Pope Saint John Paul II proclaims in Redemptor Hominis (Redeemer of Man) “..each member has 'his' own special gift, as Saint Paul teaches. Although this 'gift' is a personal vocation and a form of participation in the Church's saving work, it also serves others, builds the church and the fraternal communities in the various spheres of human life on earth.” 

Summarizing the Church teaching on the subject, we are told that each baptized person in Christ's body is called, has a personal vocation to be discerned, a mission to fulfill, a task to perform which is given to no one else. This vocation is also more clearly identified when knowing our charisms because these special graces are linked to, and serve, the vocation.

So each one of us is truly on a mission from God – our shared mission with its unique, personal mission – with an 'unrepeatable grace' within the one body of Christ. God doesn't give us a phone call to tell us what it is, but it is a call and it can be discerned over time. It is planted like a seed in the deepest part of our being, unfolding gradually and coupled with charisms.

"Uniquely His" is a workbook that provides an introduction to the charisms and personal vocations.  Sheila A. Mellick presents an overview of what she researched and found in Christifideles Laici (The Lay Members of Christ's Faithful People) and Pastores Dabo Vobis (I Will Give You Shepherds) in particular. The works of leading Protestant and Catholic authors on spiritual gifts, combined with references to personal vocation and charisms in various Church documents, have been sifted into this overview. 

The included Spiritual Gift Inventory serves as a tool to help identify your possible charisms. The results of the one hundred question inventory give us a place to start in the discernment process of reflecting on how the Holy Spirit is working through us in our daily lives.

God is calling you to a work of love that will fill your life with purpose and joy!

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