to the perfect union of the soul with God.
