The Person of the Holy Spirit

In the Year 1998, each two weeks,
in the context of the preparation
of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000,
I wrote a paper in order to learn more
about the Person of the Holy Spirit.

Page n.1 about the Holy Spirit
 
 
 

December 6, 1997

Dear friends,
 
 
 

My subject is to help us know better the Holy Spirit, this divine Person who is proposed for our focused reverence during this preparatory year to the great Jubilee of the Year 2000.

I say : "know better".  Why did I not say : "love better", since it is on the love that, on the evening of our life, we shall be judged (cf. Saint Theresa of Lisieux) ?  Yes, I say "know better", because the Holy Spirit is the divine Person who allows to enter in the Love, who is God, thanks to the Revelation which God accomplishes about himself in Christ, the Son of God become a Man.  Now, when we say, "revelation", we are also saying, "acquaintance", in the sense our God is removing the veil so that we may behold him in his self-revelation.  Therefore, in Christ, through the Spirit, we are called by God to the acquaintance of the Love, who is God, "God is Love."  We are sons of God by adpotion, we are called to know God in order to love him by the manner by which we must love him ; and loving him by a love of perfection, we shall be attracted by an always more intimate and deeper acquaintance of the Spirit who is the eternal life.  Behold in a word the goal of this series of reflections on the Person of the Holy Spirit.
 
 

In his epistle to the Roman Church, Saint Paul says to us : "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, . . ." (Rm. 1, 1-4)

Let us focus upon three important words about the Holy Spirit : power, holiness, resurrection.  These are three wonderful characteristics of the Spirit of God : he gives the power, he sanctifies, he gives the eternal life.

The power is definitely the first of all the characteristics of the Holy Spirit. He is the Power of God who comes in help us in our humanity.  Didn't the Angel Gabriel say to Mary, at the time of the Annonciation : "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you" (Luke 1, 35) ?  The Power of God is given to us only if we are weak, if we recognize our nothingness, our smallness before the one who is the allpowerful.  It is in the participation in the Cross of Christ that the Power of God is given to us.  Because it is at the price of the departure of Christ on the Cross of Calvary that the Holy Spirit was sent to the Apostles for the first time : "It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you ; but if I go, I will send him to you." (John 16, 7)  Only then, when we humble ourselves with Christ, the Power of the Cross will come to us.  It is this of which Saint Paul speaks, when he says : "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Cor. 1, 18)  If we are humbled with Christ on his way of the Cross, then we will be exalted with him, and the Power of God will be given to us.  The Power of God, who is the Holy Spirit, is the fruit of our humility : "In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes." (Luke 10, 21)

How could we fully participate in the Passion of the Lord if not by the eucharistic communion ?  It is therefore by this sacramental action that the all-power of God is communicated to us, as far as we receive the Lord in this spirit of participation in his redeeming Work.  When the priest takes the host and touches it with his hands, is it not  a sign that the All-Power of God is given to him ?  Because, who could put the hand on the All-Powerful, if not the one who is almighty in the All-Powerful ?  Still, what shall we say about a sinner or a sacrilegeous who would also place his hand on the Eucharist ?  Could a sinner or a sacrilegious be almighty ?  No, definitely.  Because the all-power is the fruit of the Salvation of God.  But nevertheless, it remains that this sinner or this sacrilegeous takes his part in the Passion of Christ, not as much as a conscious and humble partaker, but well as an executioner and torturer.  Saint Paul says it to us very clearly : "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup." (1 Cor. 11, 27-28) Thus, we see that the all-power of God, that is to say his Holy Spirit, is given to us only if we are holy in Christ, the Saint of the Saints.  The Spirit of God is first and foremost the Spirit of holiness : we will speak about this the next time.
 

Page n.2 about the Holy Spirit
 
 
 

December 20, 1997

Dear friends,
 
 
 

In his epistle to the Roman Church, Saint Paul says to us : "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, . . ." (Rm. 1, 1-4)

We have already noticed three important words about the Holy Spirit :

1. Strength,
2. Holiness,
3. Resurrection.

We spoke previously about the strength of the Holy Spirit.  Let us now consider some words about the holiness of the Spirit of God.

First of all, the notion of holiness is in the very name of this divine Person : indeed, we give to him the name of Holy Spirit.  One may ask why the Father and the Son are not called, "Holy Father" and "Holy Son" ?  Definitely, one could call them so, since all the Divine Trinity is Holy : our God is a God three times "Holy" (cf. Isaiah 6, 3, for example) In the same way, Jesus calls his Father : "Holy Father" (John 17, 11).  And the Christ is called : "the Holy One of God" (Mark 1, 24). The early Church made use of and spread the use of the term, Holy Spirit, for the third Person of the Divine Trinity.  It is therefore to this Person that we must attribute the holiness of God, no in virtue of a merely human decision, but of course why the Church is constantly guided and attended by this same Spirit about whom we want to speak here.

The holiness consists in the constantly and always lived perfection.  It is what Jesus wanted to affirm when he said : "You must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Mt. 5, 48)  Now God alone is perfect : as much as the eternal being who exists by himself, without depending on another being than himself, God is the only being who is veritably perfect.  The holiness of God is therefore his fundamental attribute, because directly founded on his eternal and independent existence from any other being than himself.  It allows to say therefore, if the third Person of the Divine Trinity is called Holy Spirit, that this same Person is living in the heart and in the very foundation of all the Divine Trinity.

We commonly say that the Father is the Principle of the whole Divine Trinity, that he is the Principle without Principle, that is to say that he is the divine Person from whom the Son is Only Begotten and from whom the Holy Spirit proceeds.  But the unique "motor" of the generation of Son by the Father, it is properly Love, this mutual Love of Father and of Son which is precisely personalized in the Holy Spirit.  So, when the Father begets his Son, he always does it in Love, that is to say in the Spirit who unites the Father and the Son.  Otherwise said, even though, truly, the Father is the Principle of all the Divine Trinity, the Holy Spirit, as much as "motor" of the generation of the Son by the Father, can be rightly considered like the heart and the foundation of all the Divine Trinity.  The Spirit of God is therefore the divine Person who is Holy by excellence, although this excellence proceeds from the Father and from the Son, principle of the eternal procession of the Holy Spirit.

Speaking about the holiness of the Spirit of God, we are "plunging", so to speak, in this eternity of the divinity.  This passes over our finite mind : our mind is limited and we could not understand this by a natural way.  But the intervening grace of God could help us to catch sight of a little of this Mystery.  That's why the grace is first a grant of acquaintance, not an acquaintance which would be, intrinsically, intellectual, but well an acquaintance of love.  The grace allows us to know Love of the three times Holy God. "So we know and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him." (1 John 4, 16)  "O righteous Father, the world has not known thee, but I have known thee; and these know that thou hast sent me. I made known to them thy name, and I will make it known, that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." (John 17, 25-26)

This acquaintance of love is a gracious acquaintance.  If we want to receive it, let us ask it : God doesn't have any other desire than to see us becoming Saints through his Spirit.  To know the holiness of God, it is to live this holiness every day of our life, it is to be a believer, day after day, in the Spirit of God who guides his Church.  In order to always and constantly live the holiness of God, there is no better means than the eucharistic communion.  There is all the life of the three times Holy God : "As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me." (John 6, 57)  Who says Eucharist, says Resurrection : "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6, 54)  The Spirit of God and the Resurrection : it will be the topic of our next discussion, if this pleases to God . . .
 

Page n.3 about the Holy Spirit
 
 
 

January 3, 1998

Dear friends,
 
 
 

In his epistle to the Roman Church, Saint Paul says to us : "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, . . ." (Rm. 1, 1-4)

We have already noticed three important words about the Holy Spirit :

1. Strength,
2. Holiness,
3. Resurrection.

We spoke previously about the strength and the holiness of the Holy Spirit.  Let us now consider some words about the relationship of the Spirit of God with the resurrection of Christ.

Saint Paul clearly speaks about this relationship between the Holy Spirit and the resurrection of Christ :  "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit which dwells in you." (Rom. 8, 11)  And elsewhere : "You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead." (Col. 2, 12)  The Spirit of God is at work for the resurrection of the souls as he is for the resurrection of the bodies.  The Holy Spirit is really the one who is the Lord and who gives life (Creed).

Is the action of the Holy Spirit for the resurrection of the souls similar to his action for the resurrection of the bodies ?  Probably, not ; since the soul is immortal, whereas the body could die.  However these two actions of the Spirit of God - with regard to the soul and with regard to the body - are similar between them if we consider them in themselves, but they are different if we consider them with regard to their object, which is the soul or the body.  Therefore, there is a difference with regard to us in the  resurrection of the souls and the resurrection of the bodies are, but they are similar with regard to God, that is to say with regard to the eternal life which the Spirit of God gives.

Stated in another way, we see that the resurrection of the souls is an action of the Holy Spirit who operates on the inside of us.  Indeed, this resurrection of the soul is performed by the receipt of the sacraments, and first by the receipt of baptism (cf. Col. 2, 12 - II Cor. 5, 17).  Now the sacraments can apply only to people who are living, that is to say to those of which the soul is united to the body.  So, the action of the Spirit of God for the souls is performed solely in us.  On the other hand, we see that the resurrection of the bodies is an action of the Holy Spirit who operates in us and out of us.  Indeed, the resurrection of the body consists in the meeting of the soul and the body of the person who revives.  Therefore, it is necessary that the Spirit of God acts in us, that is to say in our soul, and out of us, giving back to our soul, by the glorious re-creation, the resurrection, of our body, this bodily dimension which the soul possesses then for the eternity, but which she can already acquire, in present life, by a spiritual life authentically lived in the Body of Christ, which is the Church.

Certainly, this vision of the resurrection of souls and bodies could pass over our limited understanding.  But is not the Holy Spirit present to teach us all things : "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth." (John 16, 13) ?

If therefore, since this life, we are revived in our soul by the Spirit of God, how could we die ?  The soul is the principle which animates the body.  The resurrection of the soul necessarily leads to the resurrection of the body.  Therefore, if the Spirit of God revived our soul, it is also he who will revive our body.  The resurrection of the soul comes first.  This takes place before the resurrection of the body.  There is a resurrection before the death, and a resurrection after the death.  The resurrection of the soul is therefore the condition of the resurrection of the body, because time is absolutely irreversible !

