Gifts Poured Out Extravagantly

“He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.” // John 3:34

My then-fiancé was curious: what does it mean to be “charismatic”? All he could imagine were some weird hand gestures and swaying back and forth to cheesy songs. That, of course, was not attractive to him. His image of what it meant to be “charismatic,” or full of the charisms and gifts of the Spirit, determined his disposition towards it altogether. He was wary, rightly so, of something overly emotional and ungrounded.

He agreed to come with me to his first praise and worship night of Eucharistic Adoration—that is, a night before Our Eucharistic Lord filled with silence, vocal praise, music, and communal worship. Often there are also moments of sharing with the community the gifts of the Spirit that have been bestowed on us. Saint Paul says some have the gift of prophecy, others of healing, and words of knowledge, etc (see 1 Corinthians 12:4-11). These gifts are meant for the building up of the Church. And so there we were at this night of praise and worship in a sketchy part of New Jersey. I had no idea how my German, never-exposed-to-praise-and-worship fiancé would respond to the whole experience.

I stepped out of the chapel for some time for my turn to help babysit participants' kids. As the kids ran wild, I wondered if it was a mistake to leave my fiancé alone in the chapel for so long during his first “charismatic” experience. I thought I should be there to slowly ease him into everything and provide explanations if he had questions.

I snuck back into the chapel to have a quick peek. What I saw set my heart at ease: there he was, eyes closed, hands lifted up in worship, voice singing out a song of praise to our Eucharistic Lord. I planned to ease him in slowly, but the Lord had other plans. When the Lord gives us His Holy Spirit—which we already received at our Baptism—He gives His Spirit freely and generously. The Lord does not hold back because of our fears and apprehensions. He does not ration His Spirit (John 3:34), but pours out His gifts extravagantly.

Lord, You are generous. Give me more of Your Spirit; let me not be wary of His gifts, but open my heart wide to all that You wish to give me. Amen.