Missionary Sisters of I C. org

Spirituality

Charism | Franciscan | Marian

Charism  reflection                                                       page 2

 Understanding of Charism within the Church:

     St. Thomas, along with the other Scholastics, looked upon charism as “a special gift given by God to the early apostolic church”, and accordingly, charism was dealt with in a narrow sense as a gift of the past

     After the Council of Trent, the understanding of charism was not confined only to the early apostolic church and also was not only given  so much for the perfection of the individual person as for the service to the community.The emphasis was placed on the mandate to serve. In short, charism at that time was understood as an extra ordinary gift, given to some people for the service of the church.

       After the Second Vatican Council, the understanding of the term, charism, is not limited to be an extraordinary gift.  It is now understood as a gift given by the Holy Spirit to an individual person or a community for the renewal and the growth of the church.


READ ON TO UNDERSTAND TODAY'S MEANING OF CHARISM