Beloved Holy Spirit, one of the most wonderful gifts that You can make grow in us as fruit is joy. It is that joy which, like love, makes everything easier and overcomes the weight that life so often brings with it. A joy that is contagious, and gives a ray of light and some comfort to the other person, as long as they are not closed.
Your friend, St. Paul, even tells us to rejoice at all times (cf. Phil 4:4). Read More
Holy Spirit, in the beginning you hovered over the waters (cf. Gen 1:2) and brought order to the chaos. You also want to bring order to the chaos caused by sin, order in our inner and outer life. So much has been confused with original sin and the sins that follow it, that even your friend Paul lamented that a different law dwells in his spirit than in his body and – worse still – that he follows the law of the flesh (cf. Rom 7:23). With him we lament: Who will deliver me from this body? (cf. Rom 7:24)
But let it not remain so!
We must regain control over ourselves and not be slaves to our passions and feelings! It was so wonderfully ordered by our Heavenly Father: The Spirit enlightened our human spirit, it put the will into force and the natural drives were at work.
But, dear Holy Spirit, now, unfortunately, they are rebelling against us and are therefore a reflection of the fallen creation, which is rebelling against God, and in addition, the fallen spirits, who are trying to disturb the ways of salvation of God, also want to confuse us.
But it should not remain that way!
Beloved Holy Spirit, You gentle soul guest,
let grow in us the spirit of gentleness,
that spirit that permeates everything,
that transforms and softens our heart,
purifying it from all hardships;
that is as mild as Your wonderful Bride, our Mother.
“Blessed are the gentle: they shall have the earth as inheritance.” (Mt 5:4)
You do not need us, but rather lure us with Your love. You would rather let Your love taste like honey than give us bitter herb, even if we sometimes need it.
Beloved Holy Spirit, come You, the eternal and pure light and penetrate us, so that nothing can remain hidden from You, no shadow can live on in our soul, every darkness may go away and everything be inflamed by Your love. Awaken us from all inertia and purify our heart so that it may love as God loves; love as You love, so that You and I may be intimately united in the praise of the glory of God.
“O God, create in me a pure heart, renew a right spirit within me” (Ps 51:10).
You, beloved Holy Spirit, are
“…intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, mobile, incisive, unsullied, lucid, invulnerable, benevolent, shrewd, irresistible, beneficent, friendly to human beings, steadfast, dependable, unperturbed, almighty, all-surveying, penetrating all intelligent, pure and most subtle!” (Wis 7:22-23)
“You Holy Spirit, you kiss of the Father and of the Son, you sweetest and most intimate kiss” (Saint Bernard of Clairveaux), we want to know and love you better. Therefore, descend into our soul, “like the sun which illuminates everything where it finds no obstacle. Reach out like an arrow of flame to the deepest part of our soul. You do not rest in proud hearts and high spirits; rather you open your dwelling in humble souls” (St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi).
Enlighten us in these days in which we are preparing the Solemnity of Your coming, You who are our Comforter and Teacher, the Bridegroom of our souls, the One who makes us holy.
Love is longsufferin (cf. 1 Cor 13:4)
Longanimity is your wonderful fruit, which lives in those souls that listen to you and do not lose heart over long distances. It is similar to patience, but even more strongly related to the goods of the spirit. It carries the perseverance in itself and makes the soul strong and capable of suffering. Thus it grows as the fruit of an intimate relationship with you. It is divine in nature, as the Apostle Paul testifies:
According to the traditional calendar, the feast of Saint John Baptist de La Salle is celebrated on May 15, and we will dedicate today’s meditation to him. For this occasion, the following Gospel passage has been chosen:
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.” (Mt 18:1–5)
Here the Lord presents us with two aspects regarding children. First, their simplicity and sincerity. That is the attitude with which we must approach our heavenly Father. In children who still retain their purity, we find a wonderful innocence that willingly receives what we offer them. By living such a relationship with our Father, we become receptive to God’s love, which can be transmitted to us directly. True greatness flows from this, for in the Kingdom of Heaven, the one who loves and serves others is great. If our heart is as open as a child’s, not only do we receive God’s love by the most direct path, but this love also becomes the motivation for action, since love drives us to carry out God’s works. Ultimately, it is the Holy Spirit—the love between the Father and the Son—Who impels us to do good and enlightens our hearts.
The forty days during which the Risen Lord had instructed His disciples and led them even more deeply into their mission have come to an end. For the Lord, the hour has come to return to His Father in all His glory. He has completed the work He was commissioned to carry out on Earth and has laid the foundation for the message of salvation to be proclaimed throughout the world. Nothing is more important than the fulfillment of the mission the Lord entrusted to His apostles so that all people might come to know the Redeemer of all nations and follow Him. Jesus is the only way to the Father (Jn 14:6).
In recent days, the readings and the Gospel have spoken to us again and again of the Holy Spirit, who is absolutely indispensable for the authentic spread of the Gospel. Without Him, the fire of love would soon be extinguished, and the truth would be replaced by human fables and the deceptions of fallen angels. Today, on the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, we hear the passage from the Acts of the Apostles that recounts this event:
Acts 1:1–12
In the first book, O Theoph′ilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. To them he presented himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days, and speaking of the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority.
Jn 16:12-15
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 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.
While still on earth with His disciples, the Lord did not entrust everything to them, knowing that the Holy Spirit had to be sent to them first, both to allow them to understand things and to strengthen them to put them into practice.
This is how the Lord guides His Church through time, enabling it to discern His revelation through the Holy Spirit ever more clearly.
Jn 16:5-11
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: 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. And when he comes, he will convince the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
Today we hear again one of those statements of the Lord that the disciples had to learn to understand. Their hearts were full of grief, but none of them dared to ask where Jesus was going. Perhaps they were afraid of an answer that would deepen the pain in which they were already immersed.
Jn 15:26-16:4
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: When the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, 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. I have said all this to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues; indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do this because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you of them.
The Church teaches us that the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father and the Son. As today’s reading suggests, His task is to remind us of what Jesus said and did; that is, to bear witness to Him.
