The holy spirit gift of counsel

THE HOLY SPIRIT GIFT OF COUNSEL
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Isaiah11:2-3 2The Spirit of the LORD will rest on
him- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the
Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the
knowledge and fear of the LORD-3and he will delight
in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he
sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his
ears;
The gift of counselis “to render the individual docile and receptive to the
counselof God regarding one’s actions in view of sanctificationand
salvation.” Primarily, this gift enables a personto judge individual acts as
goodand ought to be done, or as evil and ought to be avoided. Aiding the
virtue of prudence, the Holy Spirit not only makes our heart docile to search
for the truth (as taught by the church) and to acceptit, but also helps us to
remember and learn from past events. The counselgiven pertains to one’s
own personalsanctificationand ultimate supernatural end. Therefore, this
gift prompts the person to ask himself, “Is this acttrue to Christ and the
teachings of this church? Does this act lead to or strengthen holiness? Will this
act leadto heaven?” Therefore,the gift of counselenlightens a person to know
what must be done at this particular time, place and circumstance;it also
enlightens us to counselothers who ask for advice and direction.

Clearly, the gift of counselperfects the virtue of prudence; however, while the
virtue of prudence operates in accordwith reasonas enlightened by faith, this
gift operates under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Consequently, the counsel
given may be that about which reasonwould not be able to give an
explanation. As Our Lord said to the Apostles, “Whenthey hand you over, do
not worry about what you will say or how you will say it. When the hour
comes, you will be given what you are to say. You yourselves will not be the
speakers;the Spirit of your Fatherwill be speaking in you” (Mt 10:18-20).
For example, St. Catherine of Siena, although very young and without any
greattraining, counseled, evenadmonished, Popes GregoryXI and Urban VI.
As a priest, I have been askedto give advice or provide spiritual direction to
individuals. Oftentimes, when I am finished, I am “surprised” at myself and
can only say, “Thank you, Holy Spirit.” Also, when preparing a homily, I pray
to the Holy Spirit to help me know what I need to preach to my people and
what will benefit them.
To cultivate this gift, a personshould pray for the help of the Holy Spirit (in
particular for the gifts of knowledge andunderstanding). Also, continued
study of sacredScripture and the teachings ofthe church, especiallyin the
moral issues of the day, provide fuel for this gift.
The gift of fortitude, our last gift to consider, enables a person “to overcome
difficulties or to endure pain and suffering with the strength and power
infused by God.” Through fortitude, the Holy Spirit inspires and energizes a
person to undertake great things joyfully and without feardespite obstacles.
As with the other gifts, fortitude operates under the impulse of the Holy
Spirit, so it perfects the virtue of fortitude, charging it with energy,
endurance, perseverance and promptness. It strengthens a person to resist
evil, to overcome lukewarmnessand persevere to everlasting life. Moreover, it
brings a confidence ofsuccess andcertain hope, despite the most difficult
circumstances.
For example, St. Maximilian Kolbe not only had greatfortitude to offer his
life promptly in exchange for another and to endure a horrible death, but also
had the confidence of successthat he would overcome the powers of evil and

gain everlasting life. BlessedTeresa ofKolkata generouslyspent her life and
perseveredin her work among “the poorestof the poor,” day in and day out,
despite dangers,
weariness andoverwhelming circumstances.
The gift of fortitude enables the individual to live the other virtues heroically.
So, a person cancultivate this virtue by recognizing one’s own weaknessesand
limitations, begging for the gift of fortitude, and relying on the strength of
Our Lord Jesus Himself.
Second, we need the strength and nourishment of the holy Eucharist. St. John
Chrysostomsaid, upon receiving holy Communion, “Let us return from that
table as lions breathing fire, terrible to the devil,” meaning to go forth not
with fear, but with hearts afire with the love of the Lord Himself.
Thirdly, we can fosterthe gift of fortitude by keeping to a spiritual regimen:
taking time to pray throughout the day, including 15 minutes devoted to
prayer and studying or doing spiritual reading for 15 minutes; making a
confessionmonthly; attending Sunday Mass, and even daily Mass once a
week;and making a regular, even daily, examination of conscience.Another
part of this spiritual regimen would be to make a purposeful sacrifice daily
(e.g. giving up a dessertor a drink or doing an act of charity), for a special
intention, like the poor souls in purgatory or the Christians suffering
persecution. If we can be faithful and do our duty in “little things,” more
likely we will do the same in “big things.”
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are great gifts essentialforour sanctificationand
salvation. Eachbaptized and confirmed Christian should implore the Holy
Spirit to inflame his soul with these gifts. St. John Paul II said, “With gifts and
qualities such as these, we are equal to any task and capable of overcoming
any difficulties.”
Counsel:A Gift of the Holy Spirit

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Updated July 12, 2018
Counsel, the third of the sevengifts of the Holy Spirit enumerated in Isaiah
11:2-3, is the perfectionof the cardinal virtue of prudence. While prudence,
like all the cardinal virtues, can be practicedby anyone, whether in a state of
grace or not, it can take on a supernatural dimension through sanctifying
grace. Counselis the fruit of this supernatural prudence.
Like prudence, counselallows us to judge rightly what we should do in a
particular circumstance. It goes beyond prudence, though, in allowing such
judgments to be made promptly, "as by a sortof supernatural intuition," as
Fr. John A. Hardon writes in his Modern Catholic Dictionary. When we are
infused with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we respond to the promptings of the
Holy Spirit as if by instinct.
Counselin Practice
Counselbuilds on both wisdom, which allows us to judge the things of the
world in light of our final end, and understanding, which helps us to penetrate
to the very core of the mysteries of our faith.
"With the gift of counsel, the Holy Spirit speaks, as it were, to the heart and in
an instant enlightens a personwhat to do," writes Father Hardon. It is the gift
that allows us as Christians to be assuredthat we will act correctlyin times of
trouble and trial. Through counsel, we can speak without fear in defense of
the Christian Faith. Thus, the Catholic Encyclopedia notes, counsel"enables
us to see and choose correctlywhat will help most to the glory of God and our
own salvation."

The Gift of Counsel: The Gift of Counselrenders the individual docile and
receptive to the counselof God regarding one’s actions in view of
sanctificationand salvation.” Primarily, this gift enables a person to judge
individual acts as goodand ought to be done, or as evil and ought to be
avoided. Aiding the virtue of prudence, the Holy Spirit not only makes our
heart docile to searchfor the truth (as taught by the church) and to acceptit,
but also helps us to remember and learn from past events. The counselgiven
pertains to one’s own personalsanctificationand ultimate supernatural end.
Therefore, this gift prompts the person to ask himself, “Is this act true to
Christ and the teachings ofthis church? Does this act leadto or strengthen
holiness? Will this actlead to heaven?”
Gifts of the Holy Spirit: the Gift of Counsel
By jeff@fromtheabbey.com| 0
The Gift of Counselis the Holy Spirit’s help to us to make goodmoral choices
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit empowerus to deepen our intimacy with God and
to participate in His Divine Life. Four of the Gifts enhance our intellect:
knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and counsel. These gifts enlighten our
human understanding with the divine guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Gifts of the Holy Spirit: the Gift of Counsel
The Gift of Counselis the Holy Spirit’s help to us to make goodmoral choices,
especiallywhen it’s difficult for us to know exactlythe right thing to do. Most
of our moral choices are pretty clear-cut, intellectually. We know stealing is
wrong. Our temptation to stealisn’t an intellectual challenge – it’s a challenge
of willpower againstsinful desire. But sometimes life isn’t so clear. Sometimes
doing what is evil seems to be right, or even to be the only choice. These are
the times we need the Gift of Counselthe most. But the Holy Spirit’s help isn’t
only available to us in difficult situations. He also helps us in the daily

formation of our conscience. He nudges us not just to avoid the big evils, but
to fine-tune our conscienceso that we choose evergreatergoods. Venerable
Archbishop Fulton Sheencalledthese nudges “temptations to good.”
When I ask people to define the conscience,they often describe it as the “little
voice inside your head that tells you what’s right and wrong.” That’s not a
goodunderstanding of conscience. However, it does sortof describe the Holy
Spirit’s nudging in the daily formation of our conscience.
Tubrocharge Spiritual Growth with the Virtue of Supernatural Prudence
While natural prudence is focusedon attaining authentic goodso that we can
live the truly goodlife that God has planned for us, supernatural prudence is
focusedon knowing the goodof God himself. Natural virtue is aided by grace,
but supernatural virtue is complete cooperationwith grace.
There is …
What does this mean in practical terms?
1. The Gift of Counselhelps us to live the moral law as a relationship with
God. The Holy Spirit speaks to us in the depths of our heart about how to
embrace goodness.
2. The Holy Spirit’s “temptations to good” draw us further out of our sinful,
fallen selves and into the new creationJesus gives us through grace.
3. Seeking the best way to have a relationship with God requires us to seek the
counselof God Himself. Who else knows how to have a relationship with
Him?
4. The Gift of Counseldirects us to have mercy on others so that our hearts
will be open to receiving God’s forgiveness (as the Lord’s Prayersays,
“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass againstus”).

Like all of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Gift of Counselis active in all of us,
but it is especiallystrong in some Christians. Saint Martin de Porres is a great
model of the Gift of Counsel. Not only did St. Martin live a morally upright
life, he always strove for the greatergood. He was knownas the servant of the
poor – not in some generic “socialjustice” sense but in a very personalway.
The Gift of Counselguided him in judging how he neededto respond to the
unique needs of eachperson he served so they could experience God’s love
and mercy.
Your Challenge
Your challenge is to examine your own life and see how the Gift of Counselis
active. In what ways does the Holy Spirit seemto guide you to embrace true
goodness?Discoverways this gift is active for you and share them in the
comments below!
Do you think the Gift of Counselis one of your primary Gifts?
Yes
No
I have no idea
See results vote
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The Gifts of the Holy Spirit are powerful aids not only in deepening our
relationship with God, but also in living the mission of Jesus. Identifying
which ones are strongestin you and cooperating with the Holy Spirit through
that gift can open a door to true adventure in your life.
Your Next Action Step
The keyto changing any behavior – including living the adventure of faith – is
to systematize your behavior into habit formation. And the easiestwayto do
that is to use proven “behavioral templates” that efficiently and consistently
develop powerful habits.
Creating habits that strengthen relationships is the main subject of the
“Courtyard” area of the “Keys to Spiritual Growth” program. Opening the
Courtyard of your “Inner Abbey” means to develop habits that can
strengthen any relationship, from friendships to marriage to parenting. To get
you started, I want to invite you to getstarted rebuilding the Courtyard of
your Inner Abbey by receiving the free Courtyard toolkit. By the end of 2019
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THE GIFT OF COUNSEL. Considerationand prayer.