The resurrection of the soul is accomplished by God by the sacraments.  Saint Paul explicitly mentions the baptism : "You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead." (Col. 2, 12)  But the baptism is not sufficient : if we could receive the Holy Eucharist, the Body of Christ is necessary in order to give to our soul the glory of the resurrection in the Spirit.  Indeed, the Eucharist is the pledge of the resurrection of the body : "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6, 54)  Now, if the resurrection of the soul is the condition for the resurrection of the body, no one could be insured of the resurrection of his body unless he has first the insurance of the resurrection of his soul.  Therefore, it is clear that the Eucharist, the Christ’s Body, is necessary so that our soul receives from the Holy Spirit the glory of the resurrection.

The Spirit of God is the Lord and he gives us life !  The Eucharist gives us the eternal life !  There exists therefore a relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Eucharist. What is it ?  In what does it consist ?  Could the Holy Spirit be given without the Eucharist ?  And the Eucharist without the Holy Spirit ?  How does the Holy Spirit act where the Eucharist cannot be given, outside the Church, for example ?  It is what we will see the next time, if this pleases God . . .
 

Page n.4 about the Holy Spirit
 
 
 

January 17, 1998

Dear friends,
 
 
 

In his epistle to the Romans, Saint Paul wrote : "Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us." (Rm. 5:1-5)

Note this last sentence : "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us."  This text of Saint Paul puts in evidence the existence of a difference between "God’s love" and "the Holy Spirit which has been given to us."  God’s love has been poured into our hearts "through" (dia - in Greek) the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.  That means that the Holy Spirit, as the gift of God, comes to act in us himself in order to pour God’s love into our hearts.  Thus God’s love poured into our hearts becomes for us a powerful love, a sanctifying love, a reviving love, since the Spirit of God, as we have seen previously, is the strength of God, holiness of God, resurrection of God.

The love of God poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit is the love which saves the whole man for eternal life in God ; the one who has received this love hopes without anxiety that God will grant him the salvation for the eternal life : "Hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us."  The one who received this love of God through the Holy Spirit is without anxiety, he is in peace : "Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."  The Holy Spirit who is in us acts, then, so that we are in peace with God and with ourselves, hoping firmly that the salvation of God will be granted to us for eternity.

But, as we have noticed, there is a condition which was given by Saint Paul, and of which he spoke at some length in his epistle to the Romans, which is justification by faith : "Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."  Indeed, how could the Holy Spirit, the one who poured God’s love into us and who gave us his peace, come to act in us if we don't permit him, by faith, to dispose of us according to his will ?  Because, faith is precisely that : it makes us voluntarily available with regard to divine action in us.  By faith, "man commits his whole self freely to God, offering the full submission of intellect and will to God who reveals." (Council of Vatican II, Constitution Dei Verbum, no. 5)

Welcoming the Spirit of God, Mary said to the Angel Gabriel : "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord ; let it be to me according to your word." (Luke 1: 38)  From that instant, Mary was saved, giving to God her whole person by this act of perfect faith.  From that instant, Mary became the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, Mediatrix of all graces, Co-Operator in the Work of Salvation in the Christ Jesus.  This is so because, firm in hope through the love of God poured in her heart, she began to work for the salvation of all men and women.  That's why she immediately went to carry to Elizabeth and to John Baptist the Good News which she had just received (cf. Luke 1:39)  Mary thus gives us the example to follow :  if the love of God has been poured into our hearts, it is so that we go everywhere to carry the Good News which is in us!

Through faith, the Spirit of God comes into our hearts to pour God’s love !  Now, every Sunday, every day, we celebrate the Mystery of faith : the Eucharist.  In the course of every eucharistic celebration, we are invited to proclaim our faith to Jesus Savior, we can once again say to God that we are completely disposed to welcome him in us.  And in fact, we receive him in us through the sacrament of the Eucharist, to the extent of our faith.  We have therefore in this sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ the best means of salvation which God gave us in his mercy.  But what to say about those who cannot receive the Eucharist ?

We can already sketch out our answer by saying that the Eucharist is not the only means, as sacrament, which allows us to proclaim our faith to God so that he acts in us.  The Eucharist is the best means for it, but not the only one.  As a means, indeed, the Eucharist associates itself to all of creation and to every human work accomplished with a right and pure intention.  Indeed, the sign of bread and the sign of wine express this universal link of the Eucharist.  It is in this sense that salvation can reach those that the Eucharist, Body and Blood of Christ, does not reach.  It is in this sense that the Holy Spirit can pour the love of God into the heart of all those whom God calls to him.

We will develop this last point next time, if this pleases God . . .
 

Page n.5 about the Holy Spirit
 
 
 

February 7, 1998

Dear friends,
 
 
 

Let's continue reading the epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans.  He tells us : "It is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God." (Rom. 8, 16)

This word of Saint Paul shows well what could be called the communion in the spirit, or the spiritual communion.  This act of communion consists of an union between God, who is spirit (cf. John 4, 24), that is to say of a nature of spiritual order, and the spirit of the man or woman in whom the Lord dwells.

This communion is ordinarily attained through grace only, this divine means given to man to allow him to go freely toward God.  But, being given that the spiritual soul of man is united, by a simple and one manner, with his body, and this, by the very principle of life, to the ordinary means of grace, is joined a means which is not extraordinary, but a means which comes to complete the ordinary means of grace.  This means is not other than the one of the body and of all this which constitutes the bodily world with which the body is in contact by the means of the five bodily senses.

The communion in the spirit can therefore be performed through the grace or through the body, or through the grace and through the body.  The communion in the spirit divides therefore in three categories : the spiritual communion (through the grace), the bodily communion (through the body), and the spiritual and bodily communion (through the grace and through the body).

As we have body and soul, the most common communion in the spirit is undoubtedly the one that is at a time spiritual and bodily.  This communion in the spirit is the one that is performed at the time of the eucharistic communion, because then, the Spirit of God, who rests on Christ, enters in communion with us through the grace and through the body : in order to receive communion, it is necessary to have the grace of God, and it is necessary to carry the hand on the Body of Christ and to eat it bodily.  About this communion, does Saint Paul speak, when he says : "The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ ?  Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread." (1 Cor. 10, 16-17)

The communion in the spirit through the grace is the own of those who believe in Christ without having yet received the baptism ; it is therefore the one of the cathecumens.  Indeed, only the Christ could bring the Holy Spirit to men ; and only the faith, which is solely spiritual, allows man to enter in communion with the Spirit of God, and to receive, here and now, the Gift of God.

The communion in the spirit through the body (something that could seem full of contradiction !) relates to all the other circumstances.  It concerns therefore all those whom God calls to his communion without the acquaintance of Christ Savior being directly necessary.

This communion in the spirit through the body cannot be performed only if the body is dominated by the spirit, that is to say if the body is like spiritualized and become, in a certain way, like an element of the spiritual order.  Because the spirit is the superior part of the soul, that is to say the superior part of the principle that animates the body.  So understood, the expression "communion in the spirit through the body" has not anymore contradiction in itself, but a well founded significance.

It is clear that, if the body is the means in order to enter in communion with the Spirit of God, the body, doing only one with God, becomes an essential part of the image of God in man : God and man doing only one, God and the man are similar between them, and therefore the man is the image of God, not only by his soul, but also by his body.  It is what Saint Paul insinuates, saying : "When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts." (Rom. 2, 14-15)

Saint Paul expresses indeed by this that the pagans - those who don't know the Christ - show by their acts (this which supposes the action of the body and of the soul) their relation of dependence (the law) and, therefore, their union with regard to the Creator.  The pagans watch their counterparts and they see the law of God in them, all like it is in
themselves.  They see to act in front of them some men and some women united to the Creator by their respect and by their achievement of the law of God, and, by there, they see the image of God that is in every man and in every woman, body and soul included.

All this occurs by this manner since the original sin, since the man lost the grace of God which thaught him internally.  Adam was the first man living the union to God by this manner, remembering the image of God which he had known in perfection, and showing thus to his descendants the example to follow.  Before the deluge, such an union to God reaches sometimes the perfection, like in the case of Enoch, about whom it is written : "Enoch walked with God ; and he was not, for God took him." (Gn. 5, 24)

We see then that, by the mercy of God, the life of union to God is possible without a direct relation to Christ (an indirect relation, by the means of the all whole creation, is indeed absolutely necessary), although this union to God outside of the Church remains for us all a mystery which God alone knows perfectly !

We will continue our reading of Saint Paul the next time, if this pleases God . . .
 

Page n.6 about the Holy Spirit
 
 
 

February 21, 1998

Dear friends,
 
 
 

Last time we discussed this passage of Saint Paul : "It is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God." (Rom. 8:16)  But just before writing these words, Saint Paul declared : "All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." (Rm. 8:14)  What are we to understand from this ?  Would the Spirit of God guide us as a mother guides her children by the hand ?  It is a little like this, because don't forget that the Holy Spirit has as his Wife the Most Holy Virgin Mary, and that she is the Mother of the Church.

"It is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God."  Can we fully understand these words of the Apostle without making reference to the mediation of Mary ?  Certainly not !  Indeed, on one hand, if we are guided by the Spirit of God, the Lord shows us in this way His omnipotence towards us.  On the other hand, the Spirit of God being wholly Love, he can guide us only in love, and therefore in a manner that allows us our freedom : it is in the liberty of love that the Holy Spirit guides the children of God.  We are therefore placed directly within the context of the union of the grace of God with the free will of man.  And therefore it is acceptable to make reference to the mediation of Mary, if we wish to consider Mary as the universal mediator of all graces, as is commonly believed by the Church.

