The Gift of Understanding - EveryCatholicMan.com

Building off the previous Gifts of the Holy Spirit of Fear of the Lord, Piety, Knowledge, and Counsel, which support a Catholic man as he embarks on the journey to Heaven, the Gift of Understanding works to help a man continually grow in perceiving and penetrating the truths of Christ and His Holy Catholic Church and how his whole life in the world, including family, career and service to the Church, are working together to lead him to God.

The Gift of Understanding expands and protects a man’s ability to encounter and comprehend God and guide a man to a deeper comprehension of the mysteries of the Faith.

**The Gift of Understanding expands and protects a man’s Understanding of God**

Expands a Catholic man’s Understanding to encounter the Divine

The Gift of Understanding can supernaturally:

Draw a Catholic man into closer and closer union with God, allowing him to receive an ever growing understanding of how he can grow in holiness in this life and be drawn into perfect union with God; while the Gift of Understanding does not grant a Catholic man the Beatific Vision of God (1 Cor 2:9-12), it can provide the sufficient and profound understanding of God for a Catholic man to proceed to Sainthood while on earth.
Lift a Catholic man’s mind above what is capable by human Reason, allowing him to receive Divine insights directly from God which help him develop a deeper understanding and acceptance of the mysteries of God; this understanding given by the Spirit can be recognized by how a man is filled with wondrous and sometimes overwhelming awe, heavenly delight, certainty about God and a concrete and real experience of how he is to live to become a Saint.
Take a Catholic man beyond simple knowing of Catholic dogma, to a powerful and soul-changing understanding of the reality and implications of Church teachings; many can know Catholic teachings but only the Holy Spirit can give a Catholic man the gift of the deeper understanding of Divine things, an understanding that can allow even the simplest of men to have a mystical understanding of God that is withheld to “learned” men (Lk 10:21).
Purify a Catholic man who seeks understanding and provide an abundance of blessings (Mt 13:16-17).

Protects a Catholic man from errors in Understanding

The Gift of Understanding can supernaturally:

Protect a Catholic man against ignorance of necessary Divine things, revealing to him the Divine things he needs to understand, but does not, at any point of his life, so that he can more perfectly proceed on the path of Sainthood; just as every single soul is created individually by God and has a specific role to play in God’s Kingdom if they choose to accept God’s Will, every single Catholic man has a path to Sainthood which the Gift of Understanding can enlighten at every single moment of his life.
Protect a Catholic man against his own inaccurate ideas and opinions about God and the path of holiness so that his understanding of God does not become confused; the Spirit can protect a Catholic man against his own false misunderstanding about the mysteries of God.
Protect a Catholic man from the confused and dangerous idea that he has somehow received new revelation about God; while a Catholic man can receive understanding in his life about Divine things which are new to him, God has revealed Himself in Christ and “there will be no further Revelation” (CCC 66-67, 73).

**The Gift of Understanding guides a man to deeper Understanding so he can grow in the Faith**

Helps a Catholic man Understand the deeper truth of the Creed

The Gift of Understanding can supernaturally:

