LIFE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
AND SPIRITUAL FAITHFULNESS

Talk at Cherubim & Seraphim College of Divinity
Ayo Ni Campus, Lagos, 3 Nov 2001

Most people of the earth have an idea of God the Creator, whom we call the Father. And by now most have heard of the Son, who came as man to redeem us. But people wonder about the Holy Spirit. Muhammad wondered (Q. 17:85). A Japanese non-Christian once asked: "I can understand the Father and the Son, but what is the honorable Bird?" Even in Christianity, the Holy Spirit is the mysterious third person that many people pay little attention to.

Our topic today revolves around two main questions: (1) What is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives? and (2) What does the Holy Spirit expect of us?

1. The work of the Holy Spirit in our lives

The Holy Spirit links us with the other persons of the Trinity, bringing us the salvation that Jesus won and giving us direct access to the Father. He not only unites us to the Trinity, but also to all other persons who are in communion with the Trinity. How is this? The following text explains:

In the human nature united to Himself the Son of God, by overcoming death through His own death and resurrection, redeemed man and re-molded him into a new creation (Gal 6:15; 2 Cor 5:17). By communicating His Spirit, Christ made His brothers, called together from all nations, mystically the components of His own Body.

In that Body the life of Christ is poured into the believers who, through the sacraments, are united in a hidden and real way to Christ who suffered and was glorified. Through Baptism we are formed in the likeness of Christ: "For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body"(1 Cor 12:13). In this sacred rite a oneness with Christ's death and resurrection is both symbolized and brought about: "For we were buried with Him by means of Baptism into death"; and if "we have been united with Him in the likeness of His death, we shall be so in the likeness of His resurrection also"(Rom 6:4-5). Really partaking of the body of the Lord in the breaking of the eucharistic bread, we are taken up into communion with Him and with one another. "Because the bread is one, we though many, are one body, all of us who partake of the one bread"(1 Cor 10:17). In this way all of us are made members of His Body,(54) "but severally members one of another"(Rom 12:4). —Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, n. 7.

This work of the Spirit means that we undergo a real transformation. St. Augustine put it bluntly: "God became man so that man could become God." St. Augustine was not teaching pantheism, blurring the distinction between creature and Creator, but was teaching that we participate in God's own life, just as 2 Peter 1:4 states: "that you may become sharers of the divine nature." The first work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to imprint on the essence of our souls a reflection of himself. We commonly call this "sanctifying grace". It gives us a divine beauty which makes us lovable to God, and it gives us a power that enables us to love God in return and do anything he wants of us. The passage quoted above continues:

As all the members of the human body, though they are many, form one body, so also are the faithful in Christ (1 Cor 12:12). Also, in the building up of Christ's Body various members and functions have their part to play. There is only one Spirit who, according to His own richness and the needs of the ministries, gives His different gifts for the welfare of the Church (1 Cor 12:1-11). What has a special place among these gifts is the grace of the apostles to whose authority the Spirit Himself subjected even those who were endowed with charisms (1 Cor 14). Giving the body unity through Himself and through His power and inner joining of the members, this same Spirit produces and urges love among the believers. From all this it follows that if one member endures anything, all the members co-endure it, and if one member is honored, all the members together rejoice (1 Cor 12:26) —ibid.

The new life of sanctifying grace that the Holy Spirit gives us does not stay buried in the depths of our soul, but pours out and affects all that we think and do. It first of all gives us three basic tools for communicating with God. Just as in our worldly life we have sight, hearing and touch as instruments of communication, so in our life with God:

• Our sight is FAITH. This is an obscure but real insight into the mystery of God himself, which in the next life will be transformed into the BEATIFIC VISION. Faith is "the substance (= guarantee/ confident assurance) of blessings that we hope for, conviction about realities that we do not see" (Heb 11:1).

  The intellect is moved to assent by the evidence of the truth it sees. But if it does not see the truth directly, as we do not see God directly now, the intellect must be moved to assent by the free choice of the will. We decide to believe because we desire eternal happiness; that is what we hope for. In the next life, hope gives way to possession. Then our will is satisfied.

  The intellect is satisfied only when it sees the truth; faith is the intellect's conviction about the truth of God and is imperfect now: "For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end" (1 Cor 13:9-10). But it will be satisfied later with the beatific vision. Being a "conviction", faith is different from opinion or suspicion or doubt. Being about "realities that we do not see", it is different from science and understanding. Being about "blessings that we hope for", it is different from faith in the word of man, which does not concern eternal happiness.

  So we can say that Faith is "a habit of the mind by which eternal life begins in us; its function is to make the intellect accept the truth of God which it does not see."

