Sermon

Send out your Spirit, and they will be created (Ps 104:30), et cetera.

Today Holy Mother Church solemnly celebrates the mission of the Holy Spirit that occurred among the apostles, the mission that was besought in a prophetic spirit by the prophet, saying: send out your Spirit, and they will be created, et cetera. We can consider four things in these words, namely, (1) the property of the Holy Spirit, (2) his mission, (3) the strength of the one sent, and (4) the receptive matter of this strength. For it says: send out—behold, the mission (2); your Spirit—see, the person sent (1); and they will be created, and you will renew—lo, the effect of the one sent (3); the face of the earth—see, the receptive matter of this effect (4). (Thus the structure of the sermon is that of Aristotle’s four causes: respectively, the formal (who the Spirit is), the final (why he acts), the effective (that he acts), and the material (the object).)

1. First, I say, the property of the Holy Spirit is mentioned when he says: your Spirit. Here we must notice that the name “spirit” seems to imply four things: (1.1) the fineness of substance, (1.2) the perfection of life, (1.3) the incitement of a movement, and (1.4) his hidden origin.

1.1. First, I say that the name “spirit” seems to imply the fineness of substance. (Or: the word “spirit” signifies an essential fineness; cf. ST I.3.5, ad 1; also Commentary on the Metaphysics, bk. 7, lect. 2, nn. 1270–1305.) For we usually call substances without a body “spirits.” Likewise, we call fine bodies, like air and fire, “spirits.” Hence [the risen Christ] says, in the last chapter of Luke: touch and see, because a spirit does not have flesh and bones (Luke 24:39). (The resurrected Christ had a true body: ST III.54.1.) And in this way a spirit is distinct from things that have a coarse matter, those that are composed of flesh and a body. (Cf. Aquinas, In I Sent., 10.1.4, resp.; SCG IV.23; ST I.36.1, ad 1; On Separate Substances, ch. 19.)

1.2. Second, the name “spirit” seems to imply the perfection of life. Because as long as animated creatures have a spirit, they live, but when their spirit recedes, they perish. (The anima is the life-giving principle of the body: ST I.18.3, obj. 2; I.70.3, obj. 2.) As the psalmist says: you will take away their spirit, and they will cease to be (Ps 146:4), et cetera. (Cf. Psalm 103:29.) And in Genesis: he called forth the spirit of life in all the flesh. (This quotation is from a liturgical book called Historia de Noah, “The History of Noah,” from the section on Genesis 7:4–8; cf. Genesis 6:17.)

1.3. Third, the name “spirit” seems to imply the incitement of a movement. (Cf. ST I.27.4, 36.1; SCG IV.23; Commentary on John, at 15:26, ch. 15, lect. 5, n. 2062; Commentary on 2 Timothy, at 1:7, ch. 1, lect. 3, n. 14.) In this way we call the winds “spirits” (cf. Acts 2:2). And concerning this it is said in Psalm 107:25: he spoke, and a spirit of a storm came about; a spirit of storms will be the portion of their cup (Ps 10:7 [Vg]). We also say that people act in a spirit when they do something impulsively, as Isaiah 25:4 does: the spirit of the strong is like a hurricane that pushes over a wall. (As in English: “he burst in,” and, “in a burst of anger she told him what was bothering her/she hit him,” etc.)

1.4. Fourth, the name “spirit” usually means a hidden origin, just as it is attributed to a spirit when someone is disturbed but does not know what is disturbing him. (Cf. Aquinas, Commentary on John, at 3:8, ch. 3, lect. 2, n. 454.) Thus we read in John 3:8: the Spirit is like the wind: it blows where it wills and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it is coming from.

Let us inquire, with regard to these four [implications of his name], about the properties of the Holy Spirit, in reverse order: he is called Holy Spirit because of his hidden origin, the incitement of the movement, the holiness of life, and the fineness of substance.

Ad 1.4. First, I say that a property of the Holy Spirit is his hidden origin. Faith teaches and reason argues that all visible and changeable things have a hidden cause (cf. Col 1:15–16, Heb 11:3). What is that cause? That cause is God. Thus the Apostle says: the one who has created all things is God (Eph 3:9). (Cf. Hebrews 3:4.) It is certain that everything that is not God is created by God. (ST I.44: God is the first cause of all that is.)