Saint Paul abundantly speaks to us of the Holy Spirit.  As he didn't know Christ during His life on earth, Saint Paul, like us, had no experience of divine communication other than through the Spirit of God in person.  And his experience was exceptional, since he was enraptured "up to the third heaven", "up to paradise." (2 Cor. 12:2-4)  Compared with this, Saint Paul speaks very little to us about the Most Holy Virgin Mary ; he merely says that Jesus is "born of woman." (Ga. 4:4)  But as, in a spousal union, the husband and wife are one, we can nevertheless understand in a certain way the actions of the wife by considering solely those of the husband.  And this applies in a very particular manner to the union of the Holy Spirit and Mary, since Mary only wants to do the will of God, at all times and in all things, a will that is none other than that of the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son by manner of will.

"It is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God." If we understand this in light of what we said last time, the harmony between the grace of God and the free will of man becomes quite manifest.  Indeed, if the communion in spirit between the Spirit of God and the spirit of man is achieved through both the spirit and the body, then God, through his Spirit, is almighty in the action of his grace on the spirit of man, while man remains sovereignly free, in his dignity as a creature of God, in his bodily movement within the universe.

What we have just said applies to he who unites himself to God through both the spirit and the body, as well as to he who unites himself to God solely through the spirit : the cathecumen, whose state is only a temporary stage toward communion with Christ through baptism, confirmation, and the Eucharist.

Concerning he who unites himself to God solely through the body, the action of the Holy Spirit can be accomplished in a simple way, but also in an extraordinary way.  One example which is very striking is that of the wise men called by God to come and adore his Son Jesus in Bethlehem.  God did not hesitate to use a star in order to demonstrate his omnipotence to the pagans : "When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is he who has been born king of the Jews ?  For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him.'" (Mt. 2:1-2)

Perhaps more spectacular was the miracle of the conversion of Saint Paul.  Let us read his words : "As I made my journey and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone about me.  And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, `Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?'  And I answered, `Who are you, Lord?' And he said to me, `I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.'  Now those who were with me saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me.  And I said, `What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, `Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.'  And when I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus." (Acts of the Apostles 22:6-11)

We have shed a little light upon the action of the Holy Spirit and that of Mary-Mediatrix in the economy of grace.  In summary, it all takes place a little as if Mary leads us by the hand in order to follow the Spirit of God, just as the companions of Saul took him by the hand to conduct him to Damascus, where he was baptized in water and the Spirit.

We will continue to read the Epistle of the Great Apostle to the Gentiles next time, if God wills it . . .
 

Page n.7 about the Holy Spirit
 
 
 

March 7,1998

Dear friends,
 
 
 

Let us continue the reading of the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans.  This is what the Apostle wrote : "We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved." (Rm. 8:22-24)

This text deals with three periods of time : a moment in the past, a present moment, and a future moment.  The past moment relates to the creation : "the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now."  The present moment relates to the Spirit of God in us : "We ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit."  The future moment relates to the resurrection of our bodies in the end times : "We groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies."

The present moment, the moment of the Spirit of God, is fleeting, elusive.  The present moment topples immediately into the past, in order to give up its place to the future moment.  The moment of the Spirit is therefore constantly in tension between the past moment and the future moment.  It is upon these two moments - upon the past and future moments - that the moment of the Spirit depends : the moment of the Spirit is continuously becoming a past moment that calls to itself a future moment.  Faithful to the Spirit of God, Saint Paul said : "One thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3:13-14)

The past moment is a moment that belongs to memory : it is memory that permits the human mind to rejoin the past, in a way.  This past moment is that toward which the present moment topples, when the moment of the Spirit seems to disappear in order to recover itself more fully : "The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." (John 14:26)

The present moment par excellence, the one during which the Spirit acts in fullness, is without doubt that of the Eucharist, when the sacrifice of Christ, by the power of the Spirit of God, is actualized - made "present" -  for us, we who live now.  We thus unite ourselves to the sacrifice of Christ in the Spirit of God : we who live now in the Spirit remember the sacrifice of Christ.  The priest, bearing upon him the seal of the Spirit through the sacrament of Holy Orders, acts in the name of all the Church in order to accomplish the order of Christ : "Do this in memory of me."

The future moment is that which comes to take the place of the present moment : the present moment continously topples into the past in order to give up its place to the future moment.  The Christ calls the Spirit : the Paraclete.  But there are two "Paracletes."  There are not two Holy Spirits, but there are indeed two "Paracletes."  Jesus said : "I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth . . ." (John 14:16-17)  Jesus himself is the first Paraclete : he is the one whom the Father sent to earth to give us his life through the Blood of his Cross.  And he is also the last Paraclete, being the Alpha and the Omega of all creation (cf. Rev. 21:6).  Therefore, if the future moment comes to take the place of the present moment, it is in order to signify and to realize the fact that Christ, the last Paraclete, comes to take the place of the Holy Spirit, this "other Paraclete."  In calling Christ Jesus, coming back in the end times, "the Spirit and the Bride say, «Come.»" (Rev. 22:17)

All of Saint Paul's thinking is turned towards the future, towards the future moment :  "Straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal . . ."  And in his Epistle to the Romans, he insists on this call for the coming of the Lord who will restore all things in him : "We ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies."  The Spirit is the one who pushes us forward, giving up his own place for Christ, and inviting us to do likewise.  The Spirit is the one who compelled John the Baptist to declare, when speaking of Christ : "He must increase, but I must decrease." (Jn. 3:30)

We shall continue our reading of the letters of Saint Paul later on, if this pleases God.
 

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March 21, 1998

Dear friends,
 
 
 

We have discussed the following  words of Saint Paul: "We ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies . . ." (Rm. 8:23)  Within the same context, and dealing with the same subject, the Apostle wrote: "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.  And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." (Rm. 8:26-27)

These words of Saint Paul concern those who are saved in Christ, those to whom God has given the "first fruits" of the Spirit.  These first fruits of the Spirit consist of beginning to live one's eternal life while still on earth, before its full manifestation at the time of the second coming of Christ and the final resurrection.  The following words of Saint Paul show this clearly: "For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rm. 8:38-39) Saint Peter, for his part, does not hesitate to say: "I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ as well as a partaker in the glory that is to be revealed." (1 Peter 5:1)

The words of both Apostles are clear:  the Christian has a certain assurance of his eternal salvation!  This means that, having received the first fruits of the Spirit, the Christian has such firm hope in the salvation of God that he is already saved in this life.  Saint Paul said: "For in this hope we were saved." (Rm. 8:24)  On the one hand, the Spirit is there within us, and on the other hand we firmly hope that God will save us in his Son for eternity.  One is an action of God, who is Spirit, and the other is a spiritual action of the man who hopes in God.  In the end, these two actions mysteriously become joined to each other to become but one thing, because what is spiritual - the action of God and the action of man - is essentially simple and one.  The action of God and the action of man are therefore in this case similar to each other, since between the two of them they become but one.
 

When man hopes for something, he wishes that this 'something' would occur:  he expresses from the bottom of his heart a desire concerning the realization of this or that.  When man hopes for eternal salvation, he desires that this salvation shall take place, and that his soul will forever be in the eternal beatitude of paradise.  This kind of desire or wish is expressed internally through prayer, which can become external by means of speech, or through gestures or bodily attitude.  So, it is through prayer that we obtain salvation from God: he who prays is saved!

Similarly, the Spirit expresses a desire which somehow divinizes the desire or prayer of man.  Saint Paul calls these desires of the Spirit "sighs too deep for words." (Rm. 8:26)  These desires of the Spirit bring to the prayers of man all the fullness that they would not ordinarily have, because man does not know what he asks for.  When he asks for eternal beatitude, the mind of man cannot perfectly understand that which he desires with all his strength: "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words."  Let us remember the episode of the Transfiguration of the Lord in which Peter wanted to remain forever on the mountain with Jesus, as if he were already in Heaven (and, in fact, it was a foretaste of the celestial beatitude): "As the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is well that we are here; let us make three booths, one for you and one for Moses and one for Eli'jah . . ." (Luke 9:33)  And Saint Luke added: ". . . not knowing what he said." (Luke 9:33).

Once a man has expressed this desire for eternal life, if he conceived this desire with a good and pure intention, having no other intention than that of the glory of God and the salvation of his soul, then he receives the gift of the Spirit of God, the "first fruits" of which Saint Paul spoke.  Man prays and the Spirit comes!  Then, the prayer of this man is not longer a simple prayer:  it is a prayer lost in the immensity of the sigh of the Spirit of God.  "He who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." (Rm. 8:27)

But, as we know, the action of man is never the first: it is not man who has the initiative in his salvation.  It is God who first gives his grace to man so that man, answering the call of grace, prays for God to save him for all eternity.  Thus Saint Paul wrote to the Ephesians: "By grace you have been saved! . . . For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God." (Eph. 2:5, 8)  Also, we could summarize the salvific action of God in this way: the grace of prayer is offered to man; if he responds to the grace of God, man prays for the Lord to save him; if this prayer is worthy of being granted, God sends his Spirit who enters into man in order to consolidate his prayer accomplished through divine grace.

Saint Paul describes all this in a synthetic enumeration: "Those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified." (Rm. 8:30)

We will continue our study next time, if it pleases God.
 

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April 4,1998

Dear friends,
 
 
 

In his first epistle to the Corinthians, Saint Paul said:  "As it is written, 'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him,' God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.  For what person knows a man's thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.'" (1 Cor. 2:9-11)

Saint Paul reveals to us here the very principle of the whole economy of Revelation accomplished by God for man.  He briefly describes the different terms of this divine action towards man:  he speaks about the term of origin - that is, God himself; about the term of destination - that is, man; about the intermediate term - that is, the Spirit of God; and about the objective term - that is, the goods which man receives from God through the Spirit.  So, there are always four terms in the economy of salvation:  God, the Spirit, man, and the divine goods.  There are three subjective and active terms : God, the Spirit, and man; and one objective and passive term:  the divine goods.

But Saint Paul insists in his discourse on the Person of the Holy Spirit, the intermediate term.  Let us note here that, insomuch as he is an intermediate term, the Spirit appears straightaway as being the Spouse of Mary-Mediatrix, the human person whom God has associated to his work of salvation as a mediator in the unique Mediator, Christ.  For Saint Paul, it is the Spirit who "searches everything, even the depths of God," and who transmits the divine goods to man by way of revelation:  "'What God has prepared for those who love him,' God has revealed to us through the Spirit."

