Novena for the Charisms and
Fruit of the Holy Spirit
Day 4
Charismatic Gift: Interpretation of Tongues
Fruit of the Spirit: Patience
Scripture:
Luke 24:30
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
Reflection:
The gift of interpretation of tongues, like many of the Charismatic gifts, needs to be experienced to be appreciated. Like the gift of prophecy, when the gift is authentically expressed there is a stirring of the heart- a “burning” as the two on the road to Emmaus described it. On the road to Emmaus the two believers were sad that their redeemer was dead. Coincidentally, that supposedly dead redeemer was walking next to them and very much alive! Jesus remarked to them how, in essence, they “didn’t get it”, and proceeded to interpret how all of scripture was about him. He was interpreting himself, the “Logos” the word, Jesus.
A common lament of many believers is that “I don’t hear God speak to me.” I pray but.. nothing. Maybe hearing God is a special thing for the Saints or the extra holy? Someone once said “humans speak punctuated by silence. God is silent, punctuated by speaking.” Discerning the voice of God is a lifelong pursuit. Intimacy with God is one of the jobs of the Holy Spirit- bringing us into communion with the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is patient with us as he prepares our hearts for deeper and deeper encounters with God. For our part, patiently pursuing the presence of God and listening for his voice is worth the effort.
The gift of interpretation of tongues is a gift that is best expressed in a community context. As 1 Cor 14;13 says- when one speaks in tongues we should pray for the power to interpret. It is beautiful to realize that a word in tongues and then an interpretation, both gifts of the spirit, are a community effort to hear God speaking to us. Yes as individuals, we can hear the voice of God. He is always speaking but we often are not listening. The community context of the interpretation of tongues highlights God's heart that we need one another. Which brings us back to patience.
Why is patience with our brothers and sisters in Christ such a challenge? Perhaps it is because their failings and sins remind us of our own inadequacies. The fruit of patience should be a means of uniting us in our need for one another. It is together, as the body of Christ, that the Holy Spirit can truly reveal the Word.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit, open my ears, open my heart. I desire to have you reveal the Father and the Son in a deeper way to me. Increase my patience as I wait upon your work in me. Increase my love for others so that I have the patience needed to allow you to complete your work of sanctification. Give me the gift of interpretation of tongues, according to your will, that together with my brothers and sisters, we can know your will as you speak to and through us. Amen
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful.
And kindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.
And you will renew the face of the earth.
Lord, by the light of the Holy Spirit
you have taught the hearts of your faithful.
In the same Spirit help us to relish what is right
and always rejoice in your consolation.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen. Come Holy Spirit!
And kindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.
And you will renew the face of the earth.
Lord, by the light of the Holy Spirit
you have taught the hearts of your faithful.
In the same Spirit help us to relish what is right
and always rejoice in your consolation.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen. Come Holy Spirit!