Hey there,
I don’t like to cook … but I do love to bake.
I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s my huge sweet tooth.
The thing about baking is that we can have all the ingredients sitting in our cupboard. And we can have a recipe in a book on our shelf. But just having everything won’t get us the dessert we crave.
We’ve got to do the work to follow the recipe and put the ingredients together to get to the delicious end result.
If we miss an ingredient along the way … or we use too much of something. Or if we leave it in the oven for too long. The whole thing can go terribly wrong. So how we go about the process is just as important.
Baking takes an investment of our time and our effort to follow the instructions carefully. And we’ll be rewarded with the sweet dessert.
This is very similar to the workings of the Holy Spirit. We received the virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit when we were Baptized and they were strengthened at our Confirmation.
But just having the Holy Spirit in us is not enough. What we do with them is what’s known as the fruits of the Holy Spirit. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we have 12 fruits: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity (CCC 1832).
We all have the ability to use these fruits.
Or not.
It’s up to us to cultivate the fruits through prayer, reading the Bible, and living in fellowship with Christians.
But, if we live our life according to the sins of the flesh, then we turn them into sour, bad fruit. And we can forget about getting to heaven.
So if we want to get to the sweet dessert of heaven, we need to focus on the virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit and cultivate the 12 fruits in our lives. Bon Appétit!
Keep Believing-
Katy Barrilleaux
Founding Editor, Genuflect
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The Fruits of The Holy Spirit
Here are the 12 Fruits of the Holy Spirit and how they differ from the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
What Are The 12 Fruits of The Holy Spirit? | Learn Religions
9 or 12 Fruits?
You may see references to the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit … and the 12 fruits of the Holy Spirit. So which one is it? Aleteia clears it up for us.
Are There 9 or 12 Fruits of The Holy Spirit? | Aleteia
Living The Fruits
Dennis Dillon poses the questions: “What fruits? If we do not know them, then how will we live them?” Fortunately he explains what we need to know.
Building Emotional Capital Through The Fruits of the Holy Spirit | Catholic Stand
Visualizing The Fruits
Speaking of knowing the fruits, Tom Hoopes has a great way of visualizing the 12 fruits to help him memorize, envision, and imitate them. This might help you too.
How I’m Learning to Visualize The 12 Fruits of The Holy Spirit | Aleteia
Virtues, Gifts, And Fruits
Virtues, gifts, fruits. It’s all a little confusing. Father Alan Piper explains the difference between the three.
Virtues, Gifts, And Fruits | Dominicana
Bearing True Fruit
Gina Fensterer reflects on how God calls us to bear fruit in our lives and what it means. Recognizing the presence of sin is a reflection we all can benefit from.
Bearing True Fruit | Blessed is She
4 Saints’ Fruits
Catholic Truth Society presents 4 Saints whose lives provide examples of cultivating fruit from the Holy Spirit. In these four we see self control, joy, patience, and generosity.
4 Saints Who Lived The Fruits of The Holy Spirit | Catholic Truth Society
The Virtues
If you’d like a refresher on the Virtues, check out these past issues of Genuflect where we covered them.
The Virtues | Genuflect
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