Continuing the catechesis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, Pope Francis spoke about the gift of counsel on Wednesday, 7. He pointed out that this gift makes man capable of making the right choice, day by day, following the logic of Jesus and His Gospel.
About 60 thousand pilgrims were in St. Peter’s Square for the general audience with the Holy Father, who stressed the importance of this gift for communion between God and man. “Counsel is the gift with which the Holy Spirit turns our consciousness to make a real choice in communion with God. It makes us sensitive to His voice and directs our thoughts, making us thus grow inwardly, to not leave us at the mercy acts of selfishness and our own way of seeing things. ”
For this to happen, Francis said prayer is essential, because it is what makes the man be docile to the voice of God. Thus, let aside the personal, full of constraints, to mature deeply in tune with the Spirit.
“It always comes back to the same point. Prayer. Prayer is so important!” Francis said, adding that one must not only pray the prayers that you learn as a child, but also using words asking for help and advice.
Like all other gifts of the Spirit, the counsel is also a treasure for the whole Christian community, the Pope explained. That’s because you can hear the voice of God through the brothers. “It is a great gift to be able to count on men and women who help us recognize God’s will in our lives”.
Francisco gave an example of how this gift works in practice, citing an experience he had in the confessional from the Sanctuary of Lujan, Argentina. At that time, there was in the line, a young man who confessed to a big problem. He said he was there, because his mother was advised to ask for help from Our Lady.
“Here is a woman who had the gift of counsel! I did not know to find a solution to the problem of the child, but indicated the right path, ‘Go to Our Lady and she will tell you what to do.’ This is the gift of counsel. Do not say: ‘But this …’. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak. ”
The Holy Father highlighted that this simple woman gave the child the true councils, looking at Our Lady, the boy understood what he should do. “This is the gift of counsel. You mothers who have this gift, ask him for your children. Counsel your children that it is a gift from God. ”