St Peter’s Basilica Rome
My favorite Tanzanian priest has been emphasizing listening to the Holy Spirit lately. A friend also spoke about her concentration upon the Holy Spirit in her prayer life. It has become a central image, hope, and focus in my prayers, visualizing a dove willing to alight . The gifts of the Holy spirit, listed, no expounding: wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord (wonder and awe). A quick thought. My devotion to Our Blessed Lady, the bestower of grace, anchors—a vision solidifying faith, hope, and charity—absolutely no doubt exist within. She is a Mother, her love unconditional. She loves beyond measure, no matter how reprehensible my behavior descends. The Holy Spirit, conditional, demands accountability, properness and order demanded, alacrity in response, disposed to enlighten and bring alive a superior way of being, a superior state of the soul. Before the Eucharist, unseen, the Holy Spirit hovers, waiting, willing to descend at a time in my life strength peaks, an apex of mental and emotional health blossoming, the longing for holiness deepening its roots. There is no looking back. All concentration upon moving forward toward unification. Pentecost, fifty days after the death of Christ, traditionally fifty days after the Sunday of Passover week, the Old Testament prefiguring the New, wings uniting, cherubs stationed above the tabernacle, the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and Our Holy Mother, the third mystery of the Glorious Rosary mysteries, the sanctifying of the Universal Church. Pentecost consequence, in splendor, on into martyrdom, difficulties, and longevity, Catholicism arises, apostolic tradition birthed into being. May the Saints, those humanely victorious through the Trinity, be glorified.
“The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I turned not backward.” Isaiah 50:5
…the impulse of the Holy Spirit is necessary…man’s reason is in two ways perfected by God: first…a natural perfection, namely the natural light of reason; secondly…a supernatural perfection, by the theological virtues…second perfection is greater than the first…however…man possesses the first perfection as his full possession, while he possesses the second as an imperfect possession; for we imperfectly love and know God….the sun, which is perfectly bright, can give light of itself, while the moon, which has the nature of light only imperfectly, cannot give light unless it is illuminated [by the sun]….the Holy Spirit comes from above…“They who are led by the Spirit of God, are sons of God,” and “if you are sons, then also heirs.”…“Your good Spirit will lead me into the right land,”…because no one can arrive at the inheritance of the land of the blessed, unless he is moved and led by the Holy Spirit. And therefore in order to attain that end, a man must have the gift of the Holy Spirit. –Saint Thomas Aquinas, ‘Summa Theologiae I-II’
Catholic Prayer to the Holy Spirit:
Oh Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity. You are the Spirit of truth, love and holiness, proceeding from the Father and the Son, and equal to Them in all things. I adore You and love You with all my heart. Teach me to know and to seek God, by whom and for whom I was created. Fill my heart with a holy fear and a great love for Him. Give me compunction and patience, and do not let me fall into sin. Increase my faith, hope and charity and bring forth all the virtues proper to my state of life. Help me to grow in the four cardinal virtues, Your seven gifts and Your twelve fruits. Make me a faithful follower of Jesus, an obedient child of the Church and a help to my neighbor. Give me the grace to keep the commandments and to receive the sacraments worthily. Raise me to holiness in the state of life to which You have called me, and lead me through a happy death to everlasting life. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