To help us understand to some extent this action of the Spirit who "searches everything, even the depths of God," Saint Paul compares this action with that of the man who, by his own spirit, makes a complete return on himself in order to try to know himself:  "For what person knows a man's thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." By looking within himself, man tends to know himself; in the same way, the Spirit of God knows the divinity itself perfectly; he "searches everything, even the depths of God."

But the knowledge of the divinity which the Spirit of God possesses is a knowledge that gives life.  This knowledge of the Spirit of God is not a merely intellectual knowledge:  it is fundamentally a knowledge of will and of love.  Indeed, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and from the Son by way of will, in the mutual love of one for the other.  That's why the Lord Jesus says, addressing his Father: "This is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." (Jn. 17:3)  This what Saint John says in other words, in his epistle:  "Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God." (1 Jn. 4:7)

As man possesses various faculties of knowledge, these natural gifts must therefore first serve to lead him toward the eternal life to which God calls him.  But, as is the case for every natural gift, man always risks misusing that of knowledge.  This is moreover what
happened at the time of the original sin, man having made use of this gift of knowledge against the express will of God who had forbidden him to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (cf. Gn. 3:3-5).  The first man and woman recklessly misused the gift of knowledge that God had given them in order to obtain the gift of eternal life:  "Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever." (Gn. 3:22)

Let us note that the concept of mediator and of middle is essential here.  Knowledge is a means, and not an end in itself.  This is a means, a mediator, destined to the end that is God alone.  Knowledge must therefore be situated at the correct "midpoint" if we wish it to be a means and a mediator directed to its own end.  It is therefore not without reason that the author of the book of Genesis points out that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was situated in the middle of the garden: "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said, `You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" (Gn. 3:2-3)

Knowledge is not an end in itself.  The Holy Spirit brings us the knowledge of God for the eternal life which he himself is.  The knowledge of God must lead us to his life and to his eternal love.  So, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not in the precise
center of the Garden of Eden, rather it was placed next to the tree of life that occupied the dominant center of this place of delights:  "Out of the ground the LORD God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." (Gn. 2:9)  And now, in the restored and renewed celestial Jerusalem, "In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. . ." (Ap. 22, 2)

We will continue our reading of Saint Paul next time, if this pleases God . . .
 

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April 18, 1998

Dear friends,
 
 
 

In his first epistle to the Corinthians, Saint Paul develops the text upon which we commented last time; he says:  "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit. The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 'For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?' But we have the mind of Christ." (1 Co. 2:12-16)

Note this last statement: "We have the mind of Christ." What could be this mind or this thought of Christ, if not a divine thought, a thought that has God for its object, a thought by which Christ conceives in his human spirit all that God is in himself. Indeed, when Christ thinks, he conceives and begets a thought in his spirit. As Christ is a perfect man, similar to God who created man in his image and in his likeness (cf. Gn. 1:26), he becomes similar to his Father when he produces a thought within himself:  Christ, in conceiving a thought within his spirit, becomes similar to his Father. Also, Christ-Man, even if he thinks of a reality other than that of his Father, cannot fail to think also and at the same time of the One who begets him, as God, for all eternity. When Christ thinks within his human spirit, he immediately enters into a relation with his Father by the very fact that he perfectly resembles him, although in the manner of a creature. When Christ thinks of his Father, he becomes the human Image of his Father, and therefore, the thought of Christ-Man becomes divine, while remaining human, proper to Christ-Man.

If the thought of Christ is divine, then this thought is not a fruit of the faith of Christ. Therefore we, who have the thought of Christ, have a thought that doesn't come from faith, even though faith is necessary in order that this thought be transmitted to us by Christ in person. We must first believe in Christ, Son of God and true Man, before Christ, who originally has his own thought within himself, can transmit to us this same divine thought. But, once again, this thought of Christ which we have is not a fruit of faith:  it is a divine thought.

All of this allows us to understand a little of what Saint Paul means in the quoted text above.

First of all this passage: "The spiritual man judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one." The spiritual man is he who has received the thought of Christ. As the thought of Christ is divine, the spiritual man judges all things, just as God himself judges all things. The spiritual man receives from God himself all the light which he needs in order to live his faith with prudence and moderation, in order to judge soundly and holily all the situations in which he finds himself throughout his life, with the passage of time, as long as he remains in obedience to the law of God and in the humility that befits the sons of God.

"Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit." With these words, Saint Paul teaches us who it is that allows us to put into action the thought of Christ which we received:  it is the Holy Spirit!  The thought of Christ is a good that is, in itself, passive, just as the Eucharist, inasmuch as sacrament under the form of food, is a passive good.  It is therefore necessary that the Holy Spirit, he who proceeds from the Father and the Son within the Divine Trinity, acts within us to allow us to receive the help of this divine gift.

"The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned." The natural man, or the unspiritual man, is he who hasn't received the thought of Christ, whether because he doesn't believe in Christ, or because he didn't persevere in belief long enough to receive the thought of Christ. Faith is a test:  it is necessary to pass through this trial and not falter up until the end of our life. When God judges that our faith has become strong enough, he then gives us the thought of his Son which the Holy Spirit comes to maintain in us. It is necessary to pass through this trial, just as Jesus passed through the trial of the Cross before he could send the Holy Spirit to the world in a common action with the Father: "I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you." (Jn. 14:16-17)

"They are folly to him." Yes! The things of the Spirit of God, the thoughts of Christ, are but folly to the world! Because all this is to be lived in the Cross of Christ, which is "folly to Gentiles." (1 Co. 1:23)

We will continue our reading of Saint Paul next time, if this pleases God . . .
 

Page n.11 about the Holy Spirit
 
 
 

May 2, 1998

Dear friends,
 
 
 

In his first epistle to the Corinthians, Saint Paul wrote: "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If any one destroys God's temple, God
will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and that temple you are." (1 Co. 3:16-17)

Saint Paul speaks here of the Holy Spirit as the God who resides in a temple, the temple of God which we are: "For God's temple is holy, and that temple you are." In one of its aspects, this temple is fundamentally spiritual:  in relation both to us and to the divine guest of this temple. In relation to us, because we are men, or women, and not temples strictly speaking: in relation to us, this concept of temple can only be spiritual. In relation to the guest of this temple - that is to say in relation to the Holy Spirit, because "God is spirit" (Jn. 4:24) - in relation to the guest of this temple, the concept of temple can equally only be spiritual.

Since the concept of the temple of God, or temple of the Holy Spirit, which we are, is spiritual, it is necessary for us to be spiritual to understand it, and, by the very fact, to live it in our spirit, and in the Spirit of God:  understanding spiritually what the temple of God is, we adhere to it by faith and we live it through charity in the Holy Spirit. As we are body and soul, material and spiritual, in order to understand and to live as the temple of God, it is necessary that, within us, the spiritual dominate the material, that the soul dominate the body. But if, within us, the material dominates the spiritual, if the body dominates the soul, then it will be for us as if the concept of the temple of God were nonexistent. If we never had within us this knowledge of the temple of God, then, if our body dominates our soul, we are in simple, and often unconscious, expectation of this knowledge of the temple of God. But if, already having this knowledge in us, our body were to dominate our soul once again, we would then be responsible for the loss of this knowledge; this is what Saint Paul calls the destruction of temple of God: "If any one destroys God's temple. . ." It is, strictly speaking, the fault of he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, the fault of he who "will not be forgiven." (Lk. 12:10) : "If any one destroys God's temple, God will destroy him." (1 Co. 3:17)

Another aspect of the temple of God seems to be corporeal; indeed, Saint John clearly states, after Jesus himself: "The Jews then said to him, 'What sign have you to show us for doing this?'  Jesus answered them, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' The Jews then said, 'It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?' But he spoke of the temple of his body." (Jn. 2:18-21) As the spiritual aspect of the temple of God is fundamental, it is clear that its bodily aspect cannot be taken in its strict and proper sense; once again, as we are truly men and women, we cannot be true temples in the material and bodily sense of the word. Therefore, since Christ did in fact speak of the temple of his body, we too, in following him, are bodily temples of the Holy Spirit, temples that are not corporeal in a manner that is natural - that is, in accordance with the realities that fall under the senses - but rather temples that are supernaturally, or mystically, corporeal.

This second aspect of the temple of the Holy Spirit permits us to better understand how the destruction of the temple that we are can take place. Indeed, in virtue of this bodily aspect, it is clear that the temple of God isn't limited to our person:  if there were only the spiritual aspect of the temple of God, then this concept could concern our own person only, and there would be as many temples of the Holy Spirit as there are true believers within the Church of God; but the bodily aspect of the temple of God means that this reality, which is proper to each person in a spiritual manner, is, in some way, shared and communicated to the entire universe outside the human person who is the temple of the Spirit. Therefore, any outside influence could become harmful to the existence of the temple of God that we are. And, in fact, Jesus himself was killed by people outside of himself, and his body, the temple of God par excellence, was separated from his soul, the source and foundation of the temple of God in him.

While there are, outside us, harmful influences, there are also, outside us, good and positive influences as well, and how much more powerful are these:  those of Jesus and Mary, both of whom are, body and soul, in Heaven, always alive, interceding or praying for us. . . "The temple of Holy Spirit" (1 Co. 6:19) that we are will be never destroyed if we remain faithful to God in the hope of eternal happiness. This assurance is given to us by the Eucharist, the Mystery that tests our faith and that, testing it, reinforces it and renders it powerful against death itself: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." (Jn. 6:54) The Eucharist comes to bring us the perfect, though mysterious, knowledge of the temple of God that we are:  he who receives the Body of Christ in the spirit of a son of God receives the pledge of his eternal resurrection!

Next time, if this pleases God, we will continue our commentary on Saint Paul.
 

