The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

Pentecost, which celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit, completes the Easter mysteries which we have been preparing for 40 days of Lent and have been celebrating for 50 days of Easter. And this is indeed a fitting completion. We have to keep in mind the very reason for both the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery of our Lord. The Creed says: for us and for our salvation… The work of the Son of God was to restore to us everything that was robbed from us by sin and this is basically the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. When God created man from the earth, man did not become a living being not until the Creator breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. This Divine Breath is the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life. (“Breath” is Latin is “Spiritus”) The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the manifestation of the intimate relationship which man enjoyed with God at the beginning. Sin destroyed this intimate relationship. Man closed his heart to God. The Holy Spirit, the Giver of Life, was driven away. And so St. Paul says: Sin entered into the world, and together with sin entered death.

Thus, the Son of God became man, suffered, died, and rose from the dead. His purpose is to reconcile us to God…to restore our broken relationship with the Father. And the coming of the Holy Spirit marks this restored relationship. “I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always…and my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our dwelling in him.” The Lord clearly speaks of a relationship: “Whoever loves me will keep my word and my Father will love him.” Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection restored us to a loving relationship with God. We are no longer in enmity with God. God loves us and we love him by keeping the Lord’s commandments. But this love does not consist simply in exchange of words. It is something deeper: “We will come to him and make our dwelling in him.” This love involves the indwelling of God. God could not be any closer to us than this. He does not come to stand above us, before us, behind us, or beside us. He comes to dwell IN us. He dwells in us as in a temple. The indwelling of the Holy Trinity is brought about by the dwelling of the Holy Spirit in our souls. The Holy Spirit is “sent from the Father and the Son as the seal of their love for me…” That the Holy Spirit once again dwells in our souls already is the sign that the damage caused by sin is now being restored. The coming of the Holy Spirit brings about the forgiveness of sins. He once more breathes the Divine Life into our souls. His light dispels the darkness of ignorance in us. But most of all, He assures us of God’s love and friendship. The Holy Spirit is the love of God poured into our hearts. As we have said, the Holy Spirit, who is the Power from on high, is the Power greater than what the world recognizes as might. The Holy Spirit is the Power of Love. This Love is now dwelling in us. He assures us that we are never alone. He assures us that we are not despised. Our Companion and Friend, the Holy Spirit will never fail us, nor abandon us. 

“The soul’s most welcome guest, sweet refreshment here below; in our labor, rest most sweet; grateful coolness in the heat; solace in the midst of woe” “O most blessed Light divine, shine within these hearts of yours, and our inmost being fill” Alleluia.

Jesus, I trust in you. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!