XIX — SWEET GUEST OF THE SOUL

Triduo of Pentecost

Presence of God. — O Holy Spirit, who deign to dwell in me, help me to open myself totally to your action.

Meditation

1 — The encyclical Mystici Corporis affirms that “the Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church.” Soul means “principle of life”; therefore this affirmation is equivalent to saying that the divine Paraclete is the One who gives life to the Church; as the soul is the principle of life of the body, so the Holy Spirit is the principle of life of the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ (cf. Enc. Divinum illud munus).

We have seen that the Holy Spirit was in Christ’s Soul to direct it to the fulfillment of His redemptive mission. Jesus could have accomplished this mission entirely by Himself, but instead He willed to associate the Church with it; therefore, since the Church must prolong Christ’s work, it needs the same impulse that moved His Soul, it needs the Holy Spirit. In fact, on the Cross Jesus merited His Spirit for us: by His death He first expiated sin, which is the obstacle to the inpouring of the Holy Spirit, and then, having returned to heaven, He sent Him to the Apostles, representatives of the whole Church. And even now, while He sits glorious at the right hand of His Father, always interceding for us, He continually, together with the Father, sends the Holy Spirit to the Church, as He promised her. And behold, the divine Spirit works in the Church what He worked in Christ’s Most Holy Soul: He gives her impulse, moves her, urges her to the fulfillment of God’s will, so that she may carry out her mission, that is, prolong through the centuries the Redeemer’s redemptive work. Rightly, therefore, the ancient Fathers said that the Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church, and in the Creed the Church herself invokes Him: Dominum et vivificantem! Since the soul is principle of life, so the Holy Spirit gives life to the Church: He is the impulse of love that kindles in her zeal for God’s glory and for the salvation of souls, that gives light and strength to Pastors, that inflames and impels Apostles, that gives courage and invincible faith to Martyrs.

2 — Since the Church is the “society” of the faithful, she consists precisely in their union; it is the faithful, it is we, who form the Church. Therefore, to say that Jesus merited the Holy Spirit for His Church is equivalent to saying that He merited Him for us; to say that Jesus, together with the Father, sent and continues to send His Spirit to the Church, is to say that He sent Him and continues to send Him to us. Precisely in this sense Mystici Corporis expresses itself: the Holy Spirit “is communicated to the Church with most abundant outpouring, so that her individual members may day by day become ever more like the Redeemer.” The Holy Spirit, therefore, exercises His influence not only in the Body of the Church, but also in individual souls, in which He dwells as “sweet guest.” He is in us to invade our souls, to sanctify them, to shape us in Christ’s image, to urge us to prolong His redemptive mission; He is the impulse of love that urges us to fulfill God’s holy will, that orients us to the glorification of the Most Holy Trinity, that bears us into God.

But if the Holy Spirit is an impulse of love who comes into us to sanctify us, to bear us into God, why is it that we do not all become saints? Here is a mystery that brings our tremendous responsibility into view. The Holy Spirit, together with the Father and the Son, created us free and wants us so; therefore, coming into us, He does not violate our freedom; though He ardently desires to penetrate our soul and invade it, He does not do so unless we give Him free access. It is precisely a case for recalling the great principle on which St. Teresa of Jesus loved so much to insist: “God forces no one: He accepts what is given Him, but He does not give Himself wholly except to those who give themselves wholly to Him” (Way of Perfection 28, 12). If we are not sanctified, it is not because the Holy Spirit does not will it - He who is sent to us and comes into us precisely for this - but because we do not give free entry to His action. This is the point at which we fail: we do not use our freedom to open our soul totally to His powerful and loving invasion. But if our will were to open the doors completely to Him, the Holy Spirit would take us under His guidance, and we, through Him, would become saints.

Colloquy

“O Holy Spirit, in the most pure womb of the Virgin Mary You formed our Redeemer; You animated Jesus, guiding Him in all that He thought, said, did, and suffered during His earthly life and in the sacrifice of Himself that He offered on the Cross to the Father for us. And when Jesus ascended into heaven, You came upon earth to establish there the mystical Body of Christ, which is the Church, and to apply to this Body the fruits of Christ’s life, Blood, Passion, and death. Without this Jesus would have suffered and died in vain. Moreover, O Holy Spirit, in Holy Baptism You descend into us to form Jesus Christ in our souls, to incorporate us into Him, to make us be born and live in Him, to apply to us the effects and merits of His Blood and death, to animate us, inspire us, impel us, and lead us in all that we must think, say, do, and suffer for God. What then should our life be? Oh, it should be a life wholly holy, wholly divine, wholly spiritual, according to Jesus’ word: ‘what is born of the Spirit is spirit’!

“O most divine Spirit, I give myself wholly to You. Take possession of my soul, guide me in all things, and make me live as a true child of God, as a non-degenerate member of Jesus Christ, and as something that, born of You, belongs totally to You and by You must be totally possessed, animated, and guided” (St. John Eudes).

“O Spirit of my soul, I adore You. Enlighten me, guide me, console me; teach me what I must do, give me your orders; I promise to submit to all that You desire of me and to accept all that You permit to happen to me” (Cardinal Mercier).