A Clarification & An Apology

Today I received an email from Mr. Frank X. Blisard, some of whose material I used on the blog on May 24, 2010. I'm reproducing his comments here in full in order to give complete credit to his original article. To Mr. Blisard I offer my appreciation for his clarification, as well as an apology for the sloppy way I handled this in the first place, with the hope that this will set it right.


HRA
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Dear Rev. Allagree,

On your blog, "The Good Heart," in an entry dated Monday, May 24, 2010, you posted a large fragment of my article, "The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit—A Re-Examination," which was originally published in This Rock  Magazine, Vol. 17, No. 10 (December 2006), pp. 36-39.  For your convenience, here is the URL for the blog-page in question: http://thegoodheart.blogspot.com/2010/05/understanding-seven-gifts-of-spirit.html

While I am gratified and grateful that you found my writing on this subject worthwhile, and that you have exposed my insights to a wider and more "diverse" audience than otherwise would be the case, I must insist that you at least cite in full the source of my article.  I would also appreciate it if you would include the following hyperlink to the full article: http://archive.catholic.com/thisrock/2006/0612uan.asp

Finally, I note that the fragment you posted cuts off in mid-paragraph, at a quite important point in my argument.  The paragraph in question is lacking only one sentence (set in boldface in the exceprt below):

"The seven gifts are designed to be used in the world for the purpose of transforming that world for Christ. Isaiah 11 vividly portrays what these gifts are to be used for: to do what one is called to do in one’s own time and place to advance the kingdom of God. The specific, personal details of that call do not come into focus until one has realized his very limited, ungodlike place in the scheme of things (fear of the Lord), accepted one’s role as a member of God’s family (piety), and acquired the habit of following the Father’s specific directions for living a godly life (knowledge). This familiarity with God breeds the strength and courage needed to confront the evil that one inevitably encounters in one’s life (fortitude) and the cunning to nimbly shift one’s strategies to match—even anticipate—the many machinations of the Enemy (counsel). The more one engages in such "spiritual warfare," the more one perceives how such skirmishes fit into the big picture that is God’s master plan for establishing his reign in this fallen world (understanding) and the more confident, skillful, and successful one becomes in the conduct of his particular vocation (wisdom)."

Please do what you can to make sure this paragraph is reproduced in its entirety.

Thank you.

Frank X. Blisard
PO Box 58
Titusville NJ 08560
609-818-9309
frankblisard@msn.com