The Holy Spirit, the poor and theologyWhat a great promise! We have been offered a spirit of courage, of sound judgment, mastery of irrational instincts, to attain a sound mind, moral fortitude, wisdom and peace.
We celebrate the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, we ask for him at confirmation, but we do not realize that he is the constant force or the "modus operandi" of every day in our journey of faith. For Jesus was the seed of God on earth, and the Holy Spirit, the seed of Jesus in the heart of every convert and baptized person.
The gift of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the supreme gift of Jesus when He left us saying in John 14, 16... "I will pray the Father and He will give you another protector who will remain with you always, the Spirit of Truth, whom you will recognize and who will remain with you always". Verse 26, hereafter, "The Holy Spirit, the interpreter whom the Father will send you in my Name, will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."
The great comforter, the translator and transcriber of the Father will remind us, explain and teach us all the words and works that Jesus said and did. If today we have the memory of God and of the Gospels about the teachings and works of Jesus, it is because the Holy Spirit has fulfilled what he has entrusted to us. In other words, in John 14 Jesus also confirms to us that the Holy Spirit is a teacher, a comforter of troubled hearts, and that He will help us to understand and remember what we read in the Bible and what we will learn about God and His word.
The human mind has the habit of remembering more the negative than the positive; to remember first what has made us cry than what has made us laugh. The Holy Spirit was entrusted to help us remember the beautiful teachings and victorious deeds of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is also the great comforter, divine counselor and helper of God's grace in the intense moments of inner healing of the hurtful memories that torment us.
The help of the Paraclete
The Spirit declares our hunger and need for God and helps us to discover and identify our true essence in order to pray more accurately. As Galatians 5:16 says, "Walk in the Spirit and so you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh". That is to say, we need the Holy Spirit to win the battle against the dominion of instincts and human tendencies. The struggle against the desires of the flesh is not only about lust or perversion: it is also about going against tendencies to pessimism, selfishness, physical and psychological violence, attachment to material things, lack of charity and spiritual rebellion.
Isaiah 11:2 goes on to describe the great gift of the Holy Spirit: it says, "and the spirit of Yahweh will rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of God". In other words, He is the giver of supernatural intelligence, strength, discernment, and a sense of reverence for God.
In Philippians 1:5, St. Paul wishes "that the same mind of Christ may be in all of us". To love and compassionate mercifully like Christ, we will have to abandon our human nature and assume His divine nature. Otherwise, what we are born with is selfishness, aloofness, harsh judgment, and even antisocial behavior. To love in God's way is to learn to feel as Christ felt and to act as He was moved when mercy was the protagonist of all His acts.
Living in the Spirit
To live in the Spirit is to live with courage, perseverance, joy, resilience and holiness. It is to live in spiritual nobility, with wise discernment, seeking the will of God. It is to be willing to engage in great battles with great courage, to take dominion over the human in order to live in the spiritual dimension. Because if we do not spiritualize life, life will humanize our faith. To live in the spiritual dimension is always to prefer the styles of God, the expectations of God, to speak with the language of faith, to pray as pure and holy souls have prayed, and to feel the most sublime feelings that are not manufactured in the wounded minds and hearts of damaged human beings, but in the sanctified mind and intentions that we see manifested in those in love with God.
To live in the Spirit is to let go of what no longer belongs to us in order to go in search of what is predestined. To always prioritize life's decisions according to the divine order, opting for truth over falsehood, without worrying about what the world thinks, considers or suggests; only what God wants and desires. In other words, to be and act according to God's design and will.
Those who walk in the Spirit always love God reverently, emphasizing the supremacy of His love, declaring hunger and thirst for His word, for prayer, for the sacraments, and eager to experience more sublime, spiritual and supernatural experiences.
The healing of the Holy Spirit
To live in the Spirit is to dimension oneself in life not by the wounds of the past but toward the vision of the future: free from bondage, dependencies, codependencies and slavery. For the only way satan keeps us his is by binding us in physical and mental bondage, to create in us a spirit of spiritual slavery. All the more reason why we need to be set free by the Holy Spirit. The enemy's delight is to make us slaves; God's delight is to set us free.
The Holy Spirit, in His liberating commission would like to free us from:
1 - persistent memories of failure,
2 - pain due to abandonment or deception of the needy being,
3 - the sense of guilt,
4 - resentments and pernicious hatreds,
5 - stigmas due to abuse, rape, acts of violence,
6 - irreparable losses,
7 - bonds, vices, slavery,
8 - personal sin or damages for the sin of others,
9 - depression, anxiety, bitterness,
11 - sense of irrelevance or existential crisis,
12 - sense of hopelessness.
The peace that the Holy Spirit gives
The Holy Spirit gives us the great gift of peace of heart. It is peace that reconciles us with the stories and with the characters of our stories. It is peace that becomes the impermeable layer of the soul in the face of insult, offense, rejection, dislike. Peace is the sister of faith and the author of hope. It is peace that gives us authority over debilitating thoughts and militant feelings. Peace is the bridge to happiness. Without peace in the heart, no one is happy.
To live in the spirit is to live believing God and his promises. Isaiah 43:1 says so beautifully, - "I have created you. do not fear, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name and you are mine. If you cross a river I will be with you and the current will not sweep you away. If you pass through the midst of the flames, you will not be burned, for I am Yahweh your God, and to rescue you I will give you to Egypt, Ethiopia and Saba instead of you. because I love you and you are precious to me."
When we live in the Spirit, we can experience what St. Paul said in Romans 8:31-37, "If God is for you, who will be against you? Who can separate you from the love of God? Neither trials, nor affliction, persecution, famine, distress, sickness, sword, danger, death...from all these we shall come out more than conquerors...for nothing will be able to separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus".
A healthy life
When we live in the Spirit, we can profess what St. Paul strikingly said in Philippians 4:11-13: "I know how to live humbly, and I know how to have plenty. I am prepared for everything, whether I am full or hungry, whether I have plenty or am in need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
The prescriptions for a healthy life in all areas and human experiences are found in Galatians 5, 22-23. According to the Catholic Bible, the fruits of the Holy Spirit are twelve and are listed as Charity, Joy, Peace, Patience, Long-suffering, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Meekness, Faithfulness, Modesty, Continence, Chastity.
What else are we looking for? If we receive the Holy Spirit, his gifts and fruits, we will be able to feel the purest and most genuine feelings to reach the height and dignity of the children of God. That is living a healthy life.