  Faith is a gift of God, since God has to reveal (directly or through the preaching of the Church) what we are to believe in, and only God can move us to accept his word which surpasses our human understanding. We can be influenced by the arguments of a preacher or by seeing miracles, but these do not force anyone, and some embrace the Faith while others do not. Jesus asks us the question he asked Martha, "Do you believe?" (Jn 11:26).

• Our hearing is HOPE. This is listening to God's promises and relying on them with all our heart and soul, because we are sure he will acomplish them. Particularly we hope to reach God himself in the perfect life of heaven. He is our goal, and he is the one who will help us to reach this goal, since we cannot reach God by our own efforts alone.
• Our touch is LOVE. This enables our wills to be fastened onto God and to taste that He is good. It is the motive power for our whole Christian life, so that "whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, you do all for the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31), and "that whether we are in this body or leave it, we may be pleasing to Him" (2 Cor 5:9), and that Christ may be glorified in my body whether by my living or by my dying" (Phil 1:20).

This love of God is a kind of friendship. Friendship can exist only between those who are on the same level. For example, we may like a pet dog, but a dog cannot strictly speaking become our friend. But God has put us on his own level by letting us "share his nature" by sanctifying grace, as we saw above. He also will share his own happiness with us in eternal life. So we can be friends of God, even now before entering his eternal kingdom.

We cannot love God by our own power alone, since God is above human reach. He himself gives us the power to love him as he should be loved: "The love of God is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us" (Rom 5:5).

Love of God is one with love of neighbour, and our neighbour includes everyone, even those who hate us. We are to love as Jesus showed us, by taking the first step and not counting the cost, even unto death on the cross.

These three tools are called the "theological virtues", because they relate us directly with God. We can see that by transforming our souls and equipping us with the instruments for communicating with God and living up to the demands of Christian life, the Holy Spirit is the "soul of our souls" and the "soul of the Church". The text quoted above continues to explain this:

In order that we might be unceasingly renewed in Him (Eph 4:23), He has shared with us His Spirit who, existing as one and the same being in the Head and in the members, gives life to, unifies and moves through the whole body. This He does in such a way that His work could be compared by the holy Fathers with the function which the principle of life, that is, the soul, fulfills in the human body.

Christ loves the Church as His bride, having become the model of a man loving his wife as his body (Eph 5:25-28); the Church, indeed, is subject to its Head (Eph 5:23-24). "Because in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Col 2:9), He fills the Church, which is His body and His fullness, with His divine gifts (Eph 1:22-23) so that it may expand and reach all the fullness of God (Eph 3:19).

2. What does the Holy Spirit expect of us?

The Holy Spirit expects two things of us:

• First, he expects us to make use of all that he has endowed us with. "We must do the works of the One who sent me as long as there is daylight; night is coming when no one can work" (Jn 9:4). "While we have time, let us work for the good of all" (Gal 6:10). I remind you to fan into flames the gift of God which was given to you" (2 Tim 1:6).

• Secondly, he expects us to grow. "The word which comes from my mouth shall not return unfulfilled, but shall do what I desire it to do and achieve what it was sent to do" (Is 55:11). "Give it to the one who has 10 talents, because everyone who has will be given more and will have plenty" (Mt 25:28-29). "Every tree not bearing fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire" (Mt 7:19). "The seed fell into the good ground and, sprouting and growing, bore fruit, some 100 fold, some 60, some 30" (Mk 4:8). "He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit" (Jn 15:5). "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Pet 3:18). "Walk worthily of the Lord, pleasing him completely, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God" (Col 1:10). "If we practice the truth in love, we shall grow fully into Christ" (Eph 4:15).

The fact is that at the beginning of our spiritual life we are like babies. Spiritual growth means the increase and intensification of sanctifying grace and of Faith, Hope and Love to the stage of adulthood. An adult plant or animal or human person is one who is capable of reproduction, which is what bearing fruit means. To have adult Faith, Hope and Love means:

1. that we "stand perfect and accomplished in every aspect of God's will" (Col 4:12), and

2. that we put our lives to the service of leading others to do the same. "In Jesus Christ, through the Gospel, I gave birth to you" (1 Cor 4:15).

2.1 To stand perfect in love:

To stand perfect in love we need the moral virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit:

2.1.1 First, let us talk about the moral virtues:

• Prudence - the ability to make the right judgments and the right choices in our life. It is the ability to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong and not be led astray by the false arguments and persuasions of the world, the flesh and the devil.
• Justice - respect for the rights of every person or corporate body, avoiding all encroachment, extortion, fraud and undue inflation of prices.
• Fortitude - the strength to stand firm in doing what is right, resisting intimidation or the cost to our selves, to the point of death.
• Temperance - self-control, avoiding excessive indulgence in bodily pleasures. This applies to food and drink, but especially to sex, which must be enshrined in marriage.