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May 16, 1998

Dear friends,
 
 
 

After giving various instructions on morality, Saint Paul continues his first letter to the Corinthians by speaking about charisms of the Spirit: "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be uninformed.  You know that when you were heathen, you were led astray to dumb idols, however you may have been moved. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus be cursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit." (1 Co. 12:1-3)

When a Christian declares: "Jesus is Lord," everybody can hear it, other Christians as well as those who are not disciples of Christ. But if other Christians hear it, it is as if these words of faith were addressed to Christ in person. Indeed, Christians are "the Body of Christ" (1 Co. 12:27):  with Christ and in him they "are one body" (1 Co. 10:17). So, when a Christian says: "Jesus is Lord," what Saint Peter accomplished for the first time in Caesarea Philippi is performed again in the Church of today; Saint Peter had said, addressing Christ, who was present in front of him: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Mt. 16:16) This means that Jesus, the man whom we call Christ, is the Lord.

Saint Paul declares that, if someone says "Jesus is the Lord," he does so under the action of the Holy Spirit.  On the other hand, and long before Saint Paul, Jesus declared to Simon Peter: "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." (Mt. 16:17) It therefore seems clear that, while it is the Holy Spirit who allows Christians to say "Jesus is Lord," it is strictly speaking the Spirit of the Father who acts in them to bring them to proclaim their faith by this manner. But as the words of a person reveal what this same person conceives in his spirit, we see that it is the Son of the Father - who is described in the words "Jesus is
Lord" - who allows the revelation and the knowledge of the Spirit of the Father to be given to us. So, as he is revealed and known to us, the Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son.

When a Christian says "Jesus is Lord," just as when Saint Peter said to Jesus:  "You are the Christ, the Son of living God," the Holy Spirit acts in him and allows Christ himself to be known and revealed to the whole world. The Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of the Father, is the one who reveals the Son; it is by the Spirit and in him that the Father reveals his own Son to the world: "When the Counselor comes . . ., even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me; and you also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning." (Jn. 15:26-27) The Holy Spirit is therefore the person of the Most Holy Trinity who is the Spirit of the Father and who leads us to the Son: he is in some way the mediator between the Father and the Son, although he is one with the Father and the Son.

What we have just said allows to us understand a little better the fact that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and from the Son. If the Holy Spirit is, in a certain way, the intermediary between the Father and the Son, then, if the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, he also proceeds from the Son by way of mediation, that is to say because he
is situated at a proper midpoint between the Father and the Son and that, thus understood, what is proper to the Holy Spirit with regard to the Father is also proper to the Holy Spirit with regard to the Son. Therefore, if the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, then he also proceeds from the Son.  If the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father, he is also the Spirit of the Son: ". . . the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name (Jn. 14:26). . . when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father (Jn. 15:26). . . when the Spirit of truth comes, . . . he will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.  All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you." (Jn. 16:13-15)

The Holy Spirit allows us to proclaim our faith to the Son of God. He is in us if we love God with sincere faith and charity, hoping with all our heart for eternal bliss. "So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love." (1 Co. 13:13) The Holy Spirit will act in us only if we love God with all our heart: our faith will be acting under the influence of the Spirit of God only if our love gives our faith all love's power, which is that of the Holy Spirit. So, if we love God sincerely, we will say with a deep and intimate conviction: "Jesus is Lord." And it will be impossible for us to say: "Jesus be cursed."

If we have the Spirit of the Father in us, then Christ will once again be sent into the world by our proclamation of our faith: "Jesus is Lord." The human word that we shall pronounce is the seed of a new birth in the Church:  that of Christ’s Body.  Pentecost is perpetuated throughout the Church’s life:  the Paraclete is ceaselessly being sent into the world when we proclaim our faith, saying: "Jesus is Lord." For Christ himself is the first Counselor, and the Holy Spirit is the "other Counselor" (Jn. 14:16)

We will continue our reading of Saint Paul next time, if this pleases God . . .
 

Page n.13 about the Holy Spirit
 
 
 

June 6, 1998

Dear friends,
 
 
 

Continue our reading of Saint Paul.  In his first epistle to the Corinthians, he affirms: "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;  and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;  and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one.  To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good." (1 Co. 12, 4-7)

Saint Paul speaks us here about gifts of the Holy Spirit, and he enumerates them thereafter, saying: "To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.  All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills." (1 Co. 12, 8-11)

Saint Paul stresses the fact that, "now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit," and that "to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good."  That means that, if someone received a gift from the Holy Spirit, this gift is first and foremost destined to serve the Church, the mystical Christ’s Body.  By the veryfact, if someone received a gift from the Spirit, he could not benefit himself from it only in the measurement where he is a member of Christ’s Body and that he is united to God and to all and to each one of the members of mystical Body of Christ by the charity.

The reason of this is that the gift coming from the Spirit is, by itself, a good destined to be given, and that this same gift doesn't become the possession of the one who receives it only by the fact that it (= the gift) is given to the other members of mystical Christ’s Body.   For the Holy Spirit is himself the gift-person by excellence, performing in his person the divine expression of the gift of oneself (cf. H. H. John-Paul II - Encyclical "Dominum and vivificantem," about the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church and of the world - first part, n. 11).  Then, when the Holy Spirit gives a person a spiritual favor, this same favor could not not possess this proper characteristic of the gift of oneself, since what comes from a person necessarily possesses the personal characteristic of him.

The gift of the Spirit is destined to the utility of all.  In this sense, it (= gift) is near the ministry, that is to say near the spiritual mission confided by the Church to such or such person by a sacramental manner (by the sacrament of the Order), or by a non sacramental manner (by the ministries, or by the missions of all kinds).  For the ministry is always confided for the common good of the all whole mystical Christ’s Body.  That's why Saint Paul, after having said: "now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;" adds: "there are varieties of service, but the same Lord."

The difference between the gift and the ministry resides in the fact that the spiritual favor of the Holy Spirit is internally given when it is about a gift, and it is on the outside given when it is about a ministry.  However, as the human person is composed with body and soul, it would be rather necessary to say that the gift is more internally received than on the outside received, and that the ministry is more received on the outside than internally.

But, for the same reason that the human person is composed with body and soul, it is necessary to add also that the gift always tends to become more outside, and that the ministry always tends to become more interior, so that the best harmony could exist between the outside and interior character of gift and of ministry, all like it (=harmony) exists, by oneself, between the body and the soul of the human person.  That is to say that the gift always tends to resemble to the ministry, and that the ministry always tends to resemble to the gift.  Or again, that the gift must tend toward its integration in the ministerial Church of which depends the person who received this gift, and that the ministry must tend toward its integration in the spiritual life of the person who received it through the Church.

If the Church received from the Lord Jesus the ministerial charge of propagating the Good New of Salvation, the Holy Spirit is always at work, all the long of Church’s life, in order to dispense his gifts to whom this pleases him, for the utility of all: "All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills."  This what Christ began himself, the Spirit continues it and finishes it: the gifts of the Spirit are the complement and the completion of the ministerial action of Church.

We will continue our reading of Saint Paul Saint the next time, if this pleases God . . .
 

Page n.14 about the Holy Spirit
 
 
 

June 20, 1998

Dear friends,
 
 
 

After having spoken of the diversity of the charisms of the Spirit, which are given for the benefit of all, Saint Paul, in his first epistle to the Corinthians, stresses the concept of the body, and more precisely that of the Body of Christ, saying:  "You are the body of Christ." (1 Co. 12:27)  But he clearly defends this idea in these terms, speaking especially about the action of the Holy Spirit with a view to the unity of the mystical Body of Christ: "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.  For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body -- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free -- and all were made to drink of one Spirit." (1 Co. 12:12-13)

"For by one Spirit we were all baptized." The allusion to the word of the Lord is clear: "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." (Jn. 3:5)  The allusion to water is also found in the subsequent part of Saint Paul's discourse, when he says: "All were made to drink of one Spirit."  However, it is more precisely of the Eucharist - that is, the Body and Blood of Christ - that Saint Paul is speaking: the Blood of Christ is the spiritual drink that intoxicates us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Let us remember the day of the first Pentecost, when the Apostles had begun to speak in various languages, and some people took them for intoxicated men, and said, mocking them: "They are filled with new wine." (Ac. 2:13)

Baptism in the Spirit, the sacrament of Christian initiation, which includes within it, under the form of desire, the reception of the Eucharist, recreates us in the dead and resurrected Christ.  The Holy Spirit comes to transform us into new creatures: this is  the new creation in Christ.  Now, this new creation does not come about without relation to the first creation: on the contrary, the new creation comes to restore the first creation, in giving it an increased splendor.  Certainly, through baptism and the Eucharist, the whole man is not yet entirely restored into a new creature: he receives here on earth but the beginning of this new creation, while awaiting, with firm hope, the final Resurrection that will produce in him a complete and eternal restoration in the glorious and triumphant Christ.  If man already receives the beginning of the restoration, that is because he has received the seed of God’s Word, a seed that has to germinate and burgeon, as Saint Peter teaches us: "You have been born anew, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God." (1 P. 1:23)

"In the beginning. . . God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Gn. 1:27) As image of God, man possesses in himself a fundamental unity, the very unity of God: if God is one in himself, then man, created in his image, also possesses, by participation, a unity that is his own.  It is clear, according to the text of Genesis, that if man was created in God's image, it was according to a fundamentally spiritual relation: the image of God that is in man is first and foremost in his spiritual soul.  In other words, since God is spirit (cf. Jn. 4:24), the image of God in man relates in the first place to the spiritual aspect of man - that is, his soul.

But in the new creation in the Spirit of God, the material aspect of man, that is to say his body, receives in Christ an equal importance with respect to man's resemblance to the Divinity.  The Spirit of God who resurrects man through baptism and the Eucharist brings a new dimension to the image of God that is in man: that of man’s body recreated in the dead and resurrected Christ.  If the creation of man was perfect, and it truly was, then the re-creation of man in Christ is yet more perfect.  When God created man, he knew that man was going to sin;  but he also knew that re-created man would be yet more perfect, and that is why he did not hesitate to create him.  An ancient liturgical prayer said that "God created human nature, in its nobility, in a wondrous manner, and restored it in a yet more wondrous manner."

What we have said here is but a comment on these words, quoted above, written by Saint Paul: "For just as the body is one and has many members . . ."  This is the action of the Spirit of God through Baptism and the Eucharist: to give the body of man its unity; not a natural unity (because it comes from the soul), but rather its supernatural and mystical unity, that according to which it is then possible to speak of the Mystical Body of Christ.  Indeed, Saint Paul ends his sentence by saying:  ". . . so it is with Christ."