But how has God created all things? I say that he did not do it by reason of a natural necessity, just as fire completely consumes, but that he has brought forth all things of his own free will, as the psalmist says: all things he has made, whatever he willed (Ps 115:3). (Cf. Revelation 4:11; there is no necessity in God: ST I.19.3.) A house-builder builds a house because he wants to and yet at the same time because necessity or utility urges him, for instance, in order to make money or to live in the house. God truly did not make the world because he wanted to gain something, since he is not in need of our goods. (Deus vero fecit mundum non voluntate cupiditatis quia bonis nostris non eget: Exodus 9:29, 19:5; Deuteronomy 10:14 (in ST I.61.4); 2 Samuel 7:5, 11; Job 41:2, Vg (in SCG II.28); Psalm 50:8–13, 89:12; 1 Corinthians 10:26.)

Why then did he make the world? Certainly out of his loving will, not out of cupidity. We have an example of this: a house-builder who would know how to design a house while he does not stand in need of it but loves (For Thomas’s terminology, see Sermon 1, He Who Is Desired, note in section 3.3 on “love.”) the beauty of a house—that love of the house-builder would bring the house into being.

But what, then, is the cause and the root of bringing forth hidden things? For sure, it is love. Thus it says in Wisdom 11:24: you love all things that are, and you hate nothing of the things which you have made. And St. Dionysius says that divine love has not sent forth itself in order to be without offspring. (Pseudo-Dionysius, The Divine Names, ch. 4, para. 10 (PG 3:708B); SCG* IV.20.)* Love is the Holy Spirit. (Love is the proper name of the Spirit (appropriation): ST I.37.1; also I.74.3, ad 3; I-II.70.3; II-II.14.1.) Hence it is said at the beginning of creation in Genesis that the Spirit of the Lord glided over the waters (Gen 1:2), namely, in order to make the matter and to bring things forth into being. We celebrate now the feast of the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit is the principle of being in all things. (Cf. SCG IV.20.) Thus the Spirit has a hidden origin, the property of which is love.

Ad 1.3. Second, “Holy Spirit” implies the incitement of a movement. For we see in the world different movements, natural and voluntary ones, in people and in angels. Where do these different movements come from? They must come from one first mover, (Because no thing moves by itself: ST I.2.3 (prima via).) evidently from God. The psalmist says: you will change them, and they will be changed (Ps 102:27). And God moves by his will.

But what is the first movement of the will? For certain it is love. (In God as well as in creatures: ST I.20.1; I-II.25.2.) And what is the operation of love? I say: someone who is moved by love rejoices through the love for a loved thing and is saddened about what is contrary to it. Thus we read in the prophet Ezekiel, the first chapter: where the incitement of the Spirit was, that is, the inclination of divine love, that is whither they will be brought (Ezek 1:12).

Yes, in a just way all things that are in the world are moved by the Holy Spirit, which is indicated by Esther 13:9 (Vg), where it says: there is no one who could resist [his] will. (Not because we are forced, but because we are inspired: ST II-II.24.2; our natural inclination towards what is good is strengthened by (the movement of)the Spirit: ST I.83.1 and the Scriptural references there; also I.105.4; I-II.9.6.) This Holy Spirit, whose feast we celebrate now, is the principle of the movement of all things. (ST I-II.109.9, obj. 2; II-II.1.8, obj. 5.)

Nevertheless, some things are moved in the world by themselves, and others by others. They who have life are moved by themselves, whereas the things that lack life are moved by others. The principle of the movement of all things is alive. Even more: it is life. (ST I.10.1 and 18.3–4.) Hence, the Holy Spirit is life, insofar as he is the principle of the movement of all things. As the psalmist says: with you is the fountain of life (Ps 36:9). And since he is life, he is, therefore, the giver of life. (As we profess in the Creed: vivificantem, the giver of life; cf. to the quotation from Psalm 143:10–11 below.) Great is the Holy Spirit, therefore, by whom all things that exist are moved and live. Thus we read in Acts 17:28: in him we live and move and are. So all things have their movement and being from the Holy Spirit.