Enlighten a Catholic man’s understanding of, and belief in, the saving power of the Creed, leading him to realize the stunning reality of God and His beautiful plan of sheer goodness which are revealed in the simple words of the Creed; through Understanding, a Catholic man moves from simple intellectual consent to the powerful encounter with God each time he speaks or reflects upon the Creed.
Deepen a Catholic man’s understanding of the reality of the Trinity of the three Divine Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and to ponder the great mysteries of the Trinity, including the model of love in relationship, the deliberate plan by God to establish the Divine Patriarchy as a model for human life and every Catholic man’s call to headship, and the opportunity for a man to seek union with each Divine Person.
Draw a Catholic man deeper into the mysterious reality of the Almighty Father, Who has the astounding wisdom and power to create everything out of nothing and sustain the existence of Creation, but Who also creates and loves every single soul with the love of a Perfect Father; while it is beyond any man’s ability to grasp fully, the Spirit can lead a Catholic man to sufficient understanding to believe, be awed by, and to seek the Father.
Create a hunger within the soul of a Catholic man to grow in understanding of the saving power of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, to meditate on all the mysteries of His life, including His Passion, Resurrection and Ascension, and to seek to give himself to, and imitate Jesus Christ, Divine King and Savior of the world.
Lead a Catholic man to desire a fuller understanding of the Holy Spirit, including the stunning fact that God Himself dwells in a man’s soul through the Holy Spirit from the moment of his Baptism, that the Gifts of the Holy Spirit can super-naturalize a Catholic man, lifting him to a holy life far above anything he might aspire to in the world, and that only through the Gifts of the Holy Spirit can any man aspire to Heaven.
Help a Catholic man come to better understand the stunning truth of Christ’s Holy Catholic Church which is not only the greatest institution on earth (Church Militant) but exists in the supernatural realm in Purgatory (Church Suffering) and in Heaven (Church Triumphant), a Church which includes the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Angels, and the Saints, the greatest humans who have ever lived; it is this magnificent Church, which, despite being a Church of sinners, is the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, and a Catholic man can come to understand his great blessing to be a lowly member of God’s own Catholic Church.
Inspire a Catholic man to understand that he is a member of the Communion of Saints which goes beyond time and space, and includes most especially the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven, St. Joseph, the Patron of the Church, the Angels, the Apostles and all the Saints; as a member of the Communion of Saints, every Catholic man has the great blessing to be in God’s family as an adopted son and can build a relationship with specific Saints and Angels and receive their supernatural intercession in his life.
Help a Catholic man to better understand the reality of the Spiritual Combat, which recognizes a man’s ability to choose to sin or seek holiness, the perpetual attacks by Satan and his demons, Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell (The Four Last Things) and that he desperately needs God to forgive his sins and bring him to life everlasting; each Catholic man is given sufficient understanding to continually make his free decision to seek Heaven or not.
Give a Catholic man the deep hunger to go beyond the Creed to an ever-growing understanding of the Faith, motivating him to ponder the great mysteries of God as revealed in Sacred Scripture, The Catechism of the Catholic Church, and other sources of the Magisterium of the Church.

Helps a Catholic man better Understand and receive grace from the Sacraments

The Gift of Understanding can supernaturally:

Help a Catholic man understand and recall the astounding truth that the Holy Spirit resides in his soul from the moment of his Baptism and that every single moment of his life, the Holy Spirit stands ready to give him supernatural help through an outpouring of all the Gifts of the Holy Spirit so he can more effectively battle sin and grow in holiness; no matter how far a Catholic man may fall into sin or how catastrophic his suffering, he is never alone or without the chance to receive supernatural help from the Holy Spirit.
Remind a Catholic man that in his Confirmation he has accepted the heavenly vocation to be a priest, prophet and king, has been commissioned to be a public witness who is responsible to draw many to Jesus Christ, and that he has received an increase of “superpowers” to carry out his mission through the Gifts of the Holy Spirit; some men will take on an even more rigorous calling in Holy Orders to be a sacramental priest, deacon or a religious brother and receive an additional outpouring of grace through the Holy Spirit.
Awaken a Catholic man in the Sacrament of Penance to a greater understanding of his mortal and venial sins, the horrendous impact of his sins on himself and others, how he has been ungrateful, rebelled, and separated himself from the Father by his sins, his desperate need for God’s forgiveness, and the astounding reality that he can be cleansed of sins by God; the Gift of Understanding can lift a man’s mind to see the awesome mercy of God in the Sacrament of Penance, prepare him to receive the Sacrament more perfectly, have perfect contrition for his sins, firmly resolve to sin no more, and open him up to receive even greater and more astonishing Gifts of the Holy Spirit in his path to Sainthood.
Continually reveal to a Catholic man the life-saving blessing of the Sacrament of the Eucharist in which he is spiritually and physically drawn into union with Jesus Christ in the presence of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and all the Saints and Angels, and given the supernatural power to resist sin, be accelerated in his path to Sainthood, and receive the peace and joy of God; the Gift of Understanding can arouse a man’s mind to the awe that he will really and truly encounter God in the Eucharist, help him rigorously prepare for his meeting with the Divine so he can receive more Gifts from the Holy Spirit, be protected from committing any sacrilege against the Eucharist (1 Cor 11:29), and be strengthened to be a witness to Christ and in the Spiritual Combat.
Help a Catholic man recognize the great blessing and supernatural power of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick in which the man, and others he draws to the Sacrament, is strengthened in peace and courage, is drawn into union with the Passion of Christ, may be supernaturally healed of illness if God deems it best for his soul, and is prepared for his death; the Gift of Understanding can reveal the urgent need of the Sacrament for himself or others, recognize his great blessing to be a witness to God in his suffering, allow him to experience the reality and power of God’s actual presence in the Sacrament, and awaken him to necessary acts of penance, forgiveness or love that he still needs to perform prior to his Judgment.
Deepen a Catholic man’s understanding and awe of Christ’s institution of the Sacrament of Matrimony through which one man and one woman become supernaturally bonded together for life, are given special grace to continually strengthen their unbreakable unity, are called to heroically seek the blessing of children and are graced to share in the Communion of Saints; the Gift of Understanding can help a man be grateful that God specially created his wife as a gift to him, to remember the true purpose of their marriage is to glorify God and help each other prepare for Heaven, to strengthen his resolve to imitate St. Joseph as the sacrificial head of his family, and to strive each day to love his wife and children as Christ loves His Church.

