Charisms are not about what you are good at, said Christina Krutza. Rather, they’re “the way in which the Holy Spirit uses you as an instrument,” she said. “So it’s different than a talent.”
In the spiritual life, charisms are “a gratuitous grace,” different than the sanctifying graces, she said, “which are about your holiness, your growth in holiness and sanctity.”
“These graces are not about your personal growth, but about you helping others to grow, whether that be through the gift, the charism of music, whether it be through administration, all these different ways that we serve in the Lord’s vineyard to help others in their spiritual life,” she said. And that involves “an element of evangelization, an element of healing in more ways than we can ever know,” she said.
Krutza, a staff member of St. Vincent de Paul in Brooklyn Park and a co-presenter of the Called and Gifted charism discernment process workshop, recently joined “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley to discuss charisms and the workshop for an upcoming episode.
Asked about signs of a charism at work in one’s life, Krutza said they usually bring “some sort of joyful satisfaction.” “You’ll also feel as if you’ve found where you fit, perhaps,” she said. Someone with a charism of leadership, for example, would find that “new initiatives come together in ways that you could never imagine,” Krutza said. “But others want to get behind this vision that you have, and it’s because the Lord is working in you.”
Charisms can also help discern a vocation because they show “the ways in which God has particularly gifted you,” Krutza said.
The next Called and Gifted workshop, the last one in 2023, takes place Saturday, Nov. 11, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at St. Ambrose in Woodbury. Details are available at archspm.org.
To learn more about Called and Gifted, go to siena.org/called-gifted.
Krutza said her favorite part of teaching the workshop is when she sees someone “light up in the participant area, when someone lights up when we’re talking about a charism.” “It’s very exciting for me because I know that I’m helping to build up the kingdom of God while using my charisms, and then others are able to discover theirs as well.”
To learn more about charisms and the upcoming workshop, listen to this episode of “Practicing Catholic,” which debuts at 9 p.m. Nov. 3 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM and repeats at 1 p.m. Nov. 4 and 2 p.m. Nov. 5.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes an interview with Pro Ecclesia Sancta Sisters Julieta Del Carpio and Maddy Elking, who discuss their vocation and the mission and spirituality of the Pro Ecclesia Sancta community; and Father Joseph Taphorn, rector and vice president of the St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, who describes formation and the seminary’s recent increase in enrollment.
Listen to interviews after they have aired at PracticingCatholicShow.com or choose a streaming platform at anchor.fm/practicing-catholic-show.