We will continue this topic next time, if it pleases God!
 

Page n.15 about the Holy Spirit
 
 
 

July 4, 1998

Dear friends,
 
 
 

Let's refresh our memories about what we said last time:  first, after having spoken of the diversity of the charisms of the Spirit, which are given for the benefit of all, Saint Paul, in his first epistle to the Corinthians, stresses the concept of the body, and more precisely that of the Body of Christ, saying:  "You are the body of Christ." (1 Co. 12:27); and second, that he clearly defends this idea in these very terms, speaking especially about the action of the Holy Spirit with a view to the unity of the mystical Body of Christ: "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.  For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body -- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and all were made to drink of one Spirit." (1 Co. 12:12-13)

Let us remember these words of the Apostle: "All the members of the body, though many, are one body."  As this refers to the natural body of man, this sentence of Saint Paul is easy to understand:  the body of man is composed of multiple members who are all united by the soul, the principle of the natural life of the human person.  But the soul, insofar as it is itself vivified by the Spirit of God, possesses not only natural life, but supernatural life as well: that is, participation in the very life of God, which is also, at the same time, the principle of the resurrection of the body which the soul animates.

Supernaturally speaking, the above-quoted words of Saint Paul lead to the following: "All the members of the Mystical Body of Christ, though many, are one Mystical Body."  Now, it is clear that each member of Mystical Body of Christ is a full human person.  This obliges us to consider every member of Mystical Body to be independent and free with regard to each and every other member.  Let us see therefore how the unity of all these ‘independences’ is supernaturally brought about in the Church.

In his epistle to the Colossians, Saint Paul says to us, speaking about Christ: "He is the head of the body, the church." (Col. 1:18)  Now, it is clear that this appellation of "head" given to Christ must be taken in its two senses, both real and figurative, although mystically: that is, Christ is the true bodily head of his Mystical Body, and he is truly the Head, the one who commands and is at the head of the Church, being "the first-born among many brethren." (Rm. 8: 29)  Moreover, Saint Paul tells us in his first epistle to the Corinthians, a few lines before the passage we are discussing:  "I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a woman is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.  Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head,  but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled dishonors her head." (1 Cor. 11: 3-5)

If Christ is the head of the Church, his Mystical Body, then it is necessary that the members obey their Head.  That is, each one of the members of Mystical Body of Christ adheres to the will of the Head, who is Christ.  Now, the will of Christ, who is God, is nothing other than the will of God himself, as it is personified in the Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son by way of will.  As the Spirit of God is essentially simple and one, we see from this that each of the members of Mystical Body of Christ, by obeying the Head, who is Christ, is united to each and every one of the other members of the Church, and first and foremost to Christ himself.

Obedience to Christ, our Head, is not an obedience that makes us slaves: it is an obedience in which we remain fully free.  Jesus said it himself, speaking of the truth taught by "the Spirit of truth" (Jn. 14: 17):  "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." (Jn. 8: 31-32)  For the Spirit of God is a Spirit of Love, and love requires liberty.  That's why Saint Paul says: "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." (2 Cor. 3: 17)

However, in the act of obedience, we accomplish the will of the one who commands us.  As liberty is a faculty of the will, when we obey, we abstract our liberty, we suspend its action in order to be able to accomplish the will of the one who gives us the order to carry out.  But when we do the will of God, we become one with God himself, and therefore, when we obey God, in Christ, God himself acts in us at the very moment we accomplish his will.  Therefore, when we obey the Spirit of God, it is as if we freely accomplish our own will.

We have just made a little clearer the unity of the Mystical Body of Christ in the Truth of the Holy Spirit!  Next time, if it pleases God, we will continue our reading of Saint Paul . . .
 

Page n.17 about the Holy Spirit
 
 
 

18 July 1998

Dear friends,
 
 
 

In his second epistle to the Corinthians, Saint Paul writes:  "The Son of God, Jesus Christ, the one who was proclaimed amongst you by us - by me and Silvanus and Timothy - was not "Yes" and then "No," but, in him, it has always been "Yes".  For, in him, every one of God's promises are "Yes"; therefore is it through him that the "Amen" is spoken, to the glory of God.  But it is God who establishes us together with you in Christ and who anointed us, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment." (2 Cor. 1:19-21)

God "gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment."  That means that God gives us in advance his Spirit: insofar as we firmly hope that God will achieve his promise to make us participant in his life in the eternity, we receive as of now, through time, the gift of the Holy Spirit.

We must therefore take into account four elements : God's promise, Man's answer, the consequence of God's promise and of man's answer, and the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The promise of God became unwavering in Christ: "Every one of God's promises are "Yes" in him."  In Christ, who came to accomplish all of the Law of God, the promise of God about the gift of eternal life is definitive.  God promised: all is said in Christ, the very Word of God.

The answer of man to God's promise must be firm and definitive.  How could God, in a firm and definitive manner, reward he who is still hesitating in his heart and who doesn't hope firmly in the omnipotence of the One who wants to save him in His Son Jesus?  No, that is not possible. Our answer to the promise of God must be firm and definitive: it is the only acceptable condition so that God could rigth away in life here below reward us with the eternal life.

As Christ is the "Yes" of God, and as we don't have any other Savior than Jesus in order to remedy to our weakness and to our condition of sinner, it is clear that, if we want to give God a firm and definitive answer to his promise, there is only one solution: to make the "Yes" of Jesus our own "Yes" to God.  This is performed through the eucharistic celebration: then, the "Yes" of Jesus is actualized in his sacrifice of the Cross and we make it ours by our communion, in the Holy Spirit, to his offering to the Father. "Therefore is it through Him that we say "Amen"  to the glory of God." "Through Him, with Him, in Him, to You, the almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honor and glory, for centuries and centuries.  AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!"

The result of God's promise and of man's answer is to be found in the receipt of the sacrament of Eucharist, who supposes the receipt of the sacrament of Baptism as well as that of Confirmation.  We receive then the seal of God of which Saint Paul speaks:  "It is God who establishes us together with you in Christ and who anointed us, who also sealed us."  This seal is the mark of the Son of God, the mark that indicates that we belong to God, and not to the world nor to Satan.  This seal is therefore that of the Cross, because it is this instrument of torment on which Jesus said his perfect and definitive "Yes" to God.

Saint John, in his Revelation, says to us:  "I saw another angel ascending from the East, who had the seal of the living God. He shouted out with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given permission to damage the earth and the sea:  « Do not damage the earth nor the sea nor the trees until we have put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.» " (Rev. 7:2-3)  This seal of God received on our forehead makes us forever similar to Christ, Head of the Church, his mystical Body.  We become thus some "living stones" for the building of He who is the "living stone" of the spiritual house (cf. 1 Peter 2:4-5).

The gift of the Spirit which we receive is commensurate with the way we receive it. Indeed, we don't receive the eternal life as God wants to give it to us in Heaven, for there wouldn't any difference between the eternal life received here below and the eternal life received in Heaven.  As well as there is a difference between the earth and Heaven, in the same way is there a difference between the eternal life received here below and the one received in Heaven.  However, in itself, the life of God is the life of God:  being simple and one by itself, the life of God is always the same, as received here below or as received in Heaven.  It is therefore the manner we receive God's life that determines a difference between the life of God received here below and the one received in Heaven.

Here below we receive the life of God in Jesus Christ.  But, we saw it, what matters here is the notion of Head:  the "Yes" of God is definitive in He who is the Head of Body, of the Church;  the answer of man to the "Yes" of God is a communion to the "Yes" of Christ Head;  the union of God's promise and of man's answer is materialized by the seal of God received on the head.  It is therefore the notion of Head that characterizes the gift of God, the deposit of the Spirit received by the one who says "Yes" in the Christ of God.  The deposit of the Spirit is therefore a beginning of eternal life:  for he who walks in head, it is the first one, it is the one who begins the cortege, the procession, the pilgrimage of the elected of God!

We will continue our commentary of Saint Paul next time, if it pleases God.
 

Page n.17 about the Holy Spirit
 
 
 

1st August 1998

Dear friends,
 
 
 

In his second letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul writes: "Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Surely we do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all; and you show that you are a letter of Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts." (2 Cor. 3:1-3 NRSV)

St. Paul says: "... you show that you are a letter from Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God." (v. 3)  In order to give the Christian name its full meaning, the author employs here the sign and symbol of a letter that is sent out. We all know how what is written is more important than what is just said:  words pass but writings remain, as the saying goes. As a letter written with the Spirit of the living God, the Christian is established in a permanent state given by the Spirit of God Himself, although it passes through the ministry of the Apostle: "You are a letter from Christ delivered by us." (Ibid.)

St. Paul doesn't simply say, "You are a letter from Christ," but he earlier specifies: "You yourselves are our letter" (of recommendation) (v. 2).  The implication is that this letter is Paul's letter and not Peter's, for example. In other words, the letter that is the Corinthian Christian is a letter "signed" by Paul and no one else. This letter bears Paul's signature, and this is what allows him to say, "You yourselves are our letter."

This idea of a signature is important, if we are to understand the relationship between the letter and the Spirit of the living God with which it is written. As a matter of fact, St. Thomas Aquinas points out that the Christian is constituted a letter of Christ through baptism, but that this letter is not yet signed: the signature will be appended at confirmation. (Summa Theologica, Pars Tertia, Quaestio 72, Articulus XI, Corpus) Through confirmation, the Christian receives the Holy Spirit for the strengthening of his faith; just like the signed letter, the Christian is sealed with the Spirit through the signing of the forehead with holy chrism.