Helps a Catholic man better Understand and live a Moral Life

The Gift of Understanding can supernaturally:

Lead a Catholic man to deeply understand, be awed by, and enthusiastically embrace The 10 Commandments as the only sure way for him to find true peace, joy, and salvation in Christ; the Gift of Understanding can lead a man to cherish the Commandments by helping him see they are a divine gift from God (Exod 20:2-17, Deut 5:6-21) and explicitly confirmed as mandatory for salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ (Mt 5:17-20), discover the Commandments are highly effective in keeping him from evil and growing in holiness, realize that he can show God his gratitude and love by keeping the Commandments, and he can be motivated by the heroic and manly pursuit of perfection that the Commandments demand.
Fill a Catholic man’s heart with the desire to imitate Jesus and respond to His commandment to continually perform many Works of Mercy; the Gift of Understanding can help a man imagine the great joy and power in performing Works of Mercy, motivate a man by seeing himself as one in a long line of Catholic men across the ages who heroically sacrificed to be merciful like Christ, and realize how his small and frequent Works of Mercy over a lifetime can draw large numbers of others to Jesus Christ and His Holy Catholic Church.
Help a Catholic man to grow beyond the minimum requirements of the Precepts of the Catholic Church and see the extraordinary joy and fruitfulness which comes from many acts of piety every day of his life as a servant of Christ Jesus.
Lead a Catholic man to more fervently pursue the Virtues and Gifts of the Holy Spirit in his spiritual pilgrimage; the Gift of Understanding can confirm to a man that he must build new and heroic levels of virtue (good habits) to begin to imitate Christ and that only through the continual daily help of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit can a man make any substantial progress in the growth of virtue.

Helps a Catholic man better Understand the saving power of Prayer

The Gift of Understanding can supernaturally:

Reveal to a Catholic man the stunning reality that he, a mere small creation of God, can enter into a personal conversation with the God of all Creation.
Help a Catholic man to realize the truth that God has promised to hear his prayers and responds to every single prayer a he utters to God.
Help a Catholic man to come to the startling realization that he is constantly in the Presence of God at all times and can learn to be in continual prayer and conversation with God in the minor and major battles of the daily Spiritual Combat.
Remind a Catholic man of the great blessing Jesus has granted him to be able to pray the Our Father, the same perfect prayer that He taught the Apostles and which has been on the lips of every Saint across the millennia; the Gift of Understanding can help a man grow ever deeper in his recognition of the eternal power of each word and phrase of the Our Father.
Lead a Catholic man to encounter the rich treasury of Catholic prayers which have been prayed by the Saints across the ages; the Gift of Understanding can lead a willing man to discover Catholic prayers which match his own spiritual needs at any point in time and which can spur him on to greater faith, hope and charity.
Inspire a Catholic man to realize his great duty and opportunity to help relieve the tremendous suffering of the Faithfully Departed Souls in Purgatory, especially his departed family and friends, by the simple act of praying Indulged prayers (CCC 1471-1475).

Protects a Catholic man against the Sins against Faith

The Gift of Understanding can supernaturally:

Protect a Catholic man against any of the sins against Faith, including Doubt, Presumption, Incredulity (unbelief), Heresy, Apostasy, Schism, and Blasphemy; the Gift of Understanding can lift a man’s mind to encounter God and be awed by the undeniable truths of the Faith, how through the Faith he can live a life in the supernatural beauty, truth and goodness of God, and be given a resolute and unshakeable belief in all that Christ’s Holy Catholic Church professes.
Protect a Catholic man against being led astray by atheistic claims, scientism, strange phenomena or the rapidly deteriorating and morally corrupt modern culture; the Gift of Understanding can help him see the glorious reality of the truth of the Catholic Church and the certainty to reject the lies of the world.
Protect a Catholic man against false shepherds in the Church who teach novelties, speculations, lies and even heresies; the Gift of Understanding can supernaturally help a Catholic man quickly identify and confidently reject false teachings and lead him to trustworthy sources of the true Faith.