By catholicsstrivingforholinessonMay 28, 2017 • ( Leave a comment )
THE GIFT OF COUNSEL.
CONSIDERATION:
Through the gift of wisdom, the Holy Spirit perfects the acts of the virtue of
prudence, and prudence in turn tells us which means to use in any given
situation.
Frequently we must make a decision;sometimes it is an important matter, at
other times much less so. But in all of them, our holiness is in some way
involved. God grants the gift of wisdom to those who are docile to the actionof
the Holy Spirit, so that they may make decisions quickly and correctly.
This gift is like a supernatural instinct for knowing which way gives most
glory to God.
Just as prudence is presentin all our actions, so too the Holy Spirit, through
the gift of counsel, is the Light and permanent guiding Principle of our
actions.
The Paracleteinspires us when we choose the MEANS to carry out God’s will.
He leads us along paths which involve charity, peace, joy, sacrifice, fulfilment
of duty and faithfulness in small things. He marks out the path for us at every
instant.
The gift of counselpresupposes that we have used all the other means
necessaryto actprudently: to obtain the necessarydata; to foresee the
possible consequencesofour actions, to learn from the experience of similar
situations in the past, to ask advice when the moment comes.
This is natural prudence which is then reinforcedby grace. Along with
supernatural prudence we receive this gift of counselwhich allows us to make
a sure and quick decisionregarding the means to be used, or the reply to be
given, or the way to be followed.

The gift of counselis a great help in keeping a true conscience,and not letting
it be deformed.
If we are docile, the Holy Spirit will illumine our conscience withlight and
advice. Our soul will not deviate or make excuses for faults and sins. Rather it
will reactwith contrition, with a greatersorrow at having offended God.
This gift illumines brightly the soul which is faithful to God, in such a way
that it does not apply moral laws wrongly, does not allow human respectto
swayit, is not carriedawayby fashions and trends of the moment, but is ruled
always by God’s will.
The Paracletecounsels us, directly or through others, regarding which is the
right path to follow, a path which may well be different from the one
suggestedby the spirit of the world. A personwho ceasesto apply moral
norms to his behaviour, whether in important or not so important matters,
does so because he places his own will before the will of God.
SOURCE:ICWG, vol. 2, n.90
PRAYER
“Holy Spirit, Love of the Father and of the Son, inspire me always as to what I
must think, what I must say, what I must write, how I must behave, what I
must do to work efficaciouslyfor your glory, for the goodof souls and for my
own sanctification. (A. Riaud, The Holy Spirit Acting in Our Souls).”
Cordially inviting you to like and follow
http://www.facebook.com/Catholicsstrivingforholiness andshare our posts to
help more people in their Christian faith and life. Thanks!Fr. Rolly Arjonillo.
Question52. The gift of counsel

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Should counselbe reckonedamong the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost?
Does the gift of counselcorrespondto prudence?
Does the gift of counselremain in heaven?
Does the fifth beatitude, "Blessedare the merciful," etc. correspondto the gift
of counsel?
Article 1. Whether counselshould be reckonedamong the gifts of the Holy
Ghost?
Objection 1. It would seemthat counselshould not be reckonedamong the
gifts of the Holy Ghost. The gifts of the Holy Ghost are given as a help to the
virtues, according to Gregory(Moral. ii, 49). Now for the purpose of taking
counsel, man is sufficiently perfected by the virtue of prudence, or even of
euboulia (deliberating well), as is evident from what has been said (II-II:47:1
ad 2; II-II:51:2). Therefore counselshould not be reckonedamong the gifts of
the Holy Ghost.
Objection 2. Further, the difference betweenthe seven gifts of the Holy Ghost
and the gratuitous graces seems to be that the latter are not given to all, but
are divided among various people, whereas the gifts of the Holy Ghost are
given to all who have the Holy Ghost. But counselseems to be one of those
things which are given by the Holy Ghostspeciallyto certain persons,
according to 1 Maccabees2:65:"Behold. . . your brother Simon is a man of
counsel." Therefore counselshould be numbered among the gratuitous graces
rather than among the sevengifts of the Holy Ghost.
Objection 3. Further, it is written (Romans 8:14): "Whosoeverare led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." But counselling is not consistentwith
being led by another. Since then the gifts of the Holy Ghost are most befitting
the children of God, who "have receivedthe spirit of adoption of sons," it

would seem that counselshould not be numbered among the gifts of the Holy
Ghost.
On the contrary, It is written (Isaiah 11:2): "(The Spirit of the Lord) shall rest
upon him . . . the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude."
I answerthat, As statedabove (I-II:68:1), the gifts of the Holy Ghostare
dispositions whereby the soul is rendered amenable to the motion of the Holy
Ghost. Now God moves everything according to the mode of the thing moved:
thus He moves the corporealcreature through time and place, and the
spiritual creature through time, but not through place, as Augustine declares
(Gen. ad lit. viii, 20,22). Again, it is proper to the rational creature to be
moved through the researchofreasonto perform any particular action, and
this researchis calledcounsel. Hence the Holy Ghostis said to move the
rational creature by way of counsel, wherefore counselis reckonedamong the
gifts of the Holy Ghost.
Reply to Objection1. Prudence or euboulia (deliberating well), whether
acquired or infused, directs man in the researchof counselaccording to
principles that the reasoncangrasp; hence prudence or euboulia (deliberating
well) makes man take goodcounseleither for himself or for another. Since,
however, human reasonis unable to graspthe singular and contingentthings
which may occur, the result is that "the thoughts of mortal men are fearful,
and our counsels uncertain" (Wisdom 9:14). Hence in the researchofcounsel,
man requires to be directed by God who comprehends all things: and this is
done through the gift of counsel, wherebyman is directed as though counseled
by God, just as, in human affairs, those who are unable to take counselfor
themselves, seek counselfrom those who are wiser.
Reply to Objection2. That a man be of such goodcounselas to counselothers,
may be due to a gratuitous grace;but that a man be counselledby God as to
what he ought to do in matters necessaryforsalvation is common to all holy
persons.
Reply to Objection3. The children of God are moved by the Holy Ghost
according to their mode, without prejudice to their free-will which is the
"faculty of will and reason" [Sent. iii, D, 24]. Accordingly the gift of counselis

befitting the children of God in so far as the reasonis instructed by the Holy
Ghostabout what we have to do.
Article 2. Whether the gift of counselcorresponds to the virtue of prudence?
Objection 1. It would seemthat the gift of counseldoes not fittingly
correspondto the virtue of prudence. For "the highest point of that which is
underneath touches that which is above," as Dionysius observes (Div. Nom.
vii), even as a man comes into contactwith the angelin respectof his intellect.
Now cardinal virtues are inferior to the gifts, as statedabove (I-II:68:8). Since,
then, counselis the first and lowestactof prudence, while command is its
highest act, and judgment comes between, it seems that the gift corresponding
to prudence is not counsel, but rather a gift of judgment or command.
Objection 2. Further, one gift suffices to help one virtue, since the higher a
thing is the more one it is, as proved in De Causis. Now prudence is helped by
the gift of knowledge, whichis not only speculative but also practical, as
shown above (II-II:9:3). Therefore the gift of counseldoes not correspondto
the virtue of prudence.
Objection 3. Further, it belongs properly to prudence to direct, as stated
above (II-II:47:8). But it belongs to the gift of counselthat man should be
directed by God, as stated above (Article 1). Therefore the gift of counseldoes
not correspondto the virtue of prudence.
On the contrary, The gift of counselis about what has to be done for the sake
of the end. Now prudence is about the same matter. Therefore they
correspondto one another.
I answerthat, A lower principle of movement is helped chiefly, and is
perfectedthrough being moved by a higher principle of movement, as a body
through being moved by a spirit. Now it is evident that the rectitude of human
reasonis comparedto the Divine Reason, as a lower motive principle to a
higher: for the Eternal Reasonis the supreme rule of all human rectitude.
Consequently prudence, which denotes rectitude of reason, is chiefly perfected
and helped through being ruled and moved by the Holy Ghost, and this

belongs to the gift of counsel, as statedabove (Article 1). Therefore the gift of
counselcorresponds to prudence, as helping and perfecting it.
Reply to Objection1. To judge and command belongs not to the thing moved,
but to the mover. Wherefore, since in the gifts of the Holy Ghost, the position
of the human mind is of one moved rather than of a mover, as stated above
(Article 1; I-II:68:1), it follows that it would be unfitting to call the gift
corresponding to prudence by the name of command or judgment rather than
of counselwhereby it is possible to signify that the counselledmind is moved
by another counselling it.
Reply to Objection2. The gift of knowledge does not directly correspondto
prudence, since it deals with speculative matters: yet by a kind of extension it
helps it. On the other hand the gift of counselcorresponds to prudence
directly, because it is concernedabout the same things.
Reply to Objection3. The mover that is moved, moves through being moved.
Hence the human mind, from the very fact that it is directed by the Holy
Ghost, is enabled to direct itself and others.
Article 3. Whether the gift of counselremains in heaven?
Objection 1. It would seemthat the gift of counseldoes not remain in heaven.
For counselis about what has to be done for the sake of an end. But in heaven
nothing will have to be done for the sake of an end, since there man possesses
the lastend. Therefore the gift of counselis not in heaven.
Objection 2. Further, counselimplies doubt, for it is absurd to take counselin
matters that are evident, as the Philosopherobserves (Ethic. iii, 3). Now all
doubt will cease inheaven. Therefore there is no counselin heaven.
Objection 3. Further, the saints in heaven are most conformed to God,
according to 1 John 3:2, "When He shall appear, we shall be like to Him."
But counselis not becoming to God, according to Romans 11:34, "Who hath
been His counsellor?"Therefore neitherto the saints in heavenis the gift of
counselbecoming.

