We work in gratitude for what we have received, not for what we will get in return. This is true humility.
Do We Squander What God Has Given to Us?
Work, Gifts, Water into Wine
Lawrence of Arabia and the Love of Money
A Whittler, Fish, and Our Meager Gifts
Patton, Pizza, and the Ingenuity of Man
Remember Who You Are
The Art Critic and Loving Those Who Hate Us
The Myth of the Solitary Artist
God Uses Our Gifts In Unexpected Ways
The Artist and the Church Pius XII
Are You Using All of Your Gifts?
“God-given gifts are by definition supernatural gifts. Even if they seem common or mundane, we can trust in their ability to work supernatural wonders.”
Have you ever wondered what God is trying to tell you? Have you ever felt frustrated because you don’t believe God is speaking to you at all? It may be that you just don’t recognize His voice.
God speaks to us through the gifts He has given us. Each one of us is given a unique set of gifts, and there are no small gifts. “To each individual some manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.” These gifts are not given to us to hoard and use for our own pleasure, they are given to us to help one another, to benefit the common good. As these are God-given gifts they are by definition supernatural gifts. Even if they seem common or mundane, we can trust in their ability to work supernatural wonders.
The Artist As Prophet
We tend to think of a prophet as one who predicts the future, but that is not at all the ancient understanding of the word. The word "prophet" means speaker, or one who speaks. In Christian use, a prophet is one who has a special connection to God and speaks on God's behalf.
By virtue of our Baptism we are invested in the threefold office of Christ, priest, prophet, and king. The degree to which we fulfill each of these offices will depend on our individual gifts and calling. We are all called to be prophets, as well as priests and kings, to the degree our gifts allow us.
