Theological Foundations new file

106 Theological Foundations such wisdom is the only way to our heavenly home. But he also addresses all those who fight against the righteous and the wise and tells them what end awaits them on the day of God’s judgment, when they will finally see their own foolishness and, filled with remorse, will groan as their spirit is in anguish: “This is the man whom we once held in derision and made a byword of reproach—we fools! We thought that his life was madness and that his end was without honor.Why has he been numbered among the sons of God? And why is his lot among the saints?” (Wis 5, 4-5). 27 The next gift of the Holy Spirit, to which Father Papczynski pays spe- cial attention, is the gift of knowledge (scientiae). The author under- stands this gift as the knowledge of these things which are necessary for obtaining salvation. Through this gift, the Holy Spirit enlightens the mind, so that it would be occupied with those things of this world that are necessary for man to obtain a supernatural goal, and that it would turn away from such human wisdom which is being sought merely out of empty curiosity, which feeds pride and leads to neglecting one’s per- sonal sanctification. Such wisdom is not only useless in obtaining sal- vation but can cause outright harm. 28 The remaining gifts of the Holy Spirit: understanding (intellecti), counsel (consilii), fortitude (fortitudinis), piety (pietatis), and fear of God (timoris) also play an important role in spiritual life and in the real- ization of the ideal of sanctity. They are closely tied with virtues because they cause and support them. 29 The martyrs experienced the effectiveness of all these gifts. Because they possessed the gift of wisdom, they adhered to the scorned and cru- cified Christ, for the heavenly wisdom opposes the human wisdom of this world. Because of the gift of knowledge, they chose the teaching of the Gospel rather than the doctrine of philosophers, i.e., they chose the knowledge of the things that are necessary to obtain salvation. Because of the gift of understanding, they bore the fruits of eternal salvation, which means that they were endowed with discernment — the ability to choose good and reject evil. Because of the gift of counsel, they man- aged to avoid the dangers which threaten everything that is good,