Praying in the Spirit

"Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication." (Ephesians 6:18).

In his homily on Sunday June 7, 2020, the Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad spoke about the hope we have in  the Spirit of God who uses his power to reassure us in times of great worries, much depression and utter sickness as we experience today in the entire world due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Holy Spirit was symbolically pictured as moving on water bringing life out of chaos at the beginning of creation (Genesis). This is why the Creed calls Him the "giver of life" physical, spiritual and eternal. The Holy Spirit inspired the prophets to utter the message of God and the Bible writers to write God's revelation in the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Holy Spirit is called by Christ "The Spirit of Truth" for "He will guide you in all truth". So powerful is the Holy Spirit that the incarnation of God came about through His power and the cooperation of Mary the mother-to-be of Jesus. Jesus's public life started by the power of the Spirit who led him to the wilderness to be prepared for his Messianic mission and confirmed him in his baptism. Jesus calls him the Advocate for "When they bring you to trial and deliver you up, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak but the Holy Spirit" (Mark 13, 11).
 It is said that God's relationship with Man can be traced in three ages based on how it is perceived: The Age of the Father since creation and His preparation of the Chosen People in the Old Testament to the coming of the Son, The Age of the Son since the incarnation of Christ to his Ascension, and the Age of the Holy Spirit from the time of Christ's sending of the Spirit at Pentecost to the end of the world. We live in the Age of the Holy Spirit. This does not mean that the Holy Spirit did not have a role in the Old Testament or in the life of Christ. He always acts.

In his homily at Pentecost Sunday on May 31, 2020 the Holy Father Pope Francis said "If we go back to the day of Pentecost, we discover that the first task of the Church is proclamation. Yet we also see that the Apostles devised no strategy; when they were locked in there, in the Upper Room, they were not strategizing, no, they were not drafting any pastoral plan. They could have divided people into groups according to their roots, speaking first to those close by and then to those far away, in an orderly manner... They could have also waited a while before beginning their preaching in order to understand more deeply the teachings of Jesus, so as to avoid risks... No. The Spirit does not want the memory of the Master to be cultivated in small groups locked in upper rooms where it is easy to “nest”. This is a terrible disease that can also infect the Church: making her into a nest instead of a community, a family or a Mother. The Spirit himself opens doors and pushes us to press beyond what has already been said and done, beyond the precincts of a timid and wary faith. In the world, unless there is tight organization and a clear strategy, things fall apart. In the Church, however, the Spirit guarantees unity to those who proclaim the message. The Apostles set off: unprepared, yet putting their lives on the line. One thing kept them going: the desire to give what they received. The opening part of the First Letter of Saint John is beautiful: “that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you” (cf. 1:3). Here we come to understand what the secret of unity is, the secret of the Spirit. The secret of unity in the Church, the secret of the Spirit is gift. For the Spirit himself is gift: he lives by giving himself and in this way he keeps us together, making us sharers in the same gift. It is important to believe that God is gift, that he acts not by taking away, but by giving. Why is this important? Because our way of being believers depends on how we understand God. If we have in mind a God who takes away and who imposes himself, we too will want to take away and impose ourselves: occupying spaces, demanding recognition, seeking power. But if we have in our hearts a God who is gift, everything changes. If we realize that what we are is his gift, free and unmerited, then we too will want to make our lives a gift. By loving humbly, serving freely and joyfully, we will offer to the world the true image of God. The Spirit, the living memory of the Church, reminds us that we are born from a gift and that we grow by giving: not by holding on but by giving of ourselves.

In his visits to Toronto. Most Reverend Joseph Jules Zerey frequently asked the faithful to pray to the Holy Spirit who brings us into the presence of God.

We know of the gifts of the Holy Spirit from the event of Pentecost when he came upon the disciples and they started speaking in languages. 

Indeed St. Paul wrote "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:13).

There are many gifts of the Spirit, which we continue to see to-date, but what is more important here is his fruits. For example he brings joy to people. What is most significant is his work in each one of us to lead us into repentance. 

St. Augustine referring to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12), interpreted it in a non-literalist way. He wrote that the Holy Spirit urges us to repent day and night. Blasphemy is the continuous rejection of the Holy Spirit's urge for me to repent until death. This means that the Holy Spirit works always to bring us back to God. 

The most joyful description of the Holy Spirit is that he is "The Spirit of love." He signifies the essence not only of Christianity but of the Holy Trinity - God's inner life. This love is the eternal self-emptying (extacy) giving that the Father and the Son share. This binding force of self-emptying love is the Holy Spirit (St. Augustine). 

The Holy Spirit, since the beginning, has been working in every human, every tribe, every culture, and every civilization to bring them to the love of God. He chose the People of God to reveal to them himself (the fullness of light). However he has been giving a ray of this light to other religions, cultures and nations.  In Christ alone, the fullness of light of the Spirit is revealed and a New Covenant is established through his body and blood which is the Church.

Today everyone needs to pray to the Spirit of God for the sick, the needy, and those affected by the pandemic. Let us pray in the Spirit for everyone!!!

AND listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwASLdsDCvg

Holy God, we praise Thy Name;
Lord of all, we bow before Thee!
All on earth Thy scepter claim,
All in Heaven above adore Thee;
Infinite Thy vast domain,
Everlasting is Thy reign.

Hark! the loud celestial hymn
Angel choirs above are raising,
Cherubim and seraphim,
In unceasing chorus praising;
Fill the heavens with sweet accord:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord.

Lo! the apostolic train
Join the sacred Name to hallow;
Prophets swell the loud refrain,
And the white robed martyrs follow;
And from morn to set of sun,
Through the Church the song goes on.
 Holy Father, Holy Son,
Holy Spirit, Three we name Thee;
While in essence only One,
Undivided God we claim Thee;
And adoring bend the knee,
While we own the mystery.

Thou art King of glory, Christ:
Son of God, yet born of Mary;
For us sinners sacrificed,
And to death a tributary:
First to break the bars of death,
Thou has opened Heaven to faith.

From Thy high celestial home,
Judge of all, again returning,
We believe that Thou shalt come
In the dreaded doomsday morning;
When Thy voice shall shake the earth,
And the startled dead come forth.


Therefore do we pray Thee, Lord:
Help Thy servants whom, redeeming
By Thy precious blood out-poured,
Thou hast saved from Satan’s scheming.
Give to them eternal rest
In the glory of the blest.

Spare Thy people, Lord, we pray,
By a thousand snares surrounded:
Keep us without sin today,
Never let us be confounded.
Lo, I put my trust in Thee;
Never, Lord, abandon me.