Ad 1.1. Third, if we consider, concerning the Holy Spirit, the fineness of substance, we will see that the Holy Spirit is love. And whose? It is the love of God and of the one who loves God. (An obvious circumscription of Jesus Christ; cf. John 14:31.) On the basis of this understanding of love, the Holy Spirit has a fineness of substance. And from the angle of the beloved, he is the love through which God loves God and the Father loves the Son. (Amatus, amor, amo; on the relations in divinis, see ST I.28.)

Hence we read in Wisdom 7:22: for in her, that is, God’s wisdom, is the spirit of understanding, which makes people understand. (Cf. ST I.14.4. Just as love is appropriated to the Spirit, knowledge and understanding are appropriated to the Son: ST I.34.1, obj. 2; I.39.7; the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son: ST I.36.2.) In Greek the word holy (Wis 7:22) signifies cleanness. (Greek: ἅγιος (hagios): consecrated, cleansed, clean, holy, reverent, etc.; cf. ST II-II.81.8, resp.; Compendium theologiae, bk. 1, ch. 47; Bede, On Luke, bk. 1, in 1:49 (CCSL 120:37; PL 92:322AB).) It is true that the love through which a person loves corporeal things is unclean or foul: for through love the lover is united with the beloved thing, and the more the lover is mingled with the beloved thing, the more he collects foulness. Just as silver, if it is mixed with something impure, collects foulness (cf. Prov 25:4), so your mind [is defiled] if it is mixed with love for lower things. But when it is connected with the highest thing, it is called holy love. (Amor sanctus. Thus this love is called “holy” in an analogical way: ST I.13.5–6; the highest thing is the Holy one.) There are some who want to be dedicated to God and who pay no heed to the salvation of their neighbors. (Cf. ST II-II.167.2, ad 3. The love for our neighbors is founded in God; Thomas underlines the necessity for those who love God of being in solidarity with their fellow human beings: ST II-II.19.6; II-II.32.3; II-II.44.2; II-II.105.2; cf. Matthew 22:39, 18:33.) But the Holy Spirit is not like that (Wis 7:23). The Apostle Paul was seriously concerned about the salvation of his neighbors, whence he said: I have been made all things for all people in order to enlighten all (1 Cor 9:22). Furthermore, some others are many-sided yet deceitful.

The Holy Spirit is not like that. He is multiple (Job 11:6, Wis 7:22) in such a way that he who is one (Wis 7:22) shows himself to different people.

Furthermore, he is fine (Or “subtle”; Latin: subtilis.) (Wis 7:22), because he makes a person draw back from coarse things and cling to God, as the psalmist says: one thing I have desired of the Lord (Ps 27:4) and elsewhere: yet clinging to God is my good (Ps 73:28).

Ad 1.2. Fourth, this Holy Spirit not only gives us that we are, live, and move, but even more: he makes us holy (Wis 7:24–27). Therefore, the Apostle says in Romans 1:4: God has predestined in strength according to the Spirit of Sanctification. No one is holy unless the Holy Spirit sanctifies him. (ST I.36.1, ad 1; I.43.3; III.2.10; III.62.6, ad 2.)

And how does he sanctify? I say that he makes every single thing mentioned appear in those whom he sanctifies, (Galatians 5:22–23: the fruits of the Spirit; ST I-II.70, esp. 70.3, obj. 1.) because he turns the ones he sanctifies into refined people and makes them despise temporal things. Thus it says in John: do not love the world nor the things that are in the world. If someone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15).

Furthermore, he bestows the spiritual life on the ones whom he sanctifies. Thus we read in Ezekiel 37:5: behold, I will send the Spirit into you and you will live. Spiritual life is life through the Holy Spirit. (SCG IV.20–22.) The Apostle [impresses on us]: if you live by the Spirit, walk also by the Spirit (Gal 5:25).

Again, the Holy Spirit moves those whom he sanctifies through his incitement to do good. (By inspiration, not by coercion: ST I.83.1, obj. 3.) Isaiah testifies: because he comes like a wild river, driven by the Spirit of the Lord (Isa 59:19). Others are lazy; (Which is a kind of fear that paralyzes, ST I-II.44.4, obj. 3 (cf. the quotation of Ps 143:10–11 at the end of this section of the text); Thomas connects it with the attitude of negligence in II-II.54.2, obj. 1.) they do not seem to be set in motion by the Holy Spirit. Thus a gloss on Acts 2:2: suddenly a sound came from heaven, et cetera, says: the grace of the Holy Spirit does not know late undertakings. (Glossa interlinearis, at Acts 2:2, in Glossa ordinaria 6.987; from Ambrose, On Luke, bk. 2, para. 19 (CCSL 14:39; PL 15:1560D).)