On the contrary, Gregorysays (Moral. xvii, 12):"When either the guilt or the
righteousness ofeachnation is brought into the debate of the heavenly Court,
the guardian of that nation is saidto have won in the conflict, or not to have
won."
I answerthat, As statedabove (Article 2; I-II:68:1), the gifts of the Holy Ghost
are connectedwith the motion of the rational creature by God. Now we must
observe two points concerning the motion of the human mind by God. First,
that the disposition of that which is moved, differs while it is being moved
from its disposition when it is in the term of movement. Indeed if the mover is
the principle of the movement alone, when the movement ceases, the action of
the mover ceasesas regards the thing moved, since it has already reachedthe
term of movement, even as a house, after it is built, ceasesbeing built by the
builder. On the other hand, when the mover is cause not only of the
movement, but also of the form to which the movement tends, then the action
of the mover does not ceaseevenafter the form has been attained: thus the
sun lightens the air even after it is lightened. On this way, then, God causes in
us virtue and knowledge, not only when we first acquire them, but also as long
as we persevere in them: and it is thus that God causes in the blesseda
knowledge ofwhat is to be done, not as though they were ignorant, but by
continuing that knowledge in them.
Nevertheless there are things which the blessed, whether angels or men, do
not know:such things are not essentialto blessedness, but concernthe
government of things according to Divine Providence. As regards these, we
must make a further observation, namely, that God moves the mind of the
blessedin one way, and the mind of the wayfarer, in another. For God moves
the mind of the wayfarerin matters of action, by soothing the pre-existing
anxiety of doubt; whereas there is simple nescience in the mind of the blessed
as regards the things they do not know. From this nescience the angel's mind
is cleansed, according to Dionysius (Coel. Hier. vii), nor does there precede in
them any researchofdoubt, for they simply turn to God; and this is to take
counselof God, for as Augustine says (Gen. ad lit. v, 19)"the angels take
counselof God about things beneath them": wherefore the instruction which
they receive from God in such matters is called"counsel."

Accordingly the gift of counselis in the blessed, in so far as God preserves in
them the knowledge thatthey have, and enlightens them in their nescienceof
what has to be done.
Reply to Objection1. Even in the blessedthere are acts directed to an end, or
resulting, as it were, from their attainment of the end, such as the acts of
praising God, or of helping on others to the end which they themselves have
attained, for example the ministrations of the angels, and the prayers of the
saints. On this respectthe gift of counselfinds a place in them.
Reply to Objection2. Doubt belongs to counselaccording to the present state
of life, but not to that counselwhich takes place in heaven. Even so neither
have the theologicalvirtues quite the same acts in heaven as on the way
thither.
Reply to Objection3. Counselis in God, not as receiving but as giving it: and
the saints in heaven are conformed to God, as receivers to the source whence
they receive.
Article 4. Whether the fifth beatitude, which is that of mercy, corresponds to
the gift of counsel?
Objection 1. It would seemthat the fifth beatitude, which is that of mercy,
does not correspondto the gift of counsel. Forall the beatitudes are acts of
virtue, as stated above (I-II:69:1). Now we are directed by counselin all acts
of virtue. Therefore the fifth beatitude does not correspondmore than any
other to counsel.
Objection 2. Further, precepts are given about matters necessaryfor
salvation, while counselis given about matters which are not necessaryfor
salvation. Now mercy is necessaryfor salvation, according to James 2:13,
"Judgment without mercy to him that hath not done mercy." On the other
hand poverty is not necessaryfor salvation, but belongs to the life of
perfection, according to Matthew 19:21. Therefore the beatitude of poverty
corresponds to the gift of counsel, rather than to the beatitude of mercy.
Objection 3. Further, the fruits result from the beatitudes, for they denote a
certain spiritual delight resulting from perfectacts of virtue. Now none of the

fruits correspondto the gift of counsel, as appears from Galatians 5:22-23.
Therefore neither does the beatitude of mercy correspondto the gift of
counsel.
On the contrary, Augustine says (De Serm. Dom. iv): "Counselis befitting the
merciful, because the one remedy is to be delivered from evils so great, to
pardon, and to give."
I answerthat, Counselis properly about things useful for an end. Hence such
things as are of most use for an end, should above all correspondto the gift of
counsel. Now suchis mercy, according to 1 Timothy 4:8, "Godliness ['Pietas,'
which our English word 'pity,' which is the same as mercy; see note on II-
II:30:1 is profitable to all things." Therefore the beatitude of mercy specially
corresponds to the gift of counsel, not as eliciting but as directing mercy.
Reply to Objection1. Although counseldirects in all the acts of virtue, it does
so in a specialwayin works of mercy, for the reasongiven above.
Reply to Objection2. Counselconsideredas a gift of the Holy Ghost guides us
in all matters that are directed to the end of eternallife whether they be
necessaryfor salvationor not, and yet not every work of mercy is necessary
for salvation.
Reply to Objection3. Fruit denotes something ultimate. Now the ultimate in
practicalmatters consists not in knowledge but in an actionwhich is the end.
Hence nothing pertaining to practicalknowledge is numbered among the
fruits, but only such things as pertain to action, in which practicalknowledge
is the guide. Among these we find "goodness"and "benignity" which
correspondto mercy.
The Gift of Counsel
March 5, 1998
A A A

There is a striking parallel in the bible betweentwo stories. In each, an
innocent woman, threatenedby crowd, is savedbecause one person
intervenes, gives counsel, and alters things. The stories, however, end
differently, one manifesting the gift of counselconsiderablymore than the
other.
The first is the story of Daniel, saving the beautiful, innocent Susanna. It goes
this way: One day, two elderly men see Susanna taking a bath and lust after
her. They approach her with their evil intent, but she rejects them, holding
firm to virtue. Bitter and jealous of her power, they falselyaccuse her of
committing adultery, turning both the crowd and the ancient law againsther.
She is condemned to die and is being led to her death when Daniel, seizedby
the Holy Spirit, confronts the crowd. He gives counsel. He accusesthe two
men of lying and to prove his point has them separatedand questioned
separately. Of course, they contradicteachother, proving Susanna’s
innocence. Daniel, though, is not finished. He turns the crowd againstthe
accusers, demanding their deaths, and the crowd, in a frenzy of emotion,
oblige. The two men are stoned to death, the very death they had decreedfor
Susanna.
There is in this story a moment of true counsel, the moment when Daniel is
seizedby the Holy Spirit and protests the innocence of Susanna. But there is
also a moment when the Holy Spirit is no longeroffering the counsel, that
moment when Daniel incites the crowdagainstthe false accusers.
How parallel, yet different, is the story of Jesus, calmlybacking down the
accusersofthe woman caughtin adultery! A woman is condemned to die,
accusedofadultery. Unlike Susanna, this woman is guilty, but that is
incidental to what is happening. Clearly, like Susanna, she is there because of
jealousyand mob frenzy and is therefore structurally innocent, innocent of
the mob frenzy, despite her guilt. And Jesus, like Daniel, confronts the crowd
on the basis of the gift of counsel, the Holy Spirit working through him. His
protest to the crowd is more powerful than Daniel’s – “Let the one who is
without sin castthe first stone!’ – and it also has a different effect.

Like Susanna, the woman is saved, but no mob scene follows. Whatensues is
the exactopposite of lynch-mob hysteria: “Theyall went awayone by one,
beginning with the eldest” Jesus’counselnot only saves a woman, but also,
analogous to the defusing of a bomb, deflates a potential explosion. Nobody
dies that day. The counselof the Holy Spirit prevails. This gift, as Jesus
manifests it, not only advocatesfor someone who is innocent {the role of the
Paraclete), but it also, because ittakes origins in the love within the Trinity,
exposes the roots of violence – jealousyand a mob.
In these two stories we see the gift of counsel, the third gift of the Holy Spirit,
manifest imperfectly in Daniel, perfectly in Jesus. Whatis this gift?
Theologically, counselis the gift of the Holy Spirit that perfects the virtue of
prudence, helping us to judge properly and giving us the insight to know what
to do and say in all situations, especiallydifficult ones. Some manuals describe
it as the gift of supernatural intuition.
At a street-level, this simply means giving goodadvice. Mostof us identify
counselwith prudence, which we then define as goodjudgment, common
sense, orgoodpracticaljudgment … and soonnotice it is a rather rare
commodity! Valuable though human prudence is, it is not exactlythe gift of
counsel.
As revealed in Scripture and manifest in the story of Jesus saving the woman
takenin adultery, counselhas two interpenetrating aspects:divine wisdom in
knowing what to sayin a difficult situation (“Whenyou are arrestedand
draggedbefore Kings on my account, don’t worry about what you will say. It
will be given you in that moment”) and divine insight in understanding the
roots of violence and where Godstands within that. (”After I die, I will send
you a Paraclete, anAdvocate, to help you to understand all these things.”)
Prudence cannot be taught, counselis a gift and one either has it or does not.
That is true, but there is more: The kind of prudence and counselthat Jesus
revealedin diffusing the crowd and saving the woman taken in adultery,
cannot be taught or learned. Scripture tells us it is something given only
“when we raise our eyes to heaven” and, through deep prayer, put our hearts

into the flow of compassionand gratitude that passes betweenthe Fatherand
the Son. To the extent we do this we will, first, begin to see and protest the
innocence of others who are being persecuted;later, when the gift has grown,
we will, like Jesus, be able to have the kind of insight and offer the type of
counselthat defuses chaos becauseit points out exactlywhere God, and we
ourselves, stand.
The Gift of Counsel
by Pope Francis
Descriptive Title
Pope Francis GeneralAudience Address May 7, 2014
Description
Counsel, that gift by which the Holy Spirit enables us to make concrete
decisions according to the logic of Jesus and the Gospelwas the theme of Pope
Francis'catechesis during the May 7, 2014 generalaudience.
Publisher & Date
Vatican, May 7, 2014
DearBrothers and Sisters, Goodmorning!
We heard in the Reading of the passagefrom the Book of Psalms:“the Lord
who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me” (Ps 16[15]:7).
This is another gift of the Holy Spirit: the gift of counsel. We know how
important it is in the most delicate moments to be able to count on the advice
of people who are wise and who love us. Now, through the gift of counsel, it is
God himself, through his spirit, who enlightens our heart so as to make us

understand the right wayto speak and to behave and the way to follow. But
how does this gift work in us?
1. When we receive and welcome him into our heart, the Holy Spirit
immediately begins to make us sensitive to his voice and to guide our
thoughts, our feelings and our intentions according to the heart of God. At the
same time, he leads us more and more to turn our interior gaze to Jesus, as
the model of our way of acting and of relating with God the Fatherand with
the brethren. Counsel, then, is the gift through which the Holy Spirit enables
our conscience to make a concrete choice in communion with God, according
to the logic of Jesus and his Gospel. In this way, the Spirit makes us grow
interiorly, he makes us grow positively, he makes us grow in the community
and he helps us not to fall prey to self-centredness andone’s own way of
seeing things. Thus the Spirit helps us to grow and also to live in community.
The essentialconditionfor preserving this gift is prayer. We always return to
the same theme: prayer! Yet prayer is so important. To pray with the prayers
that we all learnedas children, but also to pray in our own words. To ask the
Lord: “Lord, help me, give me counsel, what must I do now?”. And through
prayer we make space so that the Spirit may come and help us in that
moment, that he may counselus on what we all must do. Prayer! Never forget
prayer. Never! No one, no one realizes when we pray on the bus, on the road:
we pray in the silence of our heart. Let us take advantage ofthese moments to
pray, pray that the Spirit give us the gift of counsel.
In intimacy with God and in listening to his Word, little by little we put aside
our own wayof thinking, which is most often dictated by our closures, by our
prejudice and by our ambitions, and we learn instead to ask the Lord: what is
your desire? What is your will? What pleases you? In this way a deep, almost
connatural harmony in the Spirit grows and develops within us and we
experience how true the words of Jesus are that are reported in the Gospelof
Matthew:“do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say; for
what you are to saywill be given to you in that hour; for it is not you who
speak but the spirit of your Father speaking through you” (10:19-20). It is the
Spirit who counsels us, but we have to make room for the Spirit, so that he
may counselus. And to give space is to pray, to pray that he come and help us
always.

