The main fault of Catholics? They are convinced of not having enough charisma, Pope Francis asserted during the general audience on November 20.
“The laity have their own charisms and gifts with which they contribute to the mission of the Church.” In Saint Peter’s Square, this Wednesday, November 20, Pope Francis presided over his usual general audience, continuing his cycle of catechesis on the Holy Spirit. This time he spoke of the richness brought by the role of the laity within the Church.
Francis spoke of “charisma”, which he defined as a gift given to a person or “to a few in particular”, but which is oriented “for the common good, […] serving the community.” Pope Francis wanted to clear up a misunderstanding that many Christians think they don’t have one, or that it’s not meant for them.
It is in the ordinary that the extraordinary is experienced
The charisms are “a marvelous wealth of grace for the apostolic vitality and for the holiness of the entire Body of Christ; provided, however, that they are gifts which truly come from the Holy Spirit and that they are exercised in a manner fully conformable to the authentic impulses of this same Spirit, that is to say according to charity, the true measure of charisms”, thus describes the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC n°800).
And Pope Francis clarifies that they are not “spectacular and extraordinary gifts and abilities” but “ordinary gifts that acquire extraordinary value […] when they incarnate themselves with love in the situations of life.” Pope Francis then wanted to reassure: “Each of us has his own charisma.” Pope Francis also invited the faithful not to compare themselves: “Not question of feeling sadness and disillusionment in the face of the charisms of others, because in the Church, all charisms, and not just a few, are ‘mine’. “Charity makes the charisma of one the charisma of all,” he said.
