XXIV — THE HOLY SPIRIT CONFORMS US TO CHRIST

Presence of God. — O Holy Spirit, make me conformed to Jesus; make of me an “alter Christus”.

Meditation

1 — The Holy Spirit was given to us to sanctify us; but by what way will He lead us to holiness? The encyclical Mystici Corporis answers by saying that the divine Paraclete “is communicated to the Church... so that her individual members may day by day become ever more like the Redeemer.” The Holy Spirit comes into our souls to conform us, to assimilate us to Christ: this is the immediate goal of his action in us, this is the way by which He will lead us to holiness.

All the elect are by God “predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29): we shall be holy in proportion to our likeness to Christ. And the Holy Spirit was given to us precisely so that He may carve in us the features of this divine likeness, making us “day by day ever more like the Redeemer.” O truly there should not be a day in which this holy likeness does not increase in us! Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity was deeply struck by this truth and prayed to the Holy Spirit to make of her “a humanity added on in which Jesus could renew his mystery” (cf. E.T.). If Jesus is the model to whom all of us must be conformed, it is no presumption to aspire to become so like Him that our life is a “prolongation” of his and He can continue in us his work of unceasing adoration and glorification of the Father and of the redemption of men. We are incapable of reaching so perfect a conformity with Christ, but the Holy Spirit is in us to realize it. Jesus is Holiness itself; to make us like Him, the Holy Spirit initially communicates Christ’s holiness to us by diffusing grace in us, and this grace must then so penetrate our being, our activity, our life as to make each of us an alter Christus. And note that the grace diffused in us by the Holy Spirit is identical in nature to that which sanctifies Jesus’ Soul: although it is given to us in an infinitely lesser measure, while Christ possesses it “without measure,” it is nevertheless the same seed, the same principle of holiness. That is why the full development of grace can truly lead us to identification with Christ, to the point of being so many images of Him. And in the measure in which we are transformed in Christ, we shall share not only in his holiness but also in his work. Jesus will renew his mystery in us: in us He will continue to glorify the Most Holy Trinity and to save souls.

2 — The norm of Jesus’ life was the Father’s will, and we have seen how the Holy Spirit continually guided Him to the fulfillment of that will. Likewise, the Holy Spirit wants to guide us ever more along the way marked out by God’s will. In practice, in fact, “holiness consists solely in conformity to the divine will” (Benedict XV), in a conformity so full that, as St. John of the Cross teaches, in the soul there remains no “thing contrary to the divine will, but rather its movements are in every way only God’s will” (Ascent I, 11, 2). To reach that point is not easy, nor shall we ever reach it without the Holy Spirit’s help. More than that, we must remember that conformity to the divine will must be expressed “in a continual and exact fulfillment of the duties of one’s state” (Benedict XV), and to be always and in everything faithful to duty is no small thing! It requires self-denial, generosity, and constancy fully tested. Let us look at Jesus on the cross and we shall understand what perfect fulfillment of God’s will, perfect fulfillment of one’s duty, can demand. Yet this is the road on which we must set ourselves with good will, always renewing our efforts. But however much good will we may have, we are so weak, so inconstant, so tenaciously attached to ourselves, and our strengths are so limited, that we do not always succeed in renouncing our own will entirely in order to do God’s; we do not always succeed in remaining in the line of perfect fulfillment of our duties; we often fall and do not even know how to rise. Then let us humble ourselves - let us make use of these falls to recognize ever more our powerlessness and fragility - let us humble ourselves, but not be discouraged. Instead of weeping over ourselves, let us turn our gaze and our cry toward the Holy Spirit that He may come to our aid, and then begin again humbly and with trust. Seeing us renew our efforts, the Holy Spirit will come to meet us, will take us by the hand, and in an instant will lead us where we perhaps were unable to arrive in so many years. We must be sure of this, because Jesus merited for us and sends us his Spirit “with most abundant outpouring.”

Colloquy

“My most beloved Jesus, I desire to follow with You the rule of love, the rule of God’s will, by which I may renew and spend my whole life in You. Place it under the custody of your Holy Spirit, so that at every time I may be most ready for observance of your commandments and of all my duties. I am only a poor stem planted by You; from myself I am nothing and less than nothing, but You can surely make me flower in the abundance of your Spirit. What am I, my God, life of my soul? Ah, how far I am from You! I am like a grain of dust that the wind lifts and scatters. Therefore, by virtue of your charity, may the mighty wind of your almighty love, by the breath of the Holy Spirit, cast me with such impetus into You, into the keeping of your providence, that I may truly begin to die to myself in order to live only in You, my sweet love. Make me lose myself in You; make me abandon myself so completely that no trace of me remains in me, just as happens to an invisible grain of dust that disappears without being noticed. Transfer me so totally into the affection of your love that in You every imperfection of mine may be reduced to nothing, and that I may no longer have any life outside You” (St. Gertrude).

“Consuming Fire, Spirit of love, descend into me, so that in my soul there may be as it were another incarnation of the Word: that I may be to Him a humanity added on in which He renews his mystery” (E.T., El.).

“O Holy Spirit, teach me to value your every least inspiration! It is more precious than all the world — were it even the least inspiration to hold back a word or a glance — because it is a little ‘vocation,’ it is an invitation to enter ever more deeply into divine intimacy, if, by faithfully responding to it, I grow in grace and love. My Jesus, make me well understand that perfection consists in always saying ‘Amen’ to You whenever You ask something of me through obedience or your inspirations. Help me to avoid every small infidelity, every hesitation, to refuse You nothing; and then your light will grow ever more in me and love will become an abyss that cannot be fathomed. But, O Holy Spirit, I know well that in practice I shall often fall and fail — my God! provided it be not voluntarily — yet You teach me that even in that case I must immediately take myself in hand and, with an act of love, immediately put myself again under your influence. No, You do not want me to be disturbed, nor to let myself be discouraged by my infidelities, because your spirit is gentle: ‘O how gentle is your Spirit, O Lord’ (Wis. 12:1) and ‘where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom’ (2 Cor. 3:17), joy and peace in the Holy Spirit” (cf. Sr. Carmela of the Holy Spirit, C.S.).