Lessons on the Holy Spirit from Pope Francis

Pope Francis, at his General Audience on May 15, 2013, continued his weekly catechesis, guiding us and teaching us in this Year of Faith.

This week’s continued focus as we approached the Solemnity of Pentecost was on the person and work of the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus calls “the Spirit of Truth” (cf. Jn 16:13)  The Holy Spirit carries out the action within each of us and in guiding the Church.

Pope Francis explained that the Holy Spirit, as Jesus promised, “‘guides us to all truth.’ He guides us not only to the encounter with Jesus, the fullness of Truth, but He guides us ‘within’ Truth, that is, makes us to enter into an ever deeper communion with Jesus, giving us knowledge of the things of God… The Church’s tradition affirms that the Spirit of truth acts in our hearts, arousing that ‘sense of the faith’ (sensus fidei) through which, as Vatican Council II states, the People of God, under the guidance of the Magisterium, unfailingly adheres to the faith that is bequeathed, deepening it with right judgment and applying it more fully in their lives.”

Pope Francis stressed, “This is a prayer that we need to say every day: ‘Holy Spirit, make my heart open to God’s Word so that my heart might be open to good, so that my heart might be open to God’s beauty every day.’”

The Holy Father concluded, “Let me make this proposition to you: let us call upon the Holy Spirit every day so that He will bring us closer to Jesus Christ.”

Questions for reflection taken directly from the Pope’s catechesis:

• What is truth? (Jesus is the face of truth, which is the face of God - an encounter with a Person.)
• Who can make us recognize that Jesus is ‘the’ Word of truth, the only begotten Son of God the Father? (The Holy Spirit, the ‘Paraclete’ who comes to our assistance)
• What then is the Holy Spirit’s action? (He recalls and seals Jesus’ words of God’s law upon believers’ hearts – becoming the principle of our judgment, our choices, and our guidance in everyday actions – the principle of life.)
• Am I open to the Holy Spirit’s action? Do I pray for Him to give me light, to make me more sensitive to the things of God?
• Am I truly open, like the Virgin Mary (reliving her ‘yes’), to the power of the Holy Spirit? Reflect.
• How many of you pray to the Holy Spirit every day? (We can pray every day to the Holy Spirit that He might open our hearts to Jesus.)
• In this Year of Faith, have we concretely taken some steps to know Christ and the truth of faith more?
• What steps are we taking so that faith might guide our entire existence, so that we are not ‘part time’ Christians?

Pope Francis, at his General Audience on May 8, 2013, began his catechesis on the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, very timely as Pope Francis explained, “Eastertide, which culminates with the Solemnity of Pentecost when the Church relives the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, is the perfect time of the Holy Spirit.”

The Holy Father tells us, “In the Creed, we profess with faith: ‘I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord the giver of life.’ The first truth that we adhere to in the Creed is that the Holy Spirit is ‘Kyrios,’ that is, Lord. This means that He is truly God as are the Father and the Son... but I want to mainly focus on the fact that the Holy Spirit is the inexhaustible source of God’s life in us.”

Pope Francis explained that Jesus has come to give us the living water that is the Holy Spirit that purifies, renews and transforms us - and that our lives, which we desire to be full and beautiful - might be guided by God.

The Holy Father teaches, “Even now the Holy Spirit invites us to see all things with the eyes of Christ, to recognize God’s immense love for us, and to share that love with all our brothers and sisters.”

Questions for reflection taken directly from the Pope’s catechesis:

•  What does “Kyrios” mean? (Lord) What does it mean to you that the Holy Spirit is truly God (as are the Father and the Son) and that the Holy Spirit is the source of God’s life in us? Reflect.
• What are the fruits of the Spirit? (Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) How can you use the fruits of the Holy Spirit, given to us by Jesus “so that our lives might be guided by God,” in aspects of your daily life?
• Why does the living water that is the Holy Spirit quench the thirst of our lives? (Because He tells us that we are loved by God as children, that we can love God as his children, and that, with his grace, we can live as children of God, as Jesus does.)

On that Wednesday, May 8 – the birthday of Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen – our National Director Father Andrew Small, OMI, in Rome to begin discussions with other National Directors about distributing support to the Missions, was blessed to meet our chief missionary, Pope Francis, during that General Audience!