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| Fruits Of The Spirit | May 16, 2008, 12:28 pm | visits: 51 | wordcount: 545
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By Elizabeth Guide
After a candidate received the Sacrament of Confirmation, and he receives the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Church teaches that these gifts bear fruits, the Fruits of the Spirits. These fruits are Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Generosity, Gentleness, Faithfulness, Modesty, Self-Control and Chastiy.
The Fruits of the Spirit is a concept found in Chapter 5 :22 of Galatians and given the name Fruit because it was meant to imply harvest or the result of the Gifts the Holy Spirit gives during Confirmation.
The fruit of love is also known as agape love and there is a full description of love from Corinthians 13:4-8. It is often read at weddings because it fully describes what love should be. Agape and Eros are defined in Greek in this way. Eros is the physical love where as agape love is the mature love and transcends physical attraction.
Joy is beyond happiness, which is just conditional or emotional. You can be happy or experience happiness when eat a good dinner. Joy is a state of mind that often involves being in fellowship with God. People often say that they have an internal feeling of joy and have a general feeling of well being.
Peace is having a restful relationship with God. In obtaining this, the confirmed is more receptive to the will of go and what he is seeking from God. Life becomes less chaotic. God can still be present in time of conflict but the confirmed realizes that God has not left them.
Patience is the ability to endure and be strong. It's also the ability to better mirror Jesus with his ability to be patient with us. Patience is also a way to better carry our crosses without any upset. There are several levels of patience. The basic level is no complaining, second level is making progress in times of hardship. Lastly, the highest level is to desire a cross and accept it willingly.
Kindness is having sympathy and understanding for others and showing concern for those in need. This may be done though actions or just simple words of encouragement. On receiving the Spirit should innately be more kind because of the agreement to be more Christ-like.
Goodness is attained when the candidate is more in tune with God and what his will is for us. Conjoined is Gentleness, having mild disposition and behavior and helping to not being angry or bearing resentment.
The Fruit of Faith is the ability to believe what we cannot see. Faith is part of our intellect and in order to have faith in God we must be willing accept God over that intellect. It is by this faith that we understand the we should not commit sin and follow Christ's blue print to gain entrance into heaven.
Modesty, Self-Control And Chastity are all fruits that tie together. Modesty helps us to avoid offensive behavior even if it is not required in the circumstance. Chastity tempers the desires of the flesh even with in marriage. And in order to act Chaste, you must act with self control especially when dealing with unruly sexual urges.
The fruits of the Spirit elevate the confirmed person giving them the ability to better conduct their mission to spread the news of Jesus.
Faith-full supplies unique confirmation gifts for Catholic Confirmation
Source:www.isnare.com | |
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