And the Holy Spirit sanctifies you: he leads us back to the hidden origin, that we may be united with God. Therefore, Isaiah says: the Spirit of the Lord will carry you off to a place you do not know, (It is in fact King Ahab’s vizier Obadiah who speaks these words to the prophet Elijah, in 1 Kings 18:12.) meaning: to the heavenly inheritance. The psalmist says: your good Spirit will lead me away in a land with straight paths; because of your name you will give me life; in your justice you will lead me away from my fear (Ps 143:10–11).

Now it is clear that this is the property of the Holy Spirit and that he is the origin of living, being, and moving (cf. Acts 17:28).

2. Let us look at the second aspect: the mission of the Holy Spirit, which is wondrous and unknown to us, because the Holy Spirit is sent (2.1) without a need for his part, (2.2) without a change in him, (2.3) without subjection, and (2.4) without separation.

2.1. First, I say: the Holy Spirit was sent while there was no necessity for him [to be sent]. When someone is sent to a certain place so that some things happen which cannot happen unless he is sent, it is a mission out of necessity.

But there is no necessity in the mission of the Holy Spirit, as we read in Wisdom 7:23: he has every strength, oversees all things. What then is the reason for the mission of the Holy Spirit? I say: our want. (Cf. ST I.43.3 and I-II.111.1; also I-II.113.) The necessity of this want is partly because of the dignity of our human nature and partly because of the defect of it. For the rational creature surpasses the other creatures because it can stretch out to the enjoyment of God, something no other creature is capable of. (Cf. ST I-II.1.2; I.38.1, resp.) Thus we read in Lamentations 3:24: ‘my portion,’ he has said, ‘is the Lord of my soul.’ Some seek their portion in the world, like honors, esteem. But the psalmist says: clinging to God is my good (Ps 73:28).

You should realize that it is necessary that all things that are moved to a certain end have something that moves them to that end. The things that are moved to a natural end are moved by something in nature, whereas things that are moved to a supernatural end, namely, the enjoyment of God, must have a supernatural mover. (Cf. ST I-II.5.5 and 112.1.) Well, nothing can lead us to this but two, for by these two things a person is led to this end: by knowledge and by love. (Amor; see note on amatus in section Ad 1.1 above.) Such a knowledge is supernatural. Thus we read in 1 Corinthians 2:9: eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor did it come up in the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love him. (St. Paul says this in the context of the mystery of Christ’s life and death (1 Cor 1:18–2:8); he continues, saying that it is revealed to us through the Spirit (1 Cor 2:10–13); cf. ST I.12.13 and II-II.45.) And in Isaiah 64:4: never have they heard, neither did they perceive it with their ears, nor has an eye seen without you, God, the things you have prepared for those who awaited (them). (Hence it is necessary to have another doctrine than philosophy for the sake of our salvation: ST I.1.1.) Everything man knows he knows either because he finds out or because he learns it. (Cf. Aquinas, On Truth, q. 11, a. 1, resp.) For sight serves the finding, and hearing serves the learning. (Cf. Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Corinthians, at 2:9, ch. 2, lect. 2, n. 96.) Because of this it is said that eye has not seen and ear has not heard, by showing that it transcends human knowledge. It even exceeds the human desire, and that is why it is said: nor did it come up in the heart of man. (We cannot desire what we do not know at all: ST I.27.3, ad 3, 36.2, 75.6; I-II.27.4, obj. 2 (cf. I.20.1); quoting Augustine: nihil amatum nisi cognitum, in: ST I.60.1; I-II.3.4, ad 4, 27.2; II-II.27.4, obj. 1.)

