Pentecost
is here! The Spirit is come like a dove, to create, to renew and to imbue love.
He has come to accomplish the work of the Blessed Trinity that he started in
us. (Phil. 1:6) Thank God that it does not end in one moment of justification.
His work does not end at our baptism into Christ. The work of the Spirit
continues, and does not stop – must not stop – until we reach the feet of
Jesus, and him saying, “Well done.”
St.
Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit himself, wrote “[you] were marked with the seal
of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance
toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory. (Eph. 1:13,
14 NRSVCE)” In this, we know that those who have been baptized and confirmed in
the Holy Spirit have received the thrice holy God into their hearts. He himself is the promise of our final
salvation.
For
Catholics, this does mean peace and hope. “My peace I leave you. (John 14:27)”
The peace and hope, though, do not come in an assurance of our salvation no
matter what happens between baptism and death. Instead, the peace and hope are
an infinite well given by the Spirit for the struggle of the Christian life.
St. Paul did not even have the assurance of his personal destination that some
have presumed for themselves:
I want to know Christ and the power
of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in
his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I
have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press
on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved,
I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do:
forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I
press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ
Jesus. (Phil. 3:10-14 NRSVCE)
I do it all for the sake of the
gospel, so that I may share in its blessings. […] but I punish my body and
enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be
disqualified. (1 Cor. 9:23, 27 NRSVCE)
And, yet, we know that St. Paul had
great hope. He knew that “if we endure, we will also reign with him. (2 Tim.
2:12)” He knew that God is faithful, “for he cannot deny himself. (2 Tim. 2:13)”
God’s very nature is to be faithful.
The hope of a Catholic is not in
anything else but the power of God, through the indwelling Holy Spirit given to
us. Our hope is that God actually makes the way for us to “share in his
holiness. (Heb 12:10)” This is the miracle of the Christian life! He has
justified us, through faith, by his pure grace. Then, he made us to be
partakers in the Divine Nature! He made us new creations in Christ.
To my ears, this all sounds like
cliché, unfortunately. So, I have to refresh these thoughts in my mind as
realities. What the Catholic Church means by all those wonderful statements I
just made, is that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit wants to indwell us to
actually make us holy in word and deed, not just call us holy. He doesn’t want
to declare us holy; He wants to give us the power to be holy and perfect, “as
your Father in Heaven is perfect. (Matt. 5:48)”
St. Paul wrote to the Philippians,
“And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with
knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best,
so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless… (1:9,10)” The
Catholic understanding of the Christian life is one of constant conversion
towards Christ, the image of God. Jesus said to his disciples that it is better
that he go to the Father, since then he would be able to send the Spirit to us.
(John 16:7) The Spirit is the gift of God for us to receive his power, just as
the Apostles did at Pentecost. “You will receive power. (Acts 1:8)” The power
of the Spirit living in us is the life of Christ living through us.
Christ in us means death in our
bodies. It doesn’t mean happiness and satisfaction. It does not mean wealth and
health. It means love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control. (Gal. 5:22,23) It means endurance, “so that when
you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. (Heb. 10:36)”
Scripture speaks for itself plainly
on our hope and on our need for struggle to attain that hope:
For you did not receive a spirit of
slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption.
When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our
spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs,
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so
that we may also be glorified with him. (Rom. 8:15-17 NRSVCE)
If we suffer with him, St. Paul tacked on there! If we
suffer with Christ, we will be glorified with him.
This is such a high calling and
hope to which we are called! In and through Christ, we can share in his
sufferings (his Passion! You know, that thing that brought salvation for all of
humankind?), share in his holiness, and then share in his glory -- even sit on
his throne, as Revelation 3:21 says. What a hope! What a promise in the Holy
Spirit.
So, in Genesis the Holy Spirit was
creating the universe, then humans broke that creation with sin. Later, Jesus,
the Son of God, lived, died, was resurrected, ascended to heaven, and sent his
Spirit to those who keep his commands. (John 14:21-23) The Spirit is the one
who brings to completion the work that was started at the beginning of time.
The Creator Spirit is the one who comes to us, to live in us as the Church and
as individuals, to bring us back to life. He comes to bring us hope. He comes
to bring us peace. He comes, most of all, to bring us charity – love. He is the
love between the Father and the Son. He is the love of God in us. He wants to
perfect us in righteousness. He wants to make us perfect in charity and sharers
of his perfect, infinite love – the Trinitarian life.
The Catholic assurance, the
Catholic hope, is that he can do it.
Veni Creator Spiritus.
Send forth Thy Spirit, and they
shall be created.
And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth. Amen.
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