Gifts of the Holy Spirit Series - UNDERSTANDING

UNDERSTANDING

UNDERSTANDING

What is the Holy Spirit’s Gift of Understanding?

By Fr. Edlefsen

Last week, I said that the Spirit’s Gifts are subtle, supernatural “dispositions” given to us at
Baptism. The Spirit’s Gifts are like a ship’s sails. They “catch the wind” of the Spirit’s breath.
“The Spirit blows where he wills…” (John 3:8). While Wisdom is the first Gift of the Spirit
mentioned among seven, the Gift of Understanding is the second (see Isaiah 11:2-3).
Wisdom perfects love. Understanding perfects faith. When the Holy Spirit works through
Understanding, we take to heart our Catholic faith. This includes the meaning of the narratives
and letters of the Bible, the spiritual insights of sacred Tradition, and the teachings of the Creed
and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Understanding enlivens our “sense of the faith”
(sensus fidelium), and it makes faith personal. For us, faith becomes more than lots of dry
information in a catechism book or obscure Bible stories. Through Understanding, our Catholic
faith become a life-giving fact of life.


Pray for Understanding before reading the Bible or the Catechism, and before attending Mass.
Students should pray for Understanding before studying religion and even secular subjects. It
helps us see all things through a living, real, and practical faith in Jesus Christ.
Through Understanding, the Holy Spirit enlightens our mind with intuitive insights into life’s
toughest issues. But watch out! Understanding powerfully impacts memory. It purifies our
imagination. This can be a painful experience, at least for a while. Through Understanding, the
Holy Spirit digs up “old bones,” but with a twist. Old memories – good and bad – surface so we
can see our lives through the serene and healing light of the risen Christ. Fear dissipates.
Understanding teams up with Wisdom to resolve things. Understanding has healing properties
that deepen our knowledge of life’s experience and God’s Word. Understanding blossoms in
the Beatitude, “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.”

Categories: 

More Stories

Sixty Years Ago: A Milestone of Dialogue for Humanity

Nostra Aetate: The Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions
October 28, 2025

A Milestone of Dialogue: Sixty Years of 'Nostra aetate' Signed on 28 October 1965 by Pope St Paul VI, the conciliar declaration...Read more

Saints, Souls, & the Last Things

October 27, 2025

By Father Fred Edlefsen

In November, the Church honors those who endured time’s “great trial” (Revelation 7:14). “Therefore, if...Read more

A Tale of Two Prayers

October 21, 2025

By Father Fred Edlefsen

A dog barks up the wrong tree. Apply this to the spiritual life. For example,...Read more
Subscribe to Blog
  •  
  • 1 of 60