3. As with all of the other gifts of the Spirit, then, counseltoo constitutes a
treasure for the whole Christian community. The Lord does not only speak to
us in the intimacy of the heart; yes, he speaks to us, but not only there; he also
speaks to us through the voice and witness of the brethren. It is truly a great
gift to be able to meet men and women of faith who, especiallyin the most
complicatedand important stagesofour lives, help us to bring light to our
heart and to recognize the Lord’s will!
I remember once at the Shrine of Luján I was in the confessional, where there
was a long queue. There was even a very modern young man, with earrings,
tattoos, all these things.... And he came to tell me what was happening to him.
It was a big and difficult problem. And he said to me: “I told my mother all
this and my mother said to me, go to Our Lady and she will tell you what you
must do”. Here is a womanwho had the gift of counsel. She did not know how
to help her sonout of his problem, but she indicated the right road: go to Our
Lady and she will tell you. This is the gift of counsel. Thathumble, simple
woman, gave her son the truest counsel. In fact, this young man said to me: “I
lookedat Our Lady and I felt that I had to do this, this and this...”. I did not
have to speak, his mother and the boy himself had already said everything.
This is the gift of counsel. You mothers who have this gift, ask it for your
children, the gift of giving goodcounselto your children is a gift of God.
Dearfriends, Psalm 16[15], whichwe heard, invites us to pray with these
words: “I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;in the night also my heart
instructs me. I keepthe Lord always before me; because he is at my right
hand, I shall not be moved” (vv. 7-8). May the Spirit always pour this
certainty into our heart and fill us thus with the consolationofhis peace!
Always ask for the gift of counsel.
SpecialGroups
I greetall the English-speaking pilgrims taking part in today’s Audience,
including those from England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Sweden,
Denmark, Finland, Slovakia, Korea, the Philippines, China, India, Canada
and the United States. Upon all of you, and upon your families, I invoke the
joy and peace of the Risen Lord. God bless you all!

I greetwith affectionall German-speaking pilgrims, especiallythe families
and friends of the new Swiss Guards who yesterday took their oath. Dear
friends, the Holy Spirit will chase awayevery fear. Let us entrust ourselves to
Him and joyously follow what Jesus tells us in the Gospel. MayGod bless you
and your families.
DearItalian-speaking pilgrims, welcome!I am delighted to welcome the
pilgrimage being promoted by the Vocationist Fathers for the centenary of
their Founder’s Priestly Ordination; the faithful of the Archdiocese ofPisa
and the Mater Misericordia Institute who will celebrate their General
Chapter. I greetreligious nurses from the various Congregations;pilgrims
and sick from the Congregazione Mariana delle Case di Carita;detainees
from Viterbo; volunteers from the Red Cross on the 150thanniversary of its
foundation; the Opera Don Guanella of Naples on their 50th anniversary; and
the families of young people from San Patrignano, whom I join in saying no to
every form of drugs. And perhaps it will do some goodfor everyone to say
this, simply: no to every kind of drugs! I also greetthe Gruppo
Confcommercio Ascomfrom Padua and I encourage them in these difficult
economic times. May economic difficulties not take awayfrom our lives! May
the visit to the Tombs of the Apostles increase in everyone the Easterjoy of
the Resurrectionwhichis also revealedin realacts of charity.
Tomorrow the Church raises the prayer of “Supplication” to Our Lady of the
Rosaryof Pompei. The Secretaryof State, Cardinal Parolin, will travel to that
famous Shrine for the occasion;I invite everyone to invoke Mary’s
intercession, that the Lord may grant mercy and peace to the Church and to
the whole world.
I especiallyentrust to Our Mother young people, the sick and newlyweds, who
are presenthere today and I exhort everyone to treasure the prayer of the
Rosaryin this month of May.
© Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2014
This item 10531 digitallyprovided courtesyof CatholicCulture.o

The Gift of Counselfrom the Spirit of the Lord
Counsel– n- advice; opinion or instruction given in directing the judgment or
conduct of another; Theology-one ofthe advisory declarations ofChrist,
consideredby some Christians as not universally binding but as given for aid
in attaining moral perfection.
Shelia’s Definition- Correctdecisions;You KNOW what you should do.
PersonalMoment– Last week while beginning this writing, it dawned on me
that I have a habit that I have inherited from my mom. It was brought to my
attention by my son and other people I know a few months ago. When giving
advice, I always say“you need to do…” When talking to my mom she is
ALWAYS saying “you need to” or “they need to.” I don’t recallhearing her
say the words “you should.” Last Sunday after church services,a person that
used to keepme as a child, told my son that his 3-year-old daughter was
“bossylike her grandma.” She went on to say“Shelia came out of the womb
giving instructions.” Convicted, I felt. I found it odd that I was reminded of
this habit while writing about COUNSEL.(TYHS)I suppose it’s a gift from
birth that I have yet to masterto God’s liking. Yes, I should work on being
more like Jesus when“giving instructions” and making correctdecisions, aka
counsel.
Ok, so we’ve arrived at our third gift from the Spirit of the Lord. Yeah! This
is all a part of God’s grace leading us home. Amen. It appears to me that once
we receive wisdom, then comes understanding leading us open to receive and
use the gift of counselin its correctform. Once the heart and mind is right
with God, we are in a better place to receive and give counselfrom the Lord.
We will be operating through God’s perspective, not our own. It’s all about
the Lord stepping into us and us stepping into others. “Canyou hear me
now?”

This gift from the Spirit of the Lord allows us to do at a minimum at leasttwo
(2) things before becoming the maximum in Christ: use both wisdomand
understanding before giving counsel. People with the gift of counselare well-
appointed to sayand do what should be changedfrom bad to good. For
example- In the church, a few people have observedthat there exist many
dysfunctional and divisional ministries. Such ministries do not glorify our
Lord. People that have receivedthe gift of counselhave the ability and know-
how to both offer a solution for and resolve problems.
Listen. Improper counselopens the door for division in the body of Christ.
When that door is open and godliness is shut out, anyone cancome in and try
to seduce members into their way of thinking how things should be
running.(TYHS) Remember the letters to the sevenchurches? The Church in
Philadelphia only appears to have operated using proper counselreceived
from God. Rev. 3:7-13 NIV ; Rev. 3:7-13 KJV
God tells us that this church was weak and we also learn that NO church is
perfect. But, God said that he will keepsuch a church from the hour of
trial/temptation. In my heart I believe this to be so because the church used
the Lord’s gift of counselto their best ability. Did you notice that even
through their weakness,this church did two things: (1) kept His commands
and (2)endured patiently…not just endured?
The greatestform of counselwe have receivedfrom our God is in the form of
Jesus’parables.(MHO)Let me share two parables and brief thoughts on His
instructions.
Matthew 9:16 No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for
that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made
worse.
Self- Check Moment 1- This is a habit infused in humans since the day of
Adam and Eve’s disobedience. We try to patch up sin and things get worse.
None of us like to give up things, nor beings that we become attachto; nor the
ways we become attachedto doing things when outside the will of God. We

are hardcore rebels when it comes to a goodchange. Did you know that
rebelliousness rejects counseland limits wisdom and understanding? When
we rebel againstcorrectcounsel, it is clearto God and others that we lack
wisdom and understanding. We are quick to give up on God’s counselwhen
things are not going the way we want them to go and when other options are
presentedto us that are not in line with God’s counsel. Jesus clearlycounsels
us on what happens when you mix the old with the new. When we are new in
Christ, old ways should disappear. Change…He neversaid it would be easy.
Luke 6:46-49 And why callye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I
say? Whosoevercomethto me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will
shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and
digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock:and when the flood arose, the
stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was
founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that
without a foundation built an house upon the earth; againstwhich the stream
did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was
great.
Self- Check Moment 2-This parable counsels us by letting us know that we
should not have the mind-set of “do as I say, not as I do.” As followers of
Christ, we should both say and do what he counsels us to do to receive the gift
of counselwhich gives us the ability to counselothers. James gave us great
counselto back up Jesus’teaching: “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and
superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word,
which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers
only, deceiving your own selves. Forif any be a hearerof the word, and not a
doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:”(James 1:21-
23)
Word to the Children of God- The Gift of Counselinfuses us with the ability
to look directly at our “natural face in a glass:” Let us stop being deceivedand

stop deceiving others by pretending that we have receivedthe true Gift of
Counselfrom the Spirit of the Lord.
Can you find anywhere in God’s word that Jesus only spoke and did not do?
This counselorin training closesher case.
Gift of Counsel
by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.
Fr. Hardon:
We still have two full days, remember? Friday and Saturday and even part of
Sunday. Rememberthe Gift of the Holy Spirit, I'll identify first in the prophet
Isaiah. And the Gift of Counsel, is the first gift mentioned in Isaiah. Evidently,
an important gift. We're talking about the Gift of Counsel. Christ is man and
the supernatural life. Where Christ is man, I think we've saidthis, at sight of
divine grace, Christ had, how many of the theologicalvirtues did Christ have?
Sisters: One.
Fr. Hardon:
Don't forget, one. And our Lord had the Gift of the Holy Spirit. From His
graces,that's what St. John tells us, we have all received. We saidthat wisdom
is the highestof the gifts and Fearof the Lord is the lowest, but the most basic.
Unless we're talking, we're talking about the Fearof the Lord, but if you have
Fearof the Lord, you will not have or practice the other gifts. Now, what is
the Gift of Counsel? I keepusing the verb, perfects. The Gift of Counsel,
perfects the Virtue of Prudence. In other words, we hear the gift corresponds
to a particular virtue. This gift belongs to the virtue of prudence. What does it
do? The Gift of Counselenables a person to judge promptly, correctlyand, as
it were, intuitively. What should be done in a difficult situation? Repeat. The
Gift of Counselperfects, elevates, the virtue of prudence. I may be the person
to judge the mind, to judge promptly, correctly, and, as it were, intuitively.

