The diversity of gifts and grace comes from God

January 27, 2022 • 2 min

From The Sinner’s Guide, page 472
By Venerable Louis of Granada

Such was the error of the Corinthians in the early ages of the Church. They had been favored with different graces, and each one extolled his own above the rest. The gifts of prophecy, of tongues, of interpreting the Scripture, of working miracles, were each preferred by those who had received them. [1 Cor. xii.]

There is no more efficacious argument against this illusion than that of the Apostle, who declares that all graces and gifts are equal as to their source, for they proceed from the same Holy Spirit, though they differ in their object. “In one Spirit were we all baptized into one body,” [Ib. 13.] says the Apostle.

Belonging thus to the same Head, we all partake of His dignity and glory, and in this we are equally His members, though there is a diversity of gifts and duties among us.

This diversity should not cause us to look with disfavor on those who seem less gifted, for each has his value as a member of Christ. Thus the members of the human body have not the same duties, but yet each has its own peculiar power that another does not possess. All are important, because all are necessary for the general good.

“If the foot should say: Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say: Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?” [1 Cor. xii. 15, and following.]

In this manner the Apostle speaks to the Corinthians, and continues his comparison to prove that we must not be misled by our preferences to judge that whoever differs from us is not right, or that gifts differing from ours have not an important place in the designs of God.