By Jackie Vaughn
God gave me a wake-up call the other day in quite a dramatic fashion. I came home to find that one of my dogs had chewed up four of my most treasured journals. These weren’t just diary-type journals where I recorded my secret thoughts, meant for my eyes only. No, these were even more important to me. These were my writing journals that contained notes and materials on books that I’m writing. Or I should say, that I was writing.
Ever since I was in middle school, I’ve aspired to be a fiction writer. By the time I entered college, I had started writing 25+ novels and I even finished one of them by the end of my first semester of freshman year. I got so far as to send a manuscript submission to a major publishing company. I still have my rejection letter, which I thought would keep me motivated to revise, revise, and revise some more before I had enough confidence to submit it again. Unfortunately, since I graduated from college, my novel writing has fallen by the wayside. And that’s where God stepped in—in the form of my dog chewing up my journals.
At Pentecost Mass a couple weekends ago, I sat in the pew listening to the priest talk about charisma and how we as Catholics are a charismatic people, whether we use that charisma or not. A charism is a gift given to us by the Holy Spirit that God means for us to use in the world to preach the Gospel message. As the priest explained at Mass, these charisms are tailored to our individual personalities. In other words, God gave you and me different charisms because we are different people who can use those gifts in certain ways. God gave me the imagination to think of new worlds and scenarios so that I might express Christian values through fictional writing. God gave you certain charisms as well that only you can express in your own unique way.
Most importantly, God gave us these charisms for a specific purpose, and He wants us to use them, not hide or ignore them. Just like the parable of the light under the bushel basket, our talents, our charisms should not be hidden away where only we ourselves can see them. They must shine out for the world to see. We should use them to draw others closer to God. Whether your charism is music, writing, public speaking, teaching, working in soup kitchens, the law, politics, finances, being a stay-at-home parent, inventing things, or just being a good listener, God wants to use your talents to show forth the Gospel.
Catholicism is one Faith, but it is not expressed in only one way. There are many different ways of expressing our faith. A fantastic example of that is the difference between Pope Emeritus Benedict and Pope Francis. Both of them have quite different styles of living the faith. Benedict is a strong intellectual who expresses his faith through incredible writings and his adherence to tradition. Francis, on the other hand, is a man of deep charity who expresses his faith through his service to the poor. Both have the same faith, but different charisms. They are both Catholic and serve the Church whole-heartedly, but in very different ways. The same goes for every Catholic around the world. We each have our own talents, our own strengths, our own charisms that God gave us, and He calls us to use those gifts out in the world to bring others closer to Him.
My mistake was in thinking that my writing had become a mere hobby that I could call upon whenever I feel a bit bored and need something to do. It had gone from being part of the substance of my life’s journal to being a mere footnote in the margins. And so God, working through my little pipsqueak-of-a-dog, told me that either I need to use my charism out in the world or He would take it away from me. Just like the Apostles at Pentecost, we are each given certain charisms that allow us to preach the Gospel. Do we use them? Or do we hide them? Do we even know about them? Holy Spirit, show us our charisms and how we might use them for the greater glory of God.