The sign of the letter bears in itself a dimension of relation with those around us with whom we can have some kind of relation. A letter is written in order to be read. Even if the letter is stored in a trunk in the attic, it is nevertheless saved in order to read it again later and recall the information contained therein. A letter is written to be read; in the same way, the baptized and confirmed Christian is a letter "to be known and read by all," (2 Cor. 3:2) as St. Paul writes. And so, the words of Jesus are fulfilled, that "You are the light of the world... let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven." (Mt. 5:14-16)

As a letter, the Christian witnesses to the work of God in him. A letter is indeed a means of communicating data. If the letter is relevant to the one receiving it, it then communicates  to others data related to the person. As a letter written with the Spirit of the living God, the Christian testifies to his sonship in relation to the Father in heaven. Just as the Spirit unites the Father and the Son in the one divine essence, thus does the letter written with the Spirit show the relationship that exists between the Father and his adopted child, the baptized and confirmed Christian.

But as we have already noted, we are not talking here about an anonymous letter. The Christian of whom St. Paul speaks is himself a letter written by the Apostle himself, for he is a minister of Christ acting under the guidance of the Spirit of the living God. By that very fact, this letter that is the christian shows that he is not only an adopted child of God in the Spirit, but also and at the same time the adopted child, in Christ, of St. Paul himself. That is why the Apostle states, "For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the Gospel." (1 Cor. 4:15)

As we can see, if the Christian is a letter written with the Spirit of the living God, then this Christian is called to show his relationship to God and also to the Church. There is no baptized or confirmed Christian who can hide his belonging to the Church, though he were to remain faithful to God only in his heart. God and the Church are inseparable:  we cannot claim to be Christian and truly so without showing our belonging to the Church. The Spirit and the Church are one in Christ, just as spouses are one. That is why the Christian, if he is to be a letter of the Spirit, is called to demonstrate in his life the unutterable sighs of the Spirit and of the Church, who say, "Come!" (Rev. 22:17)

We shall continue our reading of Saint Paul next time, God willing...
 

Page n.18 about the Holy Spirit
 
 
 

5 September 1998

Dear friends,
 
 
 

Carrying on with our reading of Saint Paul, here is what we find in the same chapter we last commented :  "We are very bold, not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not see the end of the fading splendor.  But their minds were hardened; for to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.  Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their minds;  but when a man turns to the Lord the veil is removed.  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." (2 Cor. 3:13-18)

In our fifteenth leaflet, we have already commented this passage:  "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."  We won’t therefore insist on this subject.  On the other hand, what will keep our attention, will be the following passage: "We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."

The action of the Holy Spirit of which Saint Paul speaks here consists in a perfection and a completion of the action of Christ:  that which Christ achieves in a state of a beginning, a beginning that is perfect in itself (for Christ is God and achieves all things in perfection) but which calls for a completion, the Holy Spirit achieves it in a state of a more perfect fullness, for that which the Holy Spirit achieves is nothing but the action of glorious Christ anticipating his second coming at the end of times.  It is what the Lord announced himself, saying to Nathanaël, by way of prophecy:  "Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these . . . Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man." (Jn. 1:50-51)

We are really talking here about vision and revelation.  Jesus is the revelation of God:  he is the one who removes the veil that is between God and us.  ". . . that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away."  But we too, who belong to Christ, united to him by faith and charity, reveal to the world the image of God within us.  Christ is really "the Image of the invisible God." (Col. 1:15)  Being "the Body of Christ" (1 Cor. 12:27), that is to say Him and us being one mystically, we are also, albeit through participation (by virtue of our filial adoption), image of God in Christ.  This image is in us as it already was in Moses (albeit  in a different form, that of hope and the expectation of the Messiah); but contrary to us, Moses didn't reveal to the world the image of God that was in him:  "We are very bold, not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not see the end of the fading splendor."

This image of God in us is very relative to our body.  We already spoke of it in our fifth leaflet.  But the text of Saint Paul commented here illustrates more what we were saying.  Let us think back to the episode where Moses has to veil his face after having met the Lord: "When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face;  but whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he took the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, the people of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone;  and Moses would put the veil upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him." (Ex. 34:34-35)  Thus, it is only  when Moses removed the veil from his face that he could transmit the orders of the Lord:  the Revelation of God, that is to say the transmission, to men, of the Word of God expressed here under the form of orders, goes through the revelation of the face of Moses who removes the veil that covers him corporally.

The image of God that is in us is revealed to the world through our body.  It is the action of the Holy Spirit in the believers of Christ constituted in a mystical Body, that is the Church.  As well as our body evolves constantly, the cells that compose it being always in a dynamic state, thus the image of God that was begun in us by Christ is constantly in progression toward its perfection and its final completion by the action of the Holy Spirit, insofar as we remain alive in God through charity (just as our body remain alive by which feeds it and maintains it).  "We are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."

The link with the Eucharist is easy to grasp:  if bread is the nourishment of the body, then the Eucharist is this nourishment of the soul that permits the Holy Spirit to make constantly more radiant to the eyes of all the image of God that is in us.  When we are only one with the Body of Christ - the Eucharist - then the Spirit can act in us in order to perfect this Image of God, that is Christ in His Church.  That is where we find all of the reality of the missionary activity of the Eucharistic communion.

We will continue our commentary of the epistles of Saint Paul next time, if it pleases God . . .
 

Page n.19 about the Holy Spirit
 
 
 

19 September 1998

Dear friends,
 
 
 

Let us look at what Saint Paul says about the Holy Spirit in his epistle to the Galatians: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us -- for it is written, "Cursed be every one who hangs on a tree" (Deut. 21:23) -- that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." (Ga. 3:13-14)

By this the Apostle teaches us clearly that it is by the faith that we receive the Spirit of God, and not through the practice of the law, as  he says it, shortly before, in the form of a question :  "Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith ?" (Ga. 3:2)  It is clear, the topic, here, is none other than the question of the justification through faith (cf. Ga. 3:11).

Do we get the gift of the Holy Spirit, that is to say the grace of justification, through faith alone or through faith and works? The answer lies in the very notion of faith.  What is faith?  Let us answer this question and we shall have the solution to our problem.

According to Saint Paul’s phrase, ". . . we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.   Faith does appear therefore as a mediator between God, who is spirit (cf. Jn. 4:24), and man.  Faith belonging to the spiritual order, we can say that we have here a simple, and one, contact that unites us with God.  Faith unites us therefore to Christ, in a simple, and one, manner:  he who believes in Christ, the Son of God, becomes one with Him.

Saint Paul makes it clear beforehand, saying that "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us -- for it is written, "Cursed be anyone who hangs on a tree" (Deut. 21:23)" (Ga. 3:13).  That means that Christ, by redeeming us from our sins, became the law in all its perfection.  Jesus didn't come only to accomplish the law (cf. Mt. 5:17), but he personifies, in some way, in himself all the law:  being the Word sent by the Father, Christ is the Order - the Law - personified.  Also, in this perspective, the faith in Christ becomes an adhesion to the very Order of God.  That's why Saint Paul speaks of "the obedience of faith." (Rm. 1:5)

Insofar as man, by the obedient faith, is united to Christ who is the very Law of God, we see that faith is none other than the definitive achievement of the law, and that, through Christ, with Him, and in Him, the grace of salvation in the Holy Spirit is spread from the subjects of the law to all men and women of all nations, just as the Apostle affirms it:  "In Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles." (Ga. 3:14)

What was the obedience of Christ ?  and therefore, what is the law of God  to which we are asked  to adhere?  The obedience of Christ was that of the Cross:  "Being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross." (Phil. 2:8)  And the law of God consists in really participating, through works, in the Cross of Christ, through faith and in faith in the Son of God.

The Holy Spirit will therefore be given to us only if we really participate in the Cross of Christ, through faith, and not without the deeds but with them.  Jesus said it the day before his Passion:  "If I do not go away, the Counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you." (Jn. 16:7)  And Saint Paul adds:  "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him." (Rm. 8:16-17)

The place where the Cross and faith meet in a very special way, is without any doubt the celebration of the Eucharist!  It is therefore there that the Holy Spirit is given to us, insofar as we are united to Christ in his Passion:  it is there that we receive the glory of the Resurrection in the Spirit of God, so long as, in faith and through faith, we bring our own involvement in the Work of God!  And the grace of a lively faith full of love will help us to accomplish such a great intention and a such a noble calling, for the glory of God in the Spirit.

We will continue our reading of Saint Paul another time, if it pleases God . . .
 

Page n.20 about the Holy Spirit
 
 
 

17 October 1998

Dear friends,
 
 
 

In his epistle to the Galatians, Saint Paul writes:  "When the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.  And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"  So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir." (Ga. 4:4-7)

We have here  one of the most beautiful texts of Saint Paul, who summarizes in a few words, in a line or two, the whole economy of salvation in Christ.  It is about the whole Trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit, about the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, and the adoptive sons destined to become heirs of God himself.  In particular, the action of the Holy Spirit is described here in all his relationships.  The Spirit is the one who is sent by the Father; he is the Spirit of the Son; he is the one who achieves in us our link of filial adoption by crying: "Abba!  Father!" ; he is the one who achieved in Mary the initial Work of the Incarnation.

Our filial adoption in the Spirit is without any doubt a Trinitarian  work. The Spirit is the Spirit of the Son, and he is sent by the Father.  All Trinitarian work "ad extra," that is to say "outside" the Holy Trinity, is always common to the three divine persons.  But it is attributed to one of them ; here, our filial adoption is attributed to the Holy Spirit.  The thought of Saint Paul can be found in the gospel of Saint John, when Jesus said:  "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." (John 14:23)

The Spirit is sent to us by the Father:  "God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts."  A French Carmelite nun,  Blessed Elisabeth of the Trinity, writes in one of her prayers:  "O consuming fire, Spirit of Love, come in me so that in my soul occur like an incarnation of the Verb ; may I be for Him an added  humanity in whom he renews his whole Mystery." As we can see, this nun, really inspired by the Spirit, establishes a similarity between the sending of the Verb at the time of Incarnation, and the coming of the Spirit of God in her.  This similarity has its foundation in the very words of the Lord who calls the Holy Spirit:  "another Paraclet" (John 14:16), meaning that he himself is the first Paraclet.

