X

Breathe!

Counsel is the third of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit that we receive in confirmation. This gift of the Holy Spirit was exclusively referred to as“Counsel” until the end of the 20th century.  The more recent use of “Right Judgement” for this gift points the role of us as persons and Council refers to the role of the Holy Spirit in making decisions.

Decisions! From the time we decide to get up & out of bed, we make choices. Right Judgement helps us to avoid rash judgements. The Spirit of Right Judgement is the gift to make good choices—to make God’s choices & seek His advice.

Counsel is especially necessary for those whose are in positions of leadership, since at such levels of responsibility, natural prudence sometimes does not suffice. We need Counsel in our roles as parents, teachers, political leaders, and even simply as citizens. Counsel endows the Soul with Supernatural Prudence, empowering it to judge promptly and rightly what must be done in challenging circumstances

On a very simple level, we receive counsel to help make decisions in some of the more difficult situations: advice as to whether to take a job or not, whether or not we should marry a specific person etc. In the case of the gift of Counsel, we have God as our Counselor giving us advice in the decisions and situations that will help us to draw closer to Him. And if we want to be good counselors, good advice givers, then we need this gift to help us give good and sound advice to those who are seeking it.

And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit."

 “May the Spirit always instill in our hearts the certainty of God’s presence, and in this way fill us with peace, and may we always ask for the gift of counsel!”.