What is a charism?

One of the attractions to religious life is living with others who have the same values and who desire to seek God in an intentional way.  One of the challenges when discerning religious life is finding the ‘right’ community.  There are hundreds of different communities/orders with their own charisms.  Until I was discerning, I don't think I had even heard of the word charism.  I had head of the word charisma.  I equated that with the popular kids in the school, the 'in' crowd.   If you pull out your handy and trustworthy Webster's, you will find this definition of charisma:  "A personal quality of leadership  arousing special popular loyalty or enthusiasm."   Some people just seem to have this innate ability to attract people and acquire a following.  I would guess Jesus had a lot of charisma.

Both of the above words derive from the Greek word kharis -  meaning favor or grace.    Charisms are gifts of the Holy Spirit to the religious order, and these gifts are put at the service of the church and all of God's people.    For example, some religious orders may be called to reflect the mercy of God and so they would hold out the works of mercy as their primary ministry and identity.   Some may be called to catechize and evangelize which they do through teaching.  No single order can reflect the fullness of God; each one offers a variation on the path to holiness.

Part of discerning the call to a particular community is an honest assessment of your own personal gifts and where they might mesh with a community's charism.  Just like our word charisma, there will be an attraction, an enthusiasm for what a community is about.   

When I was discerning, my spiritual director had given me a thick book that communities in the U.S. advertised themselves in...you know, in the Dark Ages before we could 'Google'...and told me to read about each community and bookmark it if there was an attraction after an initial read.   In a sense I was looking for whatever seemed charismatic to me. 

Some of it came down to I knew what I wasn't attracted to -  I might have joined the Trappistines if they didn't get up at 3:30AM (yes, before the crack of dawn AM) to pray every day.   Or perhaps they should have advertised that they often make mighty fine candy to support themselves...maybe that would have attracted me or rather my sweet tooth!    I was, though, ultimately attracted to a life of prayer.  I had visited both active and contemplative communities which enabled me to narrow down which ones to inquire further with.   I was attracted to my community because it has both the Benedictine/monastic charism and Eucharistic charism.    Two for the price of one!!

There is no "one right way" to live religious life.  There are a multiplicity of communities and charisms to reflect the many facets of our great God!