If the Spirit who is sent by the Father is the Spirit of the Son, it means that the Spirit comes in us as much as he reflects perfectly all the thought of the Son, all what the Son  -  who is the Image of the Father  -  can have in his spirit, that is to say, the spirit or the concept of sonship.  It is therefore to give us this spirit of filiation or sonship that the Spirit of the Son sent by the Father comes in us: thus making us adoptive children, moved by the spirit of sonship towards the Father, through the Son.  The Holy Spirit is besides he who possesses in him all that which is proper to the Son, as the Lord declared it, when he said : "When the Spirit of truth comes . . .  He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.  All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."
(John 16:13-15)

When the Holy Spirit is in us, he acts in a manner similar to the Verb, since, as much as he is this "other Paraclet," he came into us the way the Verb incarnated himself and took flesh.  Let’s not believe of course that the Holy Spirit incarnated himself in us!  It is not so.  There is not a similarity of being (in us) between the Verb and the Spirit.  There is only a similarity as to the mode of coming:  the Holy Spirit comes in us in a manner similar to the one through which the Verb was incarnated.  Now, this coming of the Spirit into us is none other than his action in us:  when the Spirit is there present, he acts.  So, when the Spirit comes  in us, he acts like the Verb, like the Word of the Father.  The Spirit utters therefore a word, gives a shout:  "The Spirit cries out:  «Abba!  Father!»

If the Spirit in us cries out "Father!," it means that we are sons of God through adoption.  The Holy Spirit makes us similar to Christ because, through the Spirit, we carry in us the very Word of the Father.  But all this allows us to discover the very seriousness of the sacrament of Eucharist.  For only the Eucharist can insure that we truly have in us the very Word of God. Only the Eucharist, received really or only though desire, can therefore makes us adoptive sons of God.  Besides, the Lord himself has declared:  "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." (John 6:53)

Finally, the Spirit who comes in us is the One who achieved in Mary the Work of the Incarnation.  If there is a similarity between the coming of the Verb at the time of the Incarnation and the coming of the Spirit intended to make us adoptive sons of God, it is clear that it is with the help of Mary that the Spirit comes in us:  Mary is there in us to help us in this marvelous task of regeneration through the Spirit!  It is as if Mary, then, gives us birth into the divine life in Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit.

We shall continue our reading of Saint Paul next time, if that pleases God . . .
 

Page n.21 about the Holy Spirit
 
 
 

7 November 1998

Dear friends,
 
 
 

The year consecrated to the Holy Spirit in the context of the preparation to the Great Jubilee of the year 2000 is coming to an end.  With the next Advent, we shall begin the year dedicated to the Father, the first person of the Holy Trinity.

For these two last studies dealing with the Holy Spirit, we shall read the fifth chapter of the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Galatians.   We shall then be able to begin the year of the Father commenting the first chapter of the epistle to the Ephesians, the one that is about the election of the adoptive sons of the Father in Christ.

Thus does Saint Paul speak in his epistle to the Galatians:  "But I say, let your lives be guided by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.  For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would.  But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law." (Ga. 5:16-18)

"Let your lives be guided by the Spirit . . ."  These words of the Apostle are to be put together with this other sentence taken from his epistle to the Romans:  "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." (Rm. 8:14)  "Let your lives be guided by the Spirit" : through this sentence, Saint Paul shows us thus the path to follow in order to become "sons of God."  It is a key sentence : a few  words that show the whole economy of salvation in Christ through the Spirit.

"Let your lives be guided by the Spirit."  Those few words point out two actions : the one from God, who is Spirit, and the one from man.  The action of God consists in leading the man or the woman who have been chosen in Christ.  The action of man consists in allowing freely the action of the Spirit in him :  it is necessary that man "lets" the Spirit operate in him.  The filial relation to God is always a free relation between the two beings: God chooses whom he wants, and man lets the Spirit act freely in him.

This double action of the Spirit of God and of man can exist at two levels:  one that is perfect, and the other that is more perfect.  The level that is perfect and that, by itself, is sufficient for the salvation consists for man in answering the grace of God that summons him to love through the conversion of heart.  Here, the grace of God is at first a grace of prayer:  the primary grace is given to man so that he can pray God to grant him some other graces that will help him to guide him and to conduct him on the road to salvation.  Here, it is rather man who implores the Lord to illuminate him, help him, guide and conduct him. Of course, the action of God is always first, but it is rather man who seems to act through prayer.

The level which is more perfect consists for man in always being attentive to what the Spirit says to him internally, and always being expeditious and assiduous in the accomplishment of his divine will.  Being one with the Spirit, the man who stands at this more perfect level will accomplish works that will surprise other men, so much so that the latter will ask if it is really a man who is acting rather than acts the Spirit of God acting in his servant.  Here, in fact, it is rather the Spirit of God who demonstrates his strength and his action in the world.  Of course, the man who is under the leadership of the Spirit acts quite freely and willingly.

Those who are lead by the Spirit are spiritual men.  While always composed of composed of a soul and of a body, they act however as spiritual beings.  It is what Saint Paul affirms when he says :  "Let your lives be guided by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.  For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh."  But there is nevertheless an effort to make and a fight to wage relentlessly so that the Spirit continues to lead those he has chosen in Christ.  That's why Saint Paul adds:  "For these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would."

We would like to be led constantly by the Spirit, and yet it is necessary to take into account of the weakness of the flesh.  The Lord himself didn't fail to remind it on the eve of his Passion, when he said: "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Mark 14:38)  It is therefore necessary to pray and to continue to pray.  If we are lead by the Spirit in a more perfect way, as it was described above, we must not stop for all that matter to pray the Lord to help us, to illuminate us, to guide us constantly and always.  The more perfect level is always based on the perfect level:  in order to remain attentive to what the Spirit tells us, it is necessary to remain vigilant when we pray.

Saint Peter ends his first epistle in this manner :  "Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour.  Resist him, firm in your faith." (1 P. 5:8-9)  If the Spirit of God invites us to follow him, it is necessary to remain faithful to him, "firm in our faith," even though the flesh, the world, the Devil tempts us.  It is constantly necessary that we let the Spirit conduct us:  it is a perpetual everyday work.  It is in short the good fight of the faith (cf. 1 Tim. 6:12) in the Spirit!

We will finish our series on the Holy Spirit next time, if it pleases God . . .
 

Page n.22 about the Holy Spirit
 
 
 

21 November 1998

Dear friends,
 
 
 

So here is my last commentary on Saint Paul on the subject of about the Holy Spirit. Not that I did comment on all of Saint Paul’s writings during this year consecrated to the Holy Spirit, but I read only some epistles, that is to say : the epistle to the Romans, the two epistles to the Corinthians, and the one to the Galatians. I will begin to speak about the Father by commenting the epistle to the Ephesians.  I shall not have respected the chronological order of the epistles, but, for us, who live today, what is read in the Spirit is as if it was outside time and can be understood like a word already arrived to maturity thanks to the contribution of the Tradition that precedes us.

Here is therefore what Saint Paul says towards the end of his epistle to the Galatians:  "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law.  And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."  (Ga. 5:22-24)

In this passage, Saint Paul enumerates the main fruits of the Holy Spirit in the soul united to Him.  This enumeration follows a list of mistakes and of misdemeanors that are unworthy of a Christian, being the fruits of the flesh and not those of the Spirit. There is indeed an opposition between the flesh of man and his spirit united to the Spirit of God.  That's why Saint Paul says:  "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."  If really the Spirit of God lives in us, then we shall manifest it through all our person, producing the fruits of the Spirit and not those of the flesh:  it is the Spirit of God himself who will drive us to act in this way.

Man is composed of a body and of a soul:  he is entirely and bodily, and spiritual.  We cannot conceive a living man who would only be bodily or only be spiritual.  Man always needs the two elements that constitute him.  In this sense, we cannot speak of opposition between body and soul.  Otherwise, man would not be man anymore. Therefore, when man lives according to the spirit and not according to the flesh, as Saint Paul says it, it is rather a matter of domination of the spirit over the flesh, and not the opposite.  On the other hand, when man follows the desires of the flesh, it is then really about a domination of the flesh over the spirit.

In his epistle to the Romans, Saint Paul writes likewise :  "We are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh -- for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of  God are sons of God." (Rm. 8:12-14)  Therefore, he who welcomes the Spirit of God in him and lets himself be led by him gets to dominate the flesh in order to live according to the spirit.

Man, being composed of a body and a soul, has two appeals:  that of the body and that of the soul.  Either he turns towards the body, or he turns towards the soul.  As a result of the consequences of the original sin man has rather the tendency to turn himself towards the body.  But the grace of God, which can come in many ways, constantly attracts man to turn himself towards the spirit:  it is what we call the conversion.  A man who who follows thus the grace of God changes his orientation:  he turns away from the flesh in order to turn towards the spirit.

This attraction to the body or to the mind is a desire that man cultivates in him:  it begets repeated acts that motivate him in his life.  The more the repeated acts brought about by the appeals of the body are numerous and frequent, the more the conversion to God is difficult and laborious, subjected to numerous and frequent relapses.  It is, when all’s said and done, love that is the  determining factor in the conversion.  If man doesn't desire anymore the pleasures of the flesh, but if he desires  the goods of the spirit, then the very Spirit of God, who is Love, will come in him to fortify him and  consolidate him in this spiritual and supernatural love.  "The fruit of the Spirit is love . . ."

What will be the source of the fruits of the Spirit, if not the desire for the love of God? Wishing to love God with all our heart, that is the sign of the Spirit in us!  For the spiritual desire is already, by anticipation, the realization of the desired thing:  what we want for the glory of God, we already receive it in expectation!  All lies in the intention of our heart!  That's why the Church, following Jesus, teaches us to pray, and, in particular, the Church teaches us to pray all together, as Body of Christ, in the course of the Eucharistic celebration.  Then, there, Jesus is really given to us, and with him, his Spirit of Love!

Jesus said it:  "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." (Jn.14:23)  If Jesus is in us, we are sons in the Son, and our Father is the Father of Jesus.  If we love Jesus in the Spirit, we are united to the Father of mercies through a tie of sonship which nobody can break, for the Spirit himself is the guarantor of it.  The Spirit keeps us united to the Father:  he is, in Jesus, our way to the Father.  The Spirit is this other "Paraclet" who keeps us for the eternal life within the Father!  Amen!