The second gift of the Holy Spirit, as listed in the book of the prophet Isaiah, is the gift of understanding. Understanding, like wisdom, assists us in penetrating the mysteries of our faith but it differs from wisdom in that it helps us comprehend the very core of revealed truths so that we may have certitude about them. Such certitude moves beyond faith and so this gift of the Holy Spirit blesses us with a holy confidence in God’s love and truth that he has revealed in His Son, Jesus. Illuminating the mind to truth, The Holy Spirit aids a person to grasp truths of faith easily and intimately, and to delve into the depths of those truths. This gift not only assists in penetrating divinely revealed truths, but also natural truths in so far as they are related to the supernatural end of all things, God.

Theology is defined as faith seeking understanding. As such, the person endowed with the gift of understanding has sought it in faith and received it from faith. Thus, the Holy Spirit, as the very generosity of God, helps the individual to come to understand the deeper questions and answers of what it is to be human, what it is to believe, to be a child of God and to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Understanding operates in several ways: disclosing to us the hidden meaning of Sacred Scripture; revealing the significance of symbols and figures (like sacramental signs or symbolic actions); showing the hand of God at work in a person’s life, even in the most mysterious or troublesome events (like suffering); and revealing the spiritual realities that underlie the true perceptions of our senses (Fr. William Saunders, Gifts of the Holy Spirit).

Understanding, then, rises above natural reason, which is concerned only with the things we can sense in the world around us. Thus, understanding as a divine gift is both concerned with intellectual knowledge and practical knowledge, because it can help us to order the actions of our lives toward our final end, which is God.