I. Charism - La Salle.org

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III. CHARISM IN THE CHURCH
John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation Redemptionis Donum (To Men
and Women Religious on Their Consecration in the Light of the
Mystery of the Redemption), 25 March 1984, refers to charisms in
four different contexts: the “charismatic choice of Christ as one’s
exclusive Spouse” (Nº 11), the Church’s “universal mission, which
is accomplished through many different charisms” (Nº 15), the
“particular gift of your founders, which, received from God and
approved by the Church, has become a charism” (Nº 15), and “the
vocations and charisms of the whole People of God” (Nº 15).
Following the 1987 Synod of Bishops, the apostolic exhortation
Christifideles Laici (The Vocation and the Mission of the Lay
Faithful), 30 December 1988, celebrates the Church’s dynamic
vitality and creativity. The statement on “ecclesial communion”, in
what is one of the most comprehensive papal documents on
charism, proposes an organic unity among distinctive components:
Ecclesial communion is more precisely likened to an “organic” communion,
analogous to that of a living and functioning body... characterized
by a diversity and a complementarity of vocations and states in
life, of ministries, of charisms, and of responsibilities...
Church communion... is concretely realized through participation in
the life and mission of the Church, to whose service the lay faithful
put their varied and complementary ministries and charisms... The
Spirit of the Lord gives a vast variety of charisms, inviting people to
assume different ministries and forms of service... The charisms, the
ministries, and the different forms of service exercised by the lay faithful
exist in communion and on behalf of communion. (Nº 20)
The Holy Spirit, while bestowing diverse ministries in Church communion,
enriches it still further with particular gifts or promptings of
grace, called charisms. These can take a great variety of forms, both as
a manifestation of the absolute freedom of the Spirit, who abundantly
supplies them, and as a response to the varied needs of the Church
in history...