So how is man led into the knowledge of him? It could not be otherwise than that the heavenly secrets were made known to man, that is, that the Holy Spirit would be sent visibly (Visibiliter (Kwasniewski, however, reads invisibiliter: “in an invisible way”); this happens when Christ is baptized: Matthew 3:16 (cf. ST I.43.7); and at Pentecost: Acts 2:3 (ST III.66.3, obj. 1).) in order to move our affections so as to direct them toward those [heavenly secrets]. Therefore, it says: eye has not seen. So, how do we know? God has revealed them to us through his Spirit. For the Spirit examines everything thoroughly, even the profound things of God (1 Cor 2:10). Hence we read in Wisdom 9:17: who will be able to know your thoughts unless you gave wisdom and sent the Holy Spirit from the highest heavens? Thus the Holy Spirit is not sent because of necessity on his part, but for our benefit.

2.2. Furthermore, this mission happens without a change in him. (ST I.43.1.) When a messenger is sent from place to place, it is with a change. But the Holy Spirit is sent without a change of place, since he is the true God and unchangeable. (ST I.9, because God is one (ST I.3) and eternal (ST I.10.1–4).) Thus it is said in Wisdom 7:27: remaining in himself, he renews all things.

How, then, is he sent? He draws us to himself, and this is called being sent only in the sense in which we say that the sun is sent to someone when that person stands in the sunlight. (Cf. Aquinas, Commentary on John, at 15:26, ch. 15, lect. 5, n. 2061; I.43.1, ad 3.) Thus it is with the Holy Spirit. (ST I.9.1, ad 2. Hence we share, participate, in it, but do not have it to the full, as the one who has it by essence: ST I.44.1; I.84.4, obj. 1.) So it is said concerning uncreated wisdom, in Wisdom 9:10: send her out from the heavens and from the throne of your greatness, so that she may be with me and work with me and so that I may know what is pleasing to you. Likewise, in Galatians 4:6: he sent his Spirit, who calls: ‘Abba, Father.’

These missions spread throughout all nations and enter holy souls (cf. Wis 7:27). When the fullness of time had come, the Son of God was sent into the flesh, (As Paul says in Galatians 4:4; cf. ST I.43.5 (on the invisible mission of the Son).) and thus it was right that also the Holy Spirit would be sent visibly, not, however, that he would be received in the unity of a person (But in our heart: cf. Galatians 4:6.) as the Son in the human nature.

2.3. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit is sent although he is not subjected. (ST I.43.1, ad 1; cf. SCG IV.16–18 and 24–25.) Slaves and servants are sent by their masters, since they are subjected to them. Hence some heretics believed that the Son and the Holy Spirit would be lesser than the Father, since they are sent by the Father. This, however, is not true. The Holy Spirit sets people free (cf. Gal 4:5); hence he is not a servant; he is sent out by reason of his own decision, for the Spirit blows where he wills (John 3:8); and the term “being sent” is used merely because the Father is the originator. (The word “father” implies origin; therefore, we never read that the Father was sent; cf. ST I.43.4.)

We find places where it says that the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father, while elsewhere it says that he is sent by the Son. (Cf. Aquinas, Commentary on John, at 14:26, ch. 14, lect. 6, n. 1956.) But the Greeks (Thomas refers to the Orthodox Church: this issue (the Filioque controversy) was a reason for the Eastern Schism in the year 1054 AD.) oppose strongly in this matter, for they hold that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father only, not from the Son, and they argue in an unrefined way.

Unrefined, for where the Son speaks about the mission of the Holy Spirit, he connects the Son with the Father or the Father with the Son: for instance, in John 15, he says: the Paraclete, whom the Father will send in my name (John 14:26) and in another place: when the Paraclete comes, whom I will send to you from the Father (John 15:26). Thus the origination of the source comes from the Father. (For Thomas, Scripture is the key to a solution in this matter. The Son is the origo de origine (cf. the Creed: Deum de Deo, Lumen de Lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero); ST I.32.3; I.33.1; I.36.2–4.)

2.4. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit is sent without separation, (ST I.43.1, ad 2.) since the Spirit of unity is [naturally] opposed to separation. Hence the Apostle says: exert yourselves to serve the unity of the Spirit in a bond of peace (Eph 4:3). The Holy Spirit gathers together according to Ephesians 4. Thus also John 17:22 says: that they may be one in us, through the unity of the Holy Spirit, just as we, too, are one. (ST II-II.183.2, ad 3.) This union is begun in our time through grace, and will be completed in the future through glory, to which may he lead us, et cetera.