Because, remember, these are Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Uhm, how we should
act, especiallyin difficult situations. Some years ago, I was askedto give a
televisionprogram. In my hurry to get, I was in a church, a crowdedchurch. I
spent hours, many hours, writing out what I was to tell the people. I came to
the place where the televisionprogram was to be given, and I forget my notes.
Every body was ready exceptI. Oh, God, please, please enlightenme! I believe
I have the Gift of Counsel, please, put it to work. I spoke one hour, and I must
say, nobody walkedout. Oh, how we need the Gift of Counsel. I would like to
compare the Virtue of Prudence with the Gift of Counsel. And I have three
levels of comparison. For prudence, we reflect, we think, before we act.
Remember, the Gift of Counseldoes not excuse us from being prudent. Am I
clear. But, the Gift of Counselis more than just prudence. When I'm prudent,
I reflect, I think before hand. The Gift of Counsel, instantly, I know what I
should do. There are situations in all of our lives, I know in my life, that when
we have time to…well…think about it. Although, I think I should tell you this
Sisters. WheneverI receive a telephone call, I always, I always start praying.
But of course, neverout loud. Well, a distant state, or out of this Country. Out
of this Country, my Country. I've never met the person. They call me up and
give me their problem, and I've never met the person, may never meet the
person this side of eternity. They want me to make a decision. I trust the Holy
Spirit will enlighten me. Am I making sense Sisters?
Sisters:Yes, Father.
Fr. Hardon:
This Gift of Counselis real! Secondly, with the Virtue of Prudence, I analyze.
In other words, I, well, I look into the situation. I study one side, I study the
other side. And the more important the action, the more, well, analysis or
reflectionI should give before I act, in the case ofthe Gift of Counsel, I follow
Christ's teaching, and this is very important. Our Lord says "will they deliver
you up". Remember? When they are questioning you, putting you on trial.
Testing you. Well, lets saypersecuting you. Then, Christ says "Take no
thought on what you are to say, it shall be given to you what you are to say".
Am I clear? In other words, there are emergencies in all of our lives, and I
cannot tell you how important this is to live, and I will even go on to say,

survive! Because, youknow, you've gotto make a decision. But I'm not ready.
Well, trust the Holy Spirit, but watchit! You must, you must be willing to do
God's will. That is why the Gift of Counselis priceless!And on one condition,
that my, my dispositionof soul, I want always to do God's will. I'm facedwith
an emergency. And let me tell you, our Lord, you know told many stories.
There are 72 parables in the gospels. WhenI was teaching at the State
University, when I was hired, I was the first Catholic Priest, hired by a State
University to teach, to teachCatholic theologyat a State University. After five
years, when I finished, my State University, I was the last Catholic Priest, who
has taught a Catholic faith in a State University. Well, the third semester,
secondyear of my teaching, of my teaching of the faculty. There were seven
faculty members, who informed, there is a specialmeeting of the faculty
tonight. So, whatever appointments I had, I canceledand went to the meeting.
So I got there at the meeting and at first, nobody was saying anything. So I
askedthe Dean, the Head of the department. "What's this meeting about?"
He told me "The meeting is all about you"! Well! What's wrong? I'll never
forgethis answer. Hardon, you are so....blankety, blank, sure of yourself! You
know what blankety, blank, means...he useda curse word. "Sure of
yourself....what's wrong with being sure of yourself?" (Laughter) The real
problem was this Sister's....Therewere 7 full time faculty members. All fully
paid. And I had, I had, more students in my classes, than all of the other six
professors put together! They didn't like it! Those students mostly were not
Catholic. They wanted to come to the classes thatI was teaching!There's a
man who is sure of himself, and why not! You've gotthe truth! Well, what is
there to question? I wrote a book after I finished. And I calledthe book "The
Hungry Generation". Gota copy Sister's? Readit! People are hungry for the
truth, they're starving for the truth and they have no one to teachthem.
The Apostles, especiallySt. Peter, remember, where there were questions
immediately, they didn't consult eachother...oh, "John, what do you think I
should say"? Oh no...theyknew immediately. Remember? On the spot. Now
the experience. I've gotjust two Saints that are identified. St. Catherine of
Sienna, and St. Joanof Arc. Who are, by the way, very uneducated women.
And Catherine of Sienna, is now, as you know, a Doctorofthe church! Did
you know that just shortly before her death, she could not, did you know this?

She could not read or write. Did you know that? Well, the Holy Spirit
enlightened her mind. The secret, of course, is to always be open, open to
doing God's will, and He will tell us what to do. Let's go on....this Gift of
Counsel, is not only counseling myself, it is also the Gift of Counselfor others.
But listen...this Gift of Counselthat is given to us, as we believe, by the Holy
Spirit, is meant both, that we might know how we are to act. And that, as I
said, immediately, the Holy Spirit will provide. It is also how to counselothers.
And how precious this is, Sister's, that we, we ourselves, knew, able to give
counselto others. As not really advise, this word counsel, is not really advise.
This word is a Gift of the Holy Spirit. However, I'm not finished, because, this
Gift of Counsel, is indeed meant, both for ourselves, and for others. But listen.
This Gift would be only as valuable and useful for counseling others as we
counselourselves, first! This Gift of the Holy Spirit is first, and then for us.
What should I do in a given situation? And I want to add...."And we only as
goodcounselors, to use a very human language, you're only as effective, in
using this gift for others, as we are faithful in following this gift in our own
lives".
This therefore, is the Gift of the How. In other words, counselis a definite,
specific, particular, directive. Holy Spirit is non-vague. And the spiritual life,
Sister's, is not lived in vague generalities. Specifically, concretely, and trust
the Holy Spirit. And the more closelywe are united with Him, the more we
can go through life and do the most humanly impossible things, wisely and
correctly, because we are being guided by the Spirit of God. You know, just a
word about the necessity. The Gift of Counselis especiallynecessaryfor...for
what? For giving others direction and giving ourselves discrimination. In
other words, we are only as discriminating as we use the Gift of Counsel, as
God has given to us. Who needs the Gift of Counsel? You might say
everybody. But my notes say, especially, bishops, Priests, and superiors.
Without this Gift, there is no assurance ofdoing what God wants. In
otherwords, without the Gift of Counsel, there would be nothing but
confusion. In the few minutes left, I can give you a few recommendations on
how to grow in this Gift of Counsel. First....deeppersonalhumility. The more
humble a personis, the more active and effective will be the Gift of Counsel.
I've said this before. I'll repeat it. It must be thirty years ago. I read this book

by St. Vincent Ferrer. F-E-R-R-E-R. Vincent Ferrer, a Dominican Saint. On
Christian perfection. St. Vincent wrote, a little book, and he wanted to grow in
humility. Never, never, for one moment, cherisha self admiring thought.
Neveradmire yourself in your own eyes. As I've told so many Missionaries of
Charity, Sister's, you don't need mirrors, you've got a mind! And the mind is
the most dangerous mirror. In other words, think about yourself, admiring
you. Oh, I watcheda womanon a plane. And I timed her...one hour in a half!
She used rouge, lipstick, a comb...(laughter)....ButSister's, the most dangerous
pride, is not the pride of how we look in the mirror. The most dangerous pride
is how we look into ourselves. I admire myself....oh...howsmartI must be!
(laughter) "Who would publish so many books? Oh, Fr. Hardon must be an
intelligent man". Sister's, I say this, and I know who I'm talking to. (laughter).
I have books on my shelf, back in Detroit, that I published. Sometimes, I take
the book off the shelf and look at something in the book. But, I must have a
goodreason. If I don't have a goodreason, I mean this! I confess it as a sin.
Am I clearSister's?
Sisters:Yes, Father.
Fr. Hardon:
How to culminate or grow in this Gift of Counsel. Developthe sense of, well,
of my own weakness, my own weaknessandignorance. Sister's, you've got to
grow. What a statement! You've gotta grow. In learning, realizing how stupid
and weak we are!And it takes time. How do we grow in this Gift of Counsel?
We keeptelling our Lord. "Show me oh Lord, your ways and teachme your
paths". "Show me oh Lord, your ways and teachme your paths". In other
words, keepasking our Lord. "Lord, tell me what to do next. What to think
next". Becausethe most important part of our lives, Sister's, is our thoughts.
Remember the line that we had.....Everythought, unless we controlit,
becomes a desire. Every desire, unless we control it, becomes anaction. Every
action, unless we control it, becomes a habit. And, it's also six o'clock.Shallwe
say the Angelus? Do we have a bell?
Fr. Hardon:

