13 its activity. Saint Paul even cautions that if those gifts are appropriated or put to improper use, they will become short-lived and fruitless and may be regarded as foolishness: “If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing” (1 Cor 13:13). He calls for vigilance and discernment of the gifts lest they might be overrated or ignored: “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophetic utterances. Test everything; retain what is good” (1 Thes 5:19-20). Charisms may be provisional or long-lasting; they may be ordinary (general) or exclusive (special), depending on the mission or service their recipient must perform in the Church. Charisms are not same as talents. While the latter are natural gifts and abilities strictly related to the person’s nature, charisms are supernatural gifts that God grants to the faithful in a totally free manner. The Holy Spirit infl uences a man, releases his energy so that he, using his natural talents and God-given abilities, may participate in the work of salvation according to the given charism and inseparably related to his special vocation. The charism also differs from grace. Both terms have a common topical root (charis), which means a gratuitously performed good deed. However, grace has a more general character and applies to all gifts of God, while charism is a particular grace, a special gift granted in view of the common good, an enrichment of the community and a stimulation of the Church’s activity. In this case, the adjectives, “particular” and “special” defi ning grace as a gift, denote “distinctive characteristics,” and do not express the rarity or singularity of the gift. A grace may be granted occasionally, depending on the needs of the faithful, while the nature of charism involves a certain degree of continuity and stability. Grace is a gift that may be granted as a result of prayerful supplication. Charism is the consequence of God’s free offering. It cannot be extorted, nor foretold or procured in any way, but only accepted in docile obedience to the Holy Spirit. Charism of the Religious Life The offi cial Church documents stopped using the term “charism” early on, although it was sporadically applied to some incidents of an extraordinary, miraculous, supernatural character, as well as to supernatural and transitory gifts and abilities, which the Apostles of the Early Church passed down by the laying on of hands.
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