2.1.2 The gifts of the Holy Spirit

It is true that even wicked people can sometimes show some sense of justice, fortitude and temperance, but to have true virtues which enable us to behave consistently well, come rain or sunshine, cold or heat, we need the assistance of the Holy Spirit. And he is generous with his gifts, giving us a share in the qualities that Isaiah foretold of the Messiah: "The Spirit of Yahweh will rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and fear of Yahweh. His instinct will be fear of Yahweh" (Is 11:2-3). These gifts aid and perfect the theological and moral virtues we outlined above:

• Faith is aided by the gift of understanding, which helps us to see that mysteries of the Faith, such as the Trinity, are not contrary to reason, and it helps us to focus on God as the supreme good in our lives. "Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God."
• Hope is aided by the gift of fear of the Lord. This does not mean that we are in fear of God's punishment, but we respect Him, looking forward to seeing him as our eternal reward, and we run away from anything that could separate us from him. This is an attitude of humility before God and detachment from earthly ambition. "Blessed are the poor of heart, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
• Love engenders and is aided by the gift of wisdom, which is seeing and evaluating all things from God's own perspective. The love of God disposes us to see things as he sees them. Without it, we could never have true wisdom. This wisdom and love brings peace to our souls and turns us into peace makers. "Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall be called sons of God."
• Prudence is aided by the gift of counsel, since the Holy Spirit is the Counsellor who helps us to make all the difficult decisions we are sometimes called upon to make with regard to our own lives and the lives of others. Counsel is God-inspired wisdom in practical affairs; it provides answers to problems and shows the way out of distress. "It was Wisdom who delivered a holy people, a blameless race, from a nation of oppressors" (Wisdom 10:15). "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy."
• Justice is aided by the gift of piety, another name for "fear of the Lord", which was mentioned twice in the passage of Isaiah quoted above. Piety is a respect for God which motivates us to give him his due, in the form of worship and obedience. If we respect God, we will respect the rights of our neighbour and never trample on them. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the land." "Blessed are hunger ad thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied."
• Fortitude is aided by the strength given by the Holy Spirit, who helps us to transcend our human limitations and face difficulties heroically. Even if we have to die in the process, we still win, because we reach eternal life, which is the goal of everything we do and is the defeat of all the forces opposed to us.
• Temperance is aided by the gift of knowledge, which helps us to judge the value of earthly things in their true perspective. People who sin by adultery or fornication always reason that pleasure is good and they should have it. They overlook the evil that it is, the injustice of joking with the life of the other party, the emotional damage, and the diseases so easily communicated. Divinely inspired knowledge enables us to see through this deception and see realistically the value of sex in the holiness of marriage. The gift of knowledge will help many a girl to endure the temporary disappointment of breaking with a boy friend rather than agree to pre-marital sex. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."

2.2 To put our lives at the service of leading others to God

God has distributed brains and ingenuity among all mankind, just as he "makes the sun shine on the wicked and the good, and send rain to the just and the unjust" (Mt 5:45). These natural blessings can be used for good or for evil, but those who love God will put all their abilities and possessions at his service.

In addition, the Holy Spirit distributes various extraordinary gifts which are not for the sanctification of the recipient, but exclusively for the service of others. These fall into three categories: (1) the gift of a special knowledge for the guidance of others, (2) gifts of communication in various forms of speech, and (3) gifts of accomplishing things in a miraculous way.

• Prophecy is the all-embracing term for the many kinds of knowledge that the Holy Spirit gives: knowledge of the future, knowledge of the mysteries of God, and knowledge of what people ought to do. The gift of prophecy is a divinely given insight into any of these matters, surpassing the range of ordinary human knowledge. The prophet does not have permanent possession of this insight, as Elisha said of the Shunammite woman, "Leave her; there is bitterness in her soul and Yahweh has hidden it from me, he has not told me" (2 Kg 4:27). So prophecy is not a gift under the command of the prophet which he can use any time he likes, but each time he is to prophecy he needs a new enlightenment from the Holy Spirit. The reason for this is that he does not have the beatific vision of God, which would give him a permanent gift of prophecy, but he only receives his illumination in trickles, as "the Spirit blows where he wills" (Jn 3:8).

