The Brand of the Holy Spirit
JMJ+D
Excerpts from the Holy Father's Wednesday catechesis:
... For St. Paul the Spirit marks us in our most profound personal intimacy. Here are some of his words that have relevant significance: "The law of the Spirit which gives us life i Jesus Christ has liberated you from the law of sin and death...For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, 'Abba, Father!'" (Rm 8, 2.15), because as sons, we can call God our Father.
Thus we see that the Christian, even before he acts, already possesses a rich and fecund interior given to him in the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, an interior that establishes the objective and original relationship of being a child of God.
Therein lies our dignity: we are not only in the image of God, we are His children. We are invited to live the fact of being a child of God, to be ever more conscious that we are adopted children in the great family of God.
We are invited to transform this objective gift into a subjective reality that determines our thinking, our behavior, our very being. God considers us His children, elevating us to a similar but not equal dignity as Jesus Himself, His only true Son in the full sense. In Jesus, we are given - or rather given back - our filial condition and trustful freedom in relation to God.
Paul also teaches us another important thing: that true prayer does not happen without the presence of the Spirit in us. He writes: "...the Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according to God's will" (Rm 8, 26-27).
That is like saying that the Holy Spirit, that is, the Spirit of the Father and of the Son, has become the soul of our soul, the most secret part of our being, from whom a movement of prayer - whose terms we cannot even specify - constantly arises to God.
The Spirit that is always awake in us makes up for what we lack and offers the Lord our adoration along with our deepest aspirations. Of course, this requires a level of vital communion with the Spirit. And an invitation to be ever more sensible, more attentive to the presence of the Spirit in us, so we can transform this awareness into prayer, feel His presence and learn to pray, to speak to God as His child in the Holy Spirit.
From Papa Ratzi
Excerpts from the Holy Father's Wednesday catechesis:... For St. Paul the Spirit marks us in our most profound personal intimacy. Here are some of his words that have relevant significance: "The law of the Spirit which gives us life i Jesus Christ has liberated you from the law of sin and death...For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, 'Abba, Father!'" (Rm 8, 2.15), because as sons, we can call God our Father.
Thus we see that the Christian, even before he acts, already possesses a rich and fecund interior given to him in the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, an interior that establishes the objective and original relationship of being a child of God.
Therein lies our dignity: we are not only in the image of God, we are His children. We are invited to live the fact of being a child of God, to be ever more conscious that we are adopted children in the great family of God.
We are invited to transform this objective gift into a subjective reality that determines our thinking, our behavior, our very being. God considers us His children, elevating us to a similar but not equal dignity as Jesus Himself, His only true Son in the full sense. In Jesus, we are given - or rather given back - our filial condition and trustful freedom in relation to God.
Paul also teaches us another important thing: that true prayer does not happen without the presence of the Spirit in us. He writes: "...the Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according to God's will" (Rm 8, 26-27).
That is like saying that the Holy Spirit, that is, the Spirit of the Father and of the Son, has become the soul of our soul, the most secret part of our being, from whom a movement of prayer - whose terms we cannot even specify - constantly arises to God.
The Spirit that is always awake in us makes up for what we lack and offers the Lord our adoration along with our deepest aspirations. Of course, this requires a level of vital communion with the Spirit. And an invitation to be ever more sensible, more attentive to the presence of the Spirit in us, so we can transform this awareness into prayer, feel His presence and learn to pray, to speak to God as His child in the Holy Spirit.
From Papa Ratzi
2 Comments:
Thank you for this St.P's :)
You're welcome Carmel.
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