If there is one dominant theme throughout the Lenten season, it is that Christ
had his enemies during his public ministry, during his public ministry, Jesus
is nothing, but good! He healed the sick, the lame, He restored sight to the
blind, He even restoredlife to the dead. He preachednothing but the truth.
And He practiced nothing but charity. Why? The hardest question to answer,
and only God really knows the answer. Why? Why was Jesus, opposed,
persecuted, and finally put to death? Was it because He practicedtoo much
charity or was it because He workedmiracles? No. BecauseHe preachedthe
truth. The world does not want to hear the truth. Twice was, the Sonof the
Living God. And He told the people just as much. The Father and I are One.
He told the people they were to be converted. To practice humility, chastity,
patience. You would think that his Contemporaries wouldhave repented and
humbly follow Jesus. Some did! A small handful. The majority, I repeat, one
Lenten gospelafteranother reminds us of the opposition that Jesus faceduntil
finally, He was betrayed by one of His ownDisciples and crucified. That's one
side. The other side is. It's now 2000 years since Christcame into the world.
And the story is the same. You tell people the truth. You tell them to practice,
I repeat, humility, patience, chastity. You tell married people, only two in one
flesh. You tell men, if you evenlook at a womanlustfully, you've already
committed adultery with her in your heart. You tell people to love their
enemies. Pray for those who hate you. You tell people, if they strike you on
one cheek, turn the other, and you've got a whole science now developed.
Psychiatry. Sigmund Freud, the Founder of Psychiatry, in one book after
another says, "Those who believe that our life here on earth is only a pre-
condition for a life in eternity". Oh, psychotics. Sometimes I begin to lecture
by addressing the people "My dear fellow psychotics". We believe, the unborn
life in the mothers womb, is a human being. We believe that's murder. We
now have a murderer as Presidentof the United States. Needlessto say, what
happened to Christ, we should expectin our day. We are not to expectto be
acceptedby the world, because, no less than in Christ's time, the world does
not want the truth. Here Sister's are MissionariesofCharity. Well, you'll be
only askedauthentic MissionariesofCharity as you're Missionariesofthe
Truth. And by now, so many, including those in the church, how well I know.
Any thing to please the people. To be acceptedby the world. Any thing! Even
compromise on the truth. Lord Jesus, you told us, "if he had persecute me, he

will also persecute you". And, this, now this needs to be said. This is the mark
of being an authentic Father of Christ. Proclaiming what Christ taught and
paying the consequences. Notbeing acceptedby the world. Lord Jesus, give
us, be beg you, the grace to know the truth, to live the truth, and to proclaim
the truth. And if like You, the world, well, takes our life, because we testified
to the truth. That Jesus, wouldbe the greatestjoyof our life. To die for the
truth. But you know us. You know how weak we are!What compromises we
are! What conformist we are! How terrified we are, not to be acceptedby
others! Give us, we beg you, the grace to follow Your example and live the
truth, proclaim the truth, and if it is Your will to die for the truth, Amen. In
the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.
Fr. Hardon:
Does St. Paul say that we fill up with our own flesh what was lacking in the
sufferings of Christ is there anything that was lacking? Here we must say, yes,
there was something lacking. In other words, as we've said before, we use the
word objectively and subjectively. Objectively, we were relievedby Christs'
suffering and death. What do we mean? We mean, that by His death on the
cross, Our Lord gained, merited, won, all pasttense. He won all the graces
that a thousand worlds need to be saved. But, we shall not be saved, unless we
cooperate withthose graces. Christdid His part. God became man, as we've
said many times, God became man mainly to have a human will, so that with
His human will, He was, and I repeat, win, gain, earn, all the graces thatthe
human race needs to be saved. But, if God uses human, human will, so he
could freely offer Himself on the cross. We must use our free will and use our
free will in two ways. Use our free will in obtaining the graces, obtaining the
graces thatChrist won. And how do we obtain those graces?In three ways. By
prayer, by the sacraments and by doing goodworks. Three basic ways in
which we obtain grace from God. As the first part of our responsibility. The
secondis not just getting the graces, notjust obtaining the graces.We must
put those graces to use. In other words, we must cooperate withthe graces.
And that the expressionsounds strange, that's what St. Paul means when he
says that we are to make up what is lacking. What's lacking? Our

cooperation!Perhaps the tenth time, we are repeating. We are Catholics. And
for l5 centuries, until the Protestantchurches, as they call themselves, broke
with the Catholic faith. (Roostercrows)
Fr. Hardon: Could you help that? Is that an animal?
Audience: Ya, it's a rooster, Father.
Fr. Hardon: Put him into custody..put him into custody. (laughter)
What is lacking, is our obtaining the grace and then using the grace that
Christ wonfor us by his death on Calvary. And that means we must use our
free will. Two free wills redeem the world. The free will of Christ, who became
man, to have a free will and our free will.
Where are the children not baptized, if their parents have not receivedthe
sacramentof marriage?
The churches law is very simple. The church does not encourage the baptism
of children for parents, watch it, who will not raise their children in the
Catholic faith. However, and here, and don't forget. It is a mistake. It is
contrary to the teachings of the church, to not baptize children who's parents
who are not living, say, in a valid marriage, or their parents are not practicing
their faith. Provided somebody, somebody, raises those children in the faith. It
does not have to be the parents. Am I clear? Eventhough parents have not
been reared in the faith or are not living in a valid marriage. Normally, of
course, parents are the first and primary teaching their children. But not only,
that's what sponsors are for. And sponsors are not really symbolic persons.
They have a grave (error). A sponsorhas a responsibility by the, on the
mortal sin, to see the child or the children for whom that person has been a
sponsorat baptism. Am I clear? You need not be the parents. Obviously. And
normally, it should be the parents. But it need not be the parents. Provided
someone will raise those children in the Catholic faith. The church herself
encouragesthose children to be raisedas Catholics, eventhough their parents
are not living or practicing their faith. Thank you.
And now, I think we've almostfinished the Gift of Knowledge. Have we begun
the Gift of Counsel?

Sisters: Yes, Father.
Fr. Hardon:
Ok, ok. Now, I think Sister's, we have pretty well coveredthe Gift of Counsel.
And we were talking, I believe, before we closed, aboutthe necessityofthe
Gift of Counsel. Especially, in the more important decisions oflife. There is
need for discrimination. And the problem, as you know, now a days, is that
what even 30, 40, years ago. Pick up any book, with an imprimatur, and you
were safe. Go to a Priest, almost any Priest, and you were sure you were
getting goodadvise. But, that is no longertrue! And that is why we must
depend, and I mean this, we must depend more than ever before, on the Gift
of the Holy Spirit to counselus. To tell us what we should do in a given
situation. This includes the assurance, the confidence that we need that what
we are doing is pleasing to God. And over the years, the people sayhow they
want a spiritual director. "Father, will you be my spiritual director"? I never
say in so many words "no". I don't want to disappoint her. But, there is no
way that any Priest, a Priest who is faithful to his own Priestly commitment
could possibly call the number of people who would want his advise. In my
office in Detroit. This is about three year ago. I had an answering system. And
eachperson who called, there was a number. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. They would leave a
messageand of course, expectme to call them back. One day I told the
Secretaryat 9:00 in the morning. "There's so much work to do today, let's
turn off the answering machine, so that people can't call, give their name, and
what ever they are calling about". And then, I promised to callthem back.
This is not unusual. But that day, from 9:00 in the morning, till 5:00 in the
evening, when I turned the machine back on, there were 47 telephone calls.
And some very serious situations. I have a woman, who believes she's
possessed. And I have not talkedto her since I've come to Haiti, but she
attempted suicide about 10 days ago. And wants to be exercised. But I'm not
sure she's possessed. ThoughI have dealt with possessedpeople. But any one
person like that, that canbe hours, a day even, one or two days a week. For
example, I couldn't behave. I have all kinds of unfinished business. Now, I had
to consult the Holy Spirit and ask Him to give me the Counsel. "Should I
come to Haiti"? And your Superiors askedme if I would come to Haiti for two
weeks.This week and all next week. After prayer, I called up your Superior

and said, "Thanks, I can come for only one week". Youfollow my....eachone
of us, there are so many things to be done and not just quantity, but delicate
situations. Sister's, I cannotshare here with you more important than to
depend on the Holy Spirit. Consult Him, ask Him, "Whatshould I do." And
then trust Him! Now you have your Superiors and thank God, your Superiors
are still, well, Superiors. In many Communities, where they used to call
Superiors are no longer Superiors. They never tell the Religious whatto do.
They consult you. "Do you want to do this? Do you want to do that?" But our
lives, all of our lives, are too delicate and especiallythey are too interior. I
think I should saythis too. The deepestdecisions ofour lives, Sister's, are not
external decisions. "Whatdo I do, say at ll:00 o'clock?Whatkind of work do
I do? Or how should I do it?" The deepestdecisions are deepdown inside of
our souls. And these decisions, in most cases, no human being can tell you
what to do. Am I still making sense, Sister's?There must be an intimacy with
God. A closenessofthe Holy Spirit. And living as much as we can in His
presence, so that the decisions we make, interiorly, are to be made on the,
what a cheapword, is not advise, the Holy Spirit does not give just advise. The
Holy Spirit gives directives. And that is what we call the Gift of Counsel. And
in women's Communities, I mean the goodones that want to live an
authentically religious life. Forexample, I've been hearing confessions onwell,
what is it, 5:30 to 6:30, and there are, shall we say 35. We have two days left. I
would like to, well, be available for eachone of you. But, my consciencetells
me if someone has a question to discuss, I will talk it over in the fashion of
confession. Whichmeans, someone else does nothave the time. Am I clear?
Some Priest just are not that available. What I may do, I'll consult with your
Superior. What I may do, is add, even today, at leasta half an hour or maybe
one hour for confessions,if you want to talk something over. Ok? But, as a
last analysis, our first principle and primary Spiritual Director, is the Holy
Spirit. Ok. And that finishes the four Gifts of the Holy Spirit pertaining to the
mind. And now we start the three Gifts of the Holy Spirit, which belong to the
will. And what are they? Who remembers?
Sisters:Piety, Fortitude,
Fr. Hardon: So, whatever sequence you use. But, I've found it useful, for
Thursday, it is the Gift of....

Sisters: Fortitude.
Fr. Hardon: And Friday?
Sisters: Piety.
Fr. Hardon: And Saturday?
Fr. Hardon:
So, we will now talk about the Gift of Fortitude. (Pause)All the Gifts are here,
but they're not in sequence. So the first of the Gift belonging to the will is the
Gift of Fortitude. First of all, by way of introduction…
Copyright © 1998 Inter Mirific
The Gift of Counsel
Novena to the Holy Spirit (Introduction+Nine Days)
Day Seven-Thursdayof the 7th week ofEaster
"When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what
you are to say;for what you are to saywill be given to you at that time;"
[Matt 10:19]
The 'gift of counsel'has a variety of meanings that are spokenof. First, it's the
gift that assists and elevates the 'virtue of prudence'. Often it is referred to as
the gift of 'right judgment'; as in choosing correctlyor discernment God's
Will. Finally, it's the gift of 'spiritual intuition'; meaning to respond as the
Lord would have us do – quickly, in an unexpected or difficult situation. It's
this latter meaning, as illustrated in the opening passage thatI wish to dwell
upon today.
In the very beginning I mentioned that to desire and receive these 'sevengifts'
implies service to the Kingdom of God. Whether it is to witness or proclaim

the Kingdom, this 'gift of counsel'is the gift of letting the Holy Spirit take
control in a particular situation. Here's an example from scripture:
When they had made the prisoners [Peter and John] stand in their midst, they
inquired, "By what poweror by what name did you do this?" Then Peter,
filled with the Holy Spirit, said [See full passagehere - Acts 4:7-13]- when
they saw the boldness of Peterand John and realized that they were
uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazedand recognizedthem as
companions of Jesus.
The apostolic prisoners relied on the Holy Spirit (they became 'filled with His
Presence')to saywhat neededto be said in a bold fashion.
A more modern day and widely known example of this gift is seenin the
witness of St. Maximilian Kolbe, the saint of Auschwitz. If you recallthe story,
Fr. Maximilian steps forth to take the place of a prisoner (one of ten) who was
condemned to death as punishment for an escape attemptof another.
The ten were selected, including Franciszek Gajowniczek, imprisonedfor
helping the Polish Resistance. He couldn't help a cry of anguish. "My poor
wife!" he sobbed. "My poor children! What will they do?" When he uttered
this cry of dismay, Maximilian stepped silently forward, took off his cap, and
stoodbefore the commandant and said, "I am a Catholic priest. Let me take
his place. I am old. He has a wife and children." [Reada brief but beautiful
accounthere]
Here the humble friar, without forethought, allows the Holy Spirit to take
control of the situation. It's a most extreme and dramatic example for sure,
but it shows how the Holy Spirit will intercede when we are powerless and
provide us with exactly what is needed right on the spot.
If we contemplate this 'gift' in a more mundane fashion we cansee
opportunities that pass in our lives where this gift is very useful. Perhaps it's
that ability when caughtoff guard to say exactly the right thing in order to
elevate a bad situation with grace. Ormaybe it's the occasionofencountering
someone with spiritual needs or a grudge, and allowing the Holy Spirit to
guide our response.

