The Witness of the Fruits of the Holy Spirit
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt lose its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is good for nothing any more but to be cast out, and to be trodden on by men. You are the light of the world. A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house. So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. – Matthew 5:13-18.
One of the most important elements of the Catholic mission is to be a witness of the Faith to others. Like all things in the life of faith, this element of our mission is cooperation with grace. If we’re not cooperating with grace our attempt to witness may become inauthentic or even pretentious. However, if we cooperate with grace and let God’s truth, goodness, and love shine through our lives, we can become the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World. One of the main effects of grace that witnesses to God’s power in our lives are the Fruits of the Holy Spirit.
Expressions of Grace
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, luxury, Idolatry, witchcrafts, enmities, contentions, emulations, wraths, quarrels, dissensions, sects, Envies, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like. Of the which I foretell you, as I have foretold to you, that they who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity. Against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s, have crucified their flesh, with the vices and concupiscences. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be made desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying on another. – Galatians 5:19-26
The Fruits of the Holy Spirit are the effects of God’s love in our souls. They are the products of the process of conversion as grace works in our hearts to transform us into the Divine Likeness. Of course, the process of conversion also requires our cooperation. So the Fruits can also be seen as supernatural virtues that we can strengthen in our hearts by practicing them in cooperation with grace. Saint Paul’s statement really shows both dimensions. On one hand, he calls them “fruits,” showing that they are supernatural effects of the Spirit’s presence in our hearts. However, he is also exhorting the Galatians to show these attributes in their lives rather than the fruits of the flesh.
While Saint Paul probably did not intend to give us a definitive list of fruits, the Church has through its history
So let’s take a look at each of the Fruits to see how we are called to cooperate with grace, participate in the Divine Life of Christ, and be a witness to the presence of the Holy Trinity in our lives.
The Fruits of the Holy Spirit
Charity is one of the Theological Virtues (Faith, Hope, and Charity). The Theological Virtues exercise our relationship with God directly. So while we often use the term “charity” to mean giving money to those in need, the primary movement of this virtue is to love God. Faith and Hope both lead us to greater charity. Faith is intimacy with God. Hope is trust in God.
Joy is the deep-seated happiness that comes from being connected to the perfect, eternal good. Joy is not the same as emotional happiness. It is a steadfast, unchanging sense of fulfillment. It may be expressed emotionally, or it may reside more deeply in the heart even while we experience emotional sorrow.
Peace is the absence of worry or strife, especially concerning our eternal salvation. It is a fruit of the virtue of Hope – trust in God’s promises to give us what we need for our salvation. Peace does not lull us into the sin of presumption, however. It doesn’t move us to stop working out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). Rather, it encourages us to continue working out our salvation with confidence in God’s love and faithfulness. Also, focused on the things above, we worry and stress less about the things of this world.
Patience is the ability to wait through suffering or hardship because we know that goodness will come in the end. It is the strength of knowing that greater goods are worth waiting for. The young man or young woman who practices chastity while he or she waits and plans for the good of marriage is practicing patience. The Holy Spirit teaches us patience in all things. A heart transformed by the love of Jesus accepts all suffering and hardship knowing that it can be united to Jesus’ sufferings on the Cross to bring about spiritual good.
Benignity is often translated as “kindness.” Whereas charity is primarily understood as love for God, benignity is love for neighbor. It means to will the good of others and to act in order to make that goodness a reality.
Goodness means love for all things good. When we practice goodness, we love the Law of God (Psalm 119). We see the moral law as instruction from our loving God to lead us to what is truly good for us. So we choose and do what is right and just and we celebrate the goodness of God.
Longanimity is often translated as “faithfulness.” It literally means “long souled.” It is the quality of sticking with someone or something through thick and thin, even when it includes suffering. This fruit means that we are faithful to God first and foremost. But it also means being a faithful friend to others.
Mildness, meekness, or gentleness is the disposition to not seek one’s own will at the expense of others. It is the opposite of anger, which is defined as a cardinal sin as the inordinate desire for revenge. It also means that we don’t always need to push for our ideas to be heard. We don’t always need to be proven right. We don’t always need to be recognized or applauded. We don’t need to always get our own way.
Faith is the theological virtue of trusting that what God has revealed about Himself is true. With faith, peace (a fruit of hope), and charity, all three Theological virtues are in Saint Paul’s list of spiritual fruits. The trust of faith opens our hearts to true intimacy with God. If we trust His public revelation in the person of Jesus and transmitted to us through Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, we can also open our hearts to greater personal intimacy with Him.
Modesty is the expression of humility. Humility means to have an accurate self-concept, including our strengths, our gifts, our weaknesses, and our sinfulness. Humility also means thinking less about ourselves and more about others. Modesty refers to how we present ourselves to the world. It means presenting ourselves with the dignity as sons and daughters of God, but not with pomp, pretentiousness, or pride. We often think narrowly of modesty as the way we dress so as not to attract undue sexual attraction our way. But it also refers to our speech and our actions, and is not limited to sexual attraction. The modest person does not seek to draw undue attention of any kind. Rather, he or she seeks to develop real relationships and to live in such a way that gives glory to God rather than to oneself.
Continency means self-control. It is really another name for the virtue of Temperance, the cardinal virtue in which we practice self-control for the purpose of balancing our physical desires. Practicing continency shows that the Holy Spirit is helping us to overcome the effects of Original Sin, especially concupiscence (unruly physical desire). In a turn of blessed irony, people who practice temperance often discover a greater enjoyment of created goods that overindulgence deprived them of.
Chastity is a virtue that hinges on the cardinal virtue of Temperance. It specifically refers to self-control in the area of sexual desire. Chastity means directing our sexual powers to God’s intended use for them – the formation of family love within a marital relationship or the special love for God’s Family exercised through celibacy.
The Witness of the Fruits of the Holy Spirit
In his letter to the Galatians, Saint Paul is using these qualities to exhort the Christians in Galatia to greater love for each other. However, in John 13:35, Jesus tells His disciples, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” The spiritual fruits are therefore a powerful witness to faith to others. But the face of Jesus you show to the world needs to be authentic. Therefore, before you can be an authentic witness to the world you first have to allow the Holy Spirit to transform your heart. This requires
- Prayer
- Frequent Examination of Conscience
- The Sacrament of Confession
- The Sacrament of Holy Eucharist and the grace from the other Sacraments
- Conscious effort to cooperate with grace in order to grow in these virtues and attributes
As your heart is transformed through grace, your life will become a witness to the power of God in your life. If you would like some help cooperating with grace in order to build the spiritual fruits in your life, you are in the right place! Below you will find an offer to take your next step with From the Abbey. You can learn the faith with online courses and articles or live your faith with online spirituality programs. Join us today so we can help each other cooperate with grace and grow in holiness!
Brought to you by Jeffrey S. Arrowood at From the Abbey, dedicated to helping you rediscover the JOY of learning and living your faith so you can grow in intimacy with God.
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