Reflection on Eph 4:11-12

As for His gifts, to some He gave to be apostles, to others prophets,

or even evangelists, or shepherds and teachers.

So He prepared those who belong to Him for the ministry,

in order to build up the Body of Christ.

These are gifts and at the same time vocations, the purpose of which is not to glorify the individual, but to prepare those who are chosen perfectly for the ministry. For what ministry? For the building up of the Mystical Body of Christ. Previously, there was a mistaken idea among people that when someone becomes a priest or bishop, he is competent in all the ministries, as if he were an apostle, teacher, prophet, shepherd and evangelist at the same time. However, if someone is to perform one ministry thoroughly and gain experience, he cannot fully devote himself to another ministry. In fact, it is not possible to perform any of the ministries without a common denominator, which is self-denial, that is, denial of our ego. We should serve with the awareness that we serve Christ Himself and His Mystical Body – the Church – and we should not seek our own glory or self-realization in doing so. When someone holds an office without being a true Christian and striving to follow Christ, he automatically makes the office a means for building his own career and manifesting his proud ego. In that case, these ministries are ineffective, if not harmful.

Of course, to some extent we can all be evangelists, because each of us should bear witness to Christ not only with our lives but also with our words. And each of us should also be a prophet to some extent. But first, you should prophesy to yourself. That is, you should come clean and constantly admit your egoistic tendencies, which you need to fight until death. You must be able to bear your own misery, learn true self-criticism, and also accept criticism and humiliation from others. Each of us should also be a shepherd to some extent, that is, we should be willing to help guide others, at least in certain steps, so that when they have believed, they may be rooted in the basic truths and basic virtues that Jesus requires in His Gospel. Each of us should be a teacher to some extent. We should be able to explain the basic truths of faith to people who have come from the world and are sincerely seeking the salvation of their souls in the Church of Christ. Everyone should be an apostle, carry out the apostolate, but also know the fundamental truths of the faith and distinguish them from the contemporary heresies that, through modernism, penetrate Catholic literature, today even one with church approval. An example is the historical-critical method – approved by the Church – which secretly denies everything supernatural in Scripture, but does not say it outright. It hides behind phrases about Christ’s resurrection being suprahistorical, eschatological and mystical, etc., but never confesses it as real and historical. Weak faith then gets mingled with various esoteric views, false mysticisms, superstitious practices, and all of these are a false path. We have to keep our saving faith, along with its spiritual gifts and ministries. The goal is for the Body of Christ to make progress. Each of us should ask God for knowledge in which ministry we should specialize and devote ourselves more deeply to it, so that we can serve others as well.

We must realize that there are natural gifts and there are spiritual gifts. God gives the natural ones at birth. For example, some people have a good memory, they can learn quickly, others have a natural gift of caution, others of zeal, which is directly connected to their nature, so they do not have to force themselves into it. Some have the gift of mildness, patience, while others have to overcome themselves and deny themselves a lot in order to be patient. However, even these natural gifts are integrated by God through the Holy Spirit after conversion, so that on them, as on a healthy foundation, there is also a special grace that develops these natural gifts. For example, someone has a natural sense of self-criticism, of truthfulness, cannot be inactive when they see that it is necessary to make sacrifices and suffer for the truth, so they also have a natural disposition for the gift of prophecy. If someone recognizes these traits in themselves, it is necessary to pray that God, by His grace, will further confirm the prophetic gift in this disposition. Another has a natural gift to teach others. It is also necessary to pray that the Spirit of God will add to this gift the supernatural gift of being a teacher and explaining the truths of God. But I emphasize again that in order for all gifts to be functional, they must have a common denominator, and that is: denying yourself, taking up your cross and following Christ. If we put into practice the words of Jesus, ‘Repent and believe in the Gospel,’ the gifts develop. Otherwise, they stagnate and are ineffective.

Download: Reflection on Eph 4:11-12