  An important thing to note about prophecy is that it can be given to a sinner, since it does not presuppose love of God, and it is for the good of the Church, not the prophet himself. Such may have been the case of Balaam (Num 22), and Paul was aware of the danger, "lest, having preached to others, I myself become disqualified" (1 Cor 9:27).

• Tongues were a gift the Apostles were given to communicate to peoples of different languages (Acts 2:4-8). Today in prayer meetings people express their devotion in nonsense sounds as a form of praise worship. This is quite different from the gift the Apostles received and the gift of languages which some few may enjoy today.
• Words of wisdom & words of knowledge (1 Cor 12:8). This is the gift of effective communication, so that the speaker may (1) teach so as to be understood, (2) attract his audience to welcome his message, (3) move his audience to a change of life. In all this, the speaker is acting as an instrument of the Holy Spirit.
• Miracles are physical acts such as healing the sick, raising the dead, drying the fig tree, walking on water, and moving mountains. These can have the purpose of confirming a teaching: "They went out preaching everywhere, with the assistance of the Lord who confirmed the word by the signs that followed" (Mark 16:20).

We must note regarding miracles that, just as in prophecy, evil people can work miracles. "Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in your name, expel demons in your name, and work many miracles in your name?' Then I will say to them, 'I never knew you. Go away from me, you who do evil.'" (Mt 7:22). The miracles worked through these people did show the truth of what they were preaching, even though they were not practicing what they preached.

It can be that miracles show the holiness of a person, as in the case of Paul: "So remarkable were the mircles worked by God at Paul's hands that handkerchiefs or aprons which had touched him were taken to the sick and the were cured of their illnesses, and the evil spirits came out of them" (Acts 19:11). There are many similar instances in the lives of saints in the history of the Church.

But to receive a miracle does not require holiness. Even a sinner can pray to be healed and be heard, for God's own reasons.

Furthermore, not all saints work miracles. God's wisdom in this is to prevent people from thinking that holiness consists in working miracles, when it really consists in loving him and keeping his commandments.

2.3 To work for the unity, well-being and extension of the Church

The Holy Spirit does not work in us as isolated individuals, but as we are part of the Church of Christ. This starts on the local level, where our families are our local Church. Then it goes out to embrace all Christians in the world. The sad thing is that Christians are fragmented, often starting with broken homes, then going to broken congregations. The following passage is a meditation on the unity that should exist among Christians:

After being lifted up on the cross and glorified, the Lord Jesus poured forth His Spirit as He had promised, and through the Spirit He has called and gathered together the people of the New Covenant, who are the Church, into a unity of faith, hope and charity, as the Apostle teaches us: "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one Baptism" (Eph 4:4-5). For "all you who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ ... for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:27-28). It is the Holy Spirit, dwelling in those who believe and pervading and ruling over the Church as a whole, who brings about that wonderful communion of the faithful. He brings them into intimate union with Christ, so that He is the principle of the Church's unity. The distribution of graces and offices is His work too (1 Cor 12:4-11), enriching the Church of Jesus Christ with different functions "in order to equip the saints for the work of service, so as to build up the body of Christ" (Eph 4:12).

In order to establish this His holy Church everywhere in the world till the end of time, Christ entrusted to the College of the Twelve the task of teaching, ruling and sanctifying (Mt 28:18-20; Jn 20:21-23). Among their number He selected Peter, and after his confession of faith determined that on him He would build His Church. Also to Peter He promised the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Mt 16:19; 18:18), and after His profession of love, entrusted all His sheep to him to be confirmed in faith (Lk 22:32) and shepherded in perfect unity (Jn 21:15-18). Christ Jesus Himself was forever to remain the chief cornerstone (Eph 2:20) and shepherd of our souls (1 Pet 2:25).

Jesus Christ, then, willed that the apostles and their successors -the bishops with Peter's successor at their head-should preach the Gospel faithfully, administer the sacraments, and rule the Church in love. It is thus, under the action of the Holy Spirit, that Christ wills His people to increase, and He perfects His people's fellowship in unity: in their confessing the one faith, celebrating divine worship in common, and keeping the fraternal harmony of the family of God.

The Church, then, is God's only flock; it is like a standard lifted high for the nations to see it (Is 11:10-12): for it serves all mankind through the Gospel of peace (Eph 2:17-18; Mk 16:15) as it makes its pilgrim way in hope toward the goal of the fatherland above (1 Pet 1:3-9).

This is the sacred mystery of the unity of the Church, in Christ and through Christ, the Holy Spirit energizing its various functions. It is a mystery that finds its highest exemplar and source in the unity of the Persons of the Trinity: the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit, one God. —Vatican II, Unitatis redintegratio, ch. 1, n. 2.