Blogging A to Z: "U" is for Understanding

I've heard it said, or perhaps I read it somewhere, that if you can't explain a thing clearly to someone, then you don't really understand it yourself. I don't think that's at all true.

Understanding, in the spiritual sense, is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the others being wisdom, knowledge, fortitude, counsel, piety, and fear of the Lord (Is. 11:2-3; CCC 1831).* When I was in the monastery and learning in earnest the practice of lectio divina (sacred reading, mainly the prayerful reading of Scripture, one short passage, or even phrase, at a time), I was told by my elder sisters not to strive in my own way for understanding, but to clear my mind of any human method of analysis and simply be still, silent, and open to the Spirit. He will, in his own time and of his own choosing, give me any understanding he sees fit to give, be it large or small. He may not give it one day, he may not give it for days or weeks at a time, or even longer -- but when he does give it, my sisters told me, I'll know.

It's true; the Spirit doesn't always "speak," but when he does, the understanding he gives is not always in words. In fact, it is seldom in words. Because, just as "the Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words" (Rom. 8:26), he communicates with us in the same way. True understanding comes like a deep inner light, a sudden warmth of conviction -- an illumination. With that illumination comes also a certain gratitude, spontaneous and profound. And the faith that is also given from God seems to expand within you.

Unfortunately, this light of understanding, these random sparks, are just that: random. We can pray for them; indeed, we should, every time we open the Scriptures. We know intellectually that we shouldn't be discouraged if the Spirit chooses to remain seemingly silent (I say "seemingly," because sometimes the silence is due to our own noisy and distracting thoughts, or, more likely, we may be trying too hard to understand). When his voice is "heard" within us, it is a precious grace. What he teaches us can't always be explained in words, which are a human invention and limitation, but we understand.

* These gifts are not to be confused with the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which are stated in Gal. 5:22-23.

"CCC 1831": the Catechism of the Catholic Church, article 1831.