The cultivation of this gift is not in filling ourselves with memorized responses,
as in getting ready for a game of 'Spiritual Jeopardy'. Rather the advanced
preparation is in emptying ourselves and aligning our hearts to God. It's in
fostering the desire for God's Will to be done in every circumstance, and
creating the awareness thatthe Holy Spirit genuinely desires to 'breathe forth'
through us, if we will only give him the latitude. It means among other things,
removing bitterness, hatred, cynicism, and other offensive behaviors that
often jump to the fore and abort the gift of counselbefore it canemerge. To
pray for this gift will necessarilyleadto a rethinking of our attitudes on
'confrontation', 'insistence on being right' and 'defending ourselves'.
Reflectionquestions:What behaviors must I change in order to allow the
Holy Spirit to actmore freely through me? Examine some situations in the
past where you might have interfered with the Holy Spirit's grace in reaching
others in need. Can you recall what specific action or behavior blockedthis
'gift'?
Come Holy Spirit; fill the hearts of your faithful people. Enkindle in us the
fire of your divine love.
Ashley said...
It is amazing how God answers this prayer. I hate confrontation. If given the
choice, I would never confront anyone over anything. And yet, today I have an
appointment to deliver a message fromGod to another servant. I don't know
what I will say, but for the first time in my life, I have confidence that the
Holy Spirit will be there, and the messagewillbe received
COUNSEL- Excerpts from Regina Coeliby John Paul II on Sunday May 7,
1989

Continuing the reflectionon the gifts of the Holy Spirit, today let us consider
the gift of Counsel. It is given to the Christian to enlighten the consciencein
moral choices which daily life presents.
A need that is keenly felt in our days, disturbed by not a few crises and by a
widespreaduncertainty about true values, if that which is called
"reconstructing consciences." Thatis to say, one is aware ofthe necessityof
neutralizing certain destructive factors which easilyfind their way into the
human spirit when it is agitatedby passions, andof introducing healthy
positive elements into it.
In this commitment to moral restorationthe Church must be, and is, in the
forefront; hence the prayer that arise:from the hearts of her members - of all
of us - to obtain especiallythe help of light from on high. The Spirit of God
responds to this plea through the gift of Counsel, by which he enriches and
perfects the virtue of prudence and guides the soul from within, enlightening
it about what to do, especiallywhenit is a matter of important choices (for
example, of responding to a vocation), or about a path to be followedamong
difficulties and obstacles. In factexperience confirms that "the deliberations
of mortals are timid, and unsure are our plans", as the Book of Wisdom says
(9:14).
2. The gift of Counselacts like a new breath in the conscience, suggesting to it
what is licit, what is becoming, what is more fitting for the soul (cf. St
Bonaventure, "Collationes de septemdonis Spiritus Sancti", VII, 5). Thus the
consciencebecomeslike the "healthy eye" of which the Gospelspeaks (Mt
6:21), an eye which acquires, as it were, a new pupil, by means of which it is
able to see better what to do in a given situation, no matter how intricate and
difficult. Aided by this gift, the Christian penetrates the true meaning of
gospelvalues, in particular those expressedin the Sermon on the Mount (cf.
Mt 5:7).
Let us therefore ask for the gift of Counsel!Let us ask for it for ourselves and,
in particular, for the pastors of the Church, so often called, by the demands of
their work, to make arduous and agonizing decisions.

Let us ask for it through the intercessionofher who, in the litany, is greeted
as "MaterBoni Consilii", Mother of GoodCounsel.
Counsel:
Empowers us to make decisions in the Spirit in practicalsituations. Helps to
overcome obstacles in our spiritual life, to be more open to this gift in others
and receive counsel. It is essentialto effective leadership. We counselothers
through God's leading. Prov. 12:1, 13:18. Mark 13:11.
This gift will help us make decisions in ways that in our own humanness, we
would not be able to make. Counselallows forlevels of maturity. As we grow
spirituality this gift will grow within us. Counselis not the gift of counselling
others, although it can lead to that or help us when we are mentoring others.
Counselis more of Godcounselling us, teaching us and leading us closerto
him. catholic-church.org
The Mind of Christ (Pt. III)
SevenFold Spirit of God
by Nancy Missler• December1, 1996
As we continue our series onbeing transformed by the renewing of our minds,
we want to go on examining the functions or operations of the Mind of Christ.
The Mind of Christ is a divine seven-fold process ofthinking that is bestowed
upon eachof us the moment we believe and acceptChrist into our hearts.
My understanding for this supernatural gift of God is Isaiah 11:1-2:"And
there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, anda Branch shall grow
out of his roots [this is Jesus, ofcourse]:and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest

upon Him, [that is] the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, the Spirit of
Counseland Might, the Spirit of Knowledge and the Fearof the Lord."
Like we said last month, the big task before us is "not the finding of the truth,
but the living of it." So, my prayer with eachof my books and with eachof
these newsletterarticles is to lay out a Biblical, and yet as practicalas
possible, approachto the exchangedlife-living Christ's Life instead of our
own.
Over the next severalissues ofPersonalUPDATE, we want to address God's
Spirit of Counsel, the fourth function of the Mind of Christ. Our purpose is to
understand, a little more clearly, how to appropriate this very important
supernatural gift in our everyday lives.
There are many diverse opinions in the body of Christ these days as to what
true Biblical counselis. So, let's see what God's Word has to say about His
Spirit of Counsel.
Spirit of Counsel(Hebrew is Esa - Greek is Boulomai)
The Spirit of Counselis a wonderful, supernatural gift of God. It's simply
supernatural knowledge ofGod's Will for our own individual lives. In other
words, it's God's personalinstructions, His directions, to help us make the
godly choices!How many of you need this? I certainly do, every single
moment.
The Spirit of Counselis like our personaladvisor, our helper, our guide.
God's counselis wonderful, because He tells us what we should and what we
shouldn't do. He gives us His advice so we can make the right decisions.
The Old Testamentwordfor counselis esa. Esa means "steerage"or"not
letting us veer off course" (i.e., not letting us miss the mark). Naturally, only
God can keepus "on course," because onlyHe knows our "true" course.
Only God knows what His perfect Will is for our life. Romans 8:27 says, "He
that searchesthe hearts, knowethwhat is the Mind (attitude) of the Spirit,
because He makes intercessionforthe saints according to the will of God."
An Example: "Leannot to thine own understanding"

Years ago, we knew a precious Christian family who lived down the street
from us in NewportBeach, California. Theirson was critically injured in a
diving accident, similar to Joni EareckesonTada's (where she broke her back
and was paralyzed from the neck down). He, too, broke his back and was
paralyzed.
The first week afteran accidentlike this is always very critical. Many life and
death decisions must be made. All the doctors had advisedthe family that if
they wanted their sonto survive the ordeal, he must have a bone fusion
operationimmediately. This was going to be a very dangerous operation,
especiallybecause ofthe boy's already precarious physical condition. All the
doctors had concurredthat the operationwas the best course of actionto take
and everything had been done to prepare for it.
The mom decided to go and be alone with God, pray and seek His Counsel.
She told Godthat she didn't have the slightestclue as to what the best course
of action was for her son. But, she acknowledgedthat Godwas in control of
their lives and she askedHim that if this operation was the wrong decision,
that He would intervene.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto
thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall
direct thy paths."
Just as the boy was about ready to be wheeledinto the operating room, an
uncle (who was also a neurosurgeonon the EastCoast)calledand told the
family definitely not to have the operation. I've forgottenall the medical
reasons he gave them, but the family felt it was definitely God intervening, so
they chose to postpone the operation. I'm sure the doctors were completely
baffled at the family's decision, but they nevertheless conceded. Less than two
hours after that phone call, the soncame down with a serious respiratory
problem and had he been in the middle of that operation, he never would have
survived.
That same operation was scheduledthree more times. But in eachcase, God
supernaturally intervened and managed to stop it. One time, while the son
was receiving a transfusion in preparation for the operation, he developedan

allergic reactionand burst out with hives. Once again, the operationwas
postponed. The last I heard, the boy never had that operation, but had
survived and was doing quite well.
God can be very creative in the ways He leads and counsels us, if we allow
Him to and if we don't take matters into our own hands. "God's Ways are not
our ways." This is why we so desperatelyneedHis Spirit of Counselto help
direct our ways, so they will definitely be His ways and not our own.
Waiting On God
Philippians 2:13 tells us that God is in us "...to will His good pleasure." This
means that God is in us to let us know what His Will is for our own particular
situation. The "secret" is, of course, that we must "wait" for His Counsel, His
Advice, His Guidance as to what His Will is. In the Hebrew to wait means to
"bind togetherby twisting."
Isaiah40:31 validates that waiting is the "key." "Theythat wait upon the
Lord, shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles
they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."
Often the waiting is the hardest part, because waiting and seeking Godtakes
time and most of us are in too much of a hurry to do that.
So, rather than waitand listen for God's Counselor His answerto our
problems, we run to a friend, a pastor, a counselor, a psychologistorothers,
because we feelthey can give us the answers we need right now.
Mostof the time we feel it's "easier" to talk to a pastor, a friend, or a
counselorbecause we cantell them our own side of the story and hear their
responses as to what we should do.
The truth is, however, only God knows our true situation (the real facts)-both
sides of the story. Only He knows our hearts and all the debris (bitterness,
resentment and unforgiveness, etc.)that has coveredthem.
Men can't see these things, and even the best of them are still only guessing as
to what the real cause ofour problems might be and what to do about them.

