La chisea corpo do Cristo e i carismi del del popolo di dio

Abstract

In Baptism, the Lord God pours out His Spirit, He disperses His gifts: “He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever” (Joel 2:28, Ps. 112). With much joy, the faithful come out of the baptismal font, the womb of the Church. Through the Holy Chrism, they freely receive the gift of the Paraclete as a ‘pledge’ (ἀρραβών) of the new age to which the Church belongs, while still abiding in this old time (2 Cor. 5:5). They are given various spiritual gifts, working from within. One common spiritual gift is Divine sonship, or calling God “our Father.” In the Church, there are no gifts without ministry. Thus, the faithful filled with various gifts are “set apart for ministry.” Each Christian is called “δοῦλος Θεοῦ,” (Titus 1:1), that is “servant of God,” a fellow worker or minister in the Body of Christ. Indeed, “Everything in the life of a Christian is … sacramental… everything is a charisma, service, and gift.” Our theology is a continuous invocation of the Holy Spirit, an epiclesis, whose dynamism is based on responding to the call, walking in repentance, heeding the Word, and being illumined in the Spirit. If we desire to paint a portrait of the wondrous gifts of the Holy Spirit, we may choose the charismatic family of Emilia the righteous and her husband Basil the Elder. With ten children, six of them are saints, lay and clergy, married and single: Sts. Naucratius the hermit, Macrina the nun, the bishops Basil the Great (monk), Peter of Sebaste (monk), Gregory of Nyssa (married), and Theosebia the deaconess. This paper ponders upon the mystery of the charismatic life of the people of God. Drawing on the experience of the Holy Fathers, it discusses the goals of these gifts, and how they are effectively activated. Finally, it presents some pastoral insights.