Psalm108:12-13 validates this, "...Vainis the help of man, [but] through God
we shall do valiantly."
Only God is our best counselor!Only He can expose the truth and completely
heal and restore us!
Now, I am not saying don't ever go to other counselors, because Ido believe
God uses them along the way.
Be sure, however, that your counseloris a true, practicing believer, "living the
truth." Now, they don't have to be "perfect"-none ofus are-but at leasttheir
lives should reflectwhat they say. Then you can be assured, as he leads you to
Christ to help you renew your mind, that God's Spirit of Counselwill be
operating. And God will be faithful to take your sins away"as far as the east
is from the west." (Psalm103:12)
Please,and I stress this, if you are a Christian, don't go to secular, worldly
counselors. The reasonis, you will get secular, worldly advice, which
Scripture tells us is not only different from God's Wisdom and His Counsel,
but is completely opposite. (Isaiah55:8-9)
"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they
are foolishness unto him, neither canhe know them, because theyare
spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14)
An Example: "No one will ever dig these up again"
A Christian galin one of my seminars back Easthad been going to a secular
psychiatrist for years.
Now, he had helped her to see and understand some of the traumatic things
that had happened in the past (when she was little, her mother had tried to
kill her by drowning her and throwing her down the stairs; she had been
molestedas a child and raped as an adult, etc.), but no matter how hard her
psychiatrist tried, he could not take these wounds and memories awayfrom
her. In other words, He could not "heal" her.
My friend "saw" andexperiencedthese painful memories of her past, but
when her psychiatrist could not getrid of them for her, she had no other

option but to bury them again. (They were too painful for her to retain in her
consciousness.)
This time she buried them under a ton of self-protective walls, vowing that no
one would ever dig them up again.
This precious sisterin the Lord came to our seminar seeking God, but when
she heard that He wanted to expose some of the things that she had buried
down in her hidden chambers, she froze and determined to leave the class at
once.
Three of the ladies she came with, however, loved her and wouldn't let her go.
Over a period of severaldays and nights, her precious friends stayedwith her
and ministered to her.
Finally, because of God's Love through them, she made faith choices to
release allthe hidden debris to the only One who could remove them from her
completely and forever.
She wrote me a few weeks laterthat she had been freed and felt like a "new
person." She said she never went back to her therapist, because as she put it
in her letter, she now has the "MasterPsychiatrist" and "He does a much
more excellentjob."
So, worldly counselors canhelp us locate and identify our problems, but no
matter how hard they try, they cannottake the rootcause of those problems
away.
Without Christ in the center of that counseling session, guiding, healing and
literally taking away our painful memories and wounds, we often will end up
worse off than when we began.
Isaiah30:1 validates this: "Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that
take counsel, but not of Me; and that cover with a covering, but not of My
Spirit, that they may add sin to sin."
God's Spirit of Counselis critical!

The 7 Gifts Of The Holy Spirit – Counsel
Jun 13th, 2011 by Gary Zimak.
Today we’ll look at the gift of counsel. This gift helps us to have a good
conscienceandkeepon the path that leads to God. Simply put, it allows us to
make the right decisionin a particular situation. More than “good
judgment”, counselis a supernatural gift sent to us from God. In Psalm32,
God reminds us of His assistance:
“I will instruct you and show you the way you should walk, give you counsel
and watchover you” (Ps 32:8).
While it’s comforting to know that the Lord provides this gift, we often
neglectto make use of it when we need it. As humans, it’s often difficult to
break from the attachment to our own judgment and trust in the counsel
provided by the Holy Spirit. In his book The Way, St. Josemaria Escriva
writes, “Nevermake a decisionwithout first stopping to considerthe matter in
the presence ofGod.” Unfortunately, we often ignore this advice and, as a
result, make many “bad” decisions.
Jesus assuresus of the effectiveness ofthis gift in the following Scriptural
passages:
“When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what
you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. Forit
will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through
you.” (Mt 10:19-20)
“The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name–he will
teachyou everything and remind you of all that I told you.” (Jn 14:26)
We’ll close with a prayer for an increase in the gift of counselwritten by St.
Alphonsus Liguori:

Holy Spirit, divine Consoler, Iadore You as my true God, with God the
Father and God the Son. I adore You and unite myself to the adoration You
receive from the angels and saints. I give You my heart and I offer my ardent
thanksgiving for all the grace which You never ceaseto bestow on me. Grant
me the gift of counsel, so that I may choose whatis more conducive to my
spiritual advancement and may discoverthe wiles and snares of the tempter.
The Spirit in the Christian
Isaiah11:2
Paul J. Bucknell
The Bible Teaching Commentary
As we depend upon the Spirit of God, He effectively leads us closerto Him
and makes our lives more fruitful.
_________________________
Introduction Isaiah 11:1-5 | Isaiah 11:1 | Isaiah 11:2 | Isaiah 11:3-5
Bible Study Questions:Isaiah 11:1 | Isaiah 11:2 | Isaiah11:3-5
Book ofIsaiah: Overview | Background| Outline
Purpose

A Christ-filled believer is a Spirit-filled believer! Learn not only what it meant
for Christ to be filled with the Spirit of God but also for the believer from this
study on Isaiah11:2, part of the Isaiah Living Commentary.
B) The Spirit in the Christian (Isaiah11:2)
In Isaiah 11:2 we find the keyto understanding the life of Christ. When we
look at His life as revealedin the Gospels,we recognize that God used Him in
an amazing way ministering to the people. Just think how many of us could
step into the same situations as Christ did and leave any real long-lasting
worthy impact. We need to be more like Christ.
“And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the spirit of counseland strength, the spirit of knowledge and
the fearof the LORD” (Isaiah 11:2).
Now some of us might wonder if this verse speaks aboutChrist Jesus, why are
we implying it has to do with us? There are numerous ways to answerthis
important question. For if we think it only has to do with the wayChrist lived,
then we will not seriouslyapply it to our lives. Here are two reasons Isaiah
11:2 applies to our lives.
1) We first see that the anointing that Christ receivedin sight of many at His
baptism is the same anointing by the Holy Spirit that Christians receive. The
Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit mentioned above in Isaiah11:2.
“But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know” (1 John
2:20).
2) Second, the disciples filling of the Holy Spirit in early Acts was meant to
mark them to be of Christ. This was not limited to the twelve apostles but was
upon all of the disciples. This Spirit walk was from then on a characteristic of
God’s people.
“If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25).
Instead of wondering whether we are to be Spirit led, let us think what it
means for us to be Spirit filled. Let us first make some generalstatements and
then discuss these sevenmarks in a little detail.

Walking in the Spirit
As the air invades eachpart of a person, so the Spirit of God touches each
part of our lives. Air and spirit are the same words in both Hebrew and
Greek. If we merely walk with physical air, our beings canfunction though
impaired. We need the Spirit of God to move and animate our spiritual
beings. Those without the Spirit of God are spiritually dead. That spiritual
aspectof their lives is not functioning.
“And you were dead in your trespassesand sins, in which you formerly
walkedaccording to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
powerof the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience”
(Ephesians 2:1,2, NASB).
=> For more reading on Ephesians 2:1-3
When a person becomes a Christian, the Spirit of God rushes in and makes
the spiritual nature alive and functioning. The physical and spiritual functions
were designedto jointly work but because we have been so used to using our
physical features, we place all our confidence in them.
The body is goodfor opening a canof sauce orbringing the canto one’s lips,
but the spiritual nature dominated by the Spirit of God is needed to
accomplishspiritual activities. These spiritual matters are clearlymentioned
in Isaiah 11:3-5. Here in Isaiah 11:2, however, we see the way the Spirit of
God works in a person.
One can debate whether a capital ‘S’ (Spirit) or a small ‘s’ (spirit) should be
used. It is rather immaterial. I think it is clearerfor English speakers to use
‘Spirit.’ The word is used four times and it is the same eachtime. The Hebrew
does not have capitaland small letters.
Even if one wants to capitalize the first usage of ‘Spirit’ and make the others
‘spirit,’ we will still affirm that it is the same Spirit that does these things. This
is undeniable, and it is confirmed in the way the Holy Spirit imparts gifts to
His people (cf. 1 Corinthians 12).

Our far bigger problem is to train ourselves to be attentive to and follow the
Spirit of God. Mostof us live in a very secularstate. We are often insensitive
to the Spirit’s working. If we prayed and sought our Father’s will like Jesus,
we would better learn how to walk in the Spirit.
SevenSpirit-dominated areas ofLife
As we go through this list, we will note that wisdom, understanding, etc. are
things we can have to some degree without the Spirit of God. In Isaiah 11 we
are being introduced to another kind of wisdom, understanding and counsel.
There is a physical strength but because ofthe Holy Spirit there is a spiritual
strength. There is a counselfrom man but also a counselfrom the Spirit of
God. The following chart helps outline the difference of the Holy Spirit’s work
in eachof the sevenareas mentioned.
At first we will see what it is for the Spirit of God to be at work in a person,
functioning in this world but also living within God’s dimension. He is able to
function equally in both worlds at the same time. The person on the right is
the non-Christian or resistantChristian who functions without the Spirit of
God in his life. What we see in the Book ofActs is the way the church should
be operating when His people are dependent on the Spirit of God.
Are you conscious ofGod’s supernatural strength, wisdom and understanding
for circumstances thatgo beyond our regular comprehensionand abilities?
God has equipped us, but we need to put awayour sins and sincerely seek
Him for help in learning how to walk in the Spirit. This dependence is
increasedas we live by the spiritual disciplines of praying, fasting and
meditating on God’s Holy Word.
God’s presence
Spirit of Godat work in man
The presence ofGod occupies a person and influences His thoughts, decisions
and relationship with others.
Dependent on Man’s Resources withoutGod

The absence ofGod (spiritually dead) leaves only the body and a darkened
mind (flesh) to dictate all decisions.
Wisdom
Specialability from God to connectthe consequences ofwhat has been done
with what is being or will be done.
The accumulationof discernment built up over the years of experience and
knowledge.
Understanding
Specialdiscernment from God enabling a person to graspthe proper
perspective of a certain situation.
Grasping an acceptable perspective ofa situation by one’s accumulated
knowledge ofa circumstance.
Counsel
Specialwords of wisdom from the Spirit of God enabling one to bring special
words of comfort, healing and warning.
Words and advice stemming from what one has learned and experiencedin
the world.
Strength

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