What Is the Action of the Holy Spirit in the Lives of Men?

LIVING like MARY means… 

The action of the Holy Spirit in men

The life of the Church and of the Christian is a journey of love: of holy love, of charity, toward the encounter with the supreme Love: God! Earth is a prelude to and a preparation for heaven, but the law of heaven is Love alone. The Christian, therefore, as in a painful training ground, exercises himself here on earth in love:

“I give you a new commandment: that you love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another” (Jn 13:34).

A love that strips away selfishness, that clothes man with heartfelt mercy and kindness. That spreads peace and joy. That bends down over the needs of others, that shares sorrow, heals wounds, points out the way. That supports the wavering, accompanies the weak, forgets injustices, forgives offenses. A love that always loves, even when it is not loved, and makes of life a gift: a service of one’s own energies, a holocaust of one’s existence.

This is the love that God pours into our hearts through His Spirit; that is why Paul affirms:

“and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” Rom 5:5.

That is why the Church on earth, still made up of sinners, never ceases to ask for the Spirit with unceasing groanings and to communicate Him through all the means with which Christ has enriched her: Word, Life, Sacraments.

It is He who anoints Christians with chrism, like athletes in the stadium.

It is He who transforms the bread into the Body of Christ and the wine into His Blood. 

It is He who consecrates Bishops and Priests, making them shepherds of the flock under His guidance.

It is He who indissolubly fuses the love of spouses with His fire of Love.

In the priestly hand raised to absolve, it is once again He, the Love of God, who comes down to cancel sin, to mend the fractures, to reopen to sinful man the humble and fruitful path of a new flowering of grace. 

That is why John reminds us:

“And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them: Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. And if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (Jn 20:22-23). 

This gesture and these words of Jesus have always been understood in the Church as the power to forgive sins through the sanctifying virtue of the Spirit.

Our whole life is permeated by this immanent Love of God: the Spirit of Jesus. He prays unceasingly in us, even without us, and bears witness before heaven that we are children of God. 

Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386) writes in his catecheses:

“A single fountain waters the whole garden. One and the same dew spreads over the whole earth, and in the lily it becomes white, and red in the rose. In violets and hyacinths it takes on shades of purple, and so on; it has different and varied colors according to the different kinds of things. The dew is one thing in the palm tree and another in the vine, and it is all things in individual things, although in itself it is the same and does not change its form. In the same way, the Holy Spirit, being one and always the same in Himself and indivisible, distributes grace to each one as He pleases” (Catechesis XVI).

The Spirit who overshadowed Mary rises up from the depths of the heart, inspiring deeds, instilling courage, imparting strength, bestowing heroism. He becomes all things in each one, while remaining distinct from all. Like the rain that, coming down from heaven, takes on in plants and grasses the properties that each one possesses, and becomes sap in the palm, beauty in the flower, a green mantle in the meadow. Or like the light that, bringing forth life, pours out from the sun and, though it seems colorless, becomes all the colors of creation: so is the Holy Spirit in us. He is humility in the humble, patience in those who toil and struggle, strength in the martyrs, light in those who guide, the word on the lips, the flame in the heart.

Come, O Holy Spirit,

come, ardent Love,

kindle upon the earth

your radiant light.

Come, Father of the poor:

in sorrow and afflictions,

come and fill with joy

our hearts.

Supreme Benefactor

at every moment,

dwelling within us,

you are our breath of life.

Rest amid the struggle

and in peace, delight,

in the heat you are a breeze,

comfort in weeping.

Light of holiness,

who burn in Heaven,

set ablaze the souls

of your faithful ones.

Without your strength

and merciful favor,

there is nothing in man

that is innocent.

Wash away our stains,

water what is dry,

heal those who are sick,

and save everyone.

Soften what is hard

for those on the journey,

cheer those who are sad,

guide those who stray.

Your seven gifts

bestow upon the soul

of the one who trusts in You:

Virtue in life,

help in death,

in Heaven, joy.

Mary and the moments of the Spirit

In Mary all the lights of the Spirit came together, as in a luminous rainbow or an iris of light. Icon of the Holy Spirit, as our Christian brothers of the East like to call her: she who, thanks to the perfect radiance of His presence, reveals His infinite splendor. 

Theophanes of Nicaea, Discourse on the Mother of God XIII, states: 

“Just as the Son is the natural image of the Father… and the Paraclete likewise the image of the Son, so the Mother of the Son is the image of the Paraclete, certainly not by nature, but according to participation and grace, so that in her alone, in an eminent and most ample manner, all the graces and splendors of the Spirit may shine forth and be made manifest”.

The Spirit reveals what He can and wills to accomplish in each person and in the whole human community, gathering it into the Body of Christ, into the Church of the living God:

Heavenly Jerusalem, 

image of peace

Within its walls 

shining with light 

gathered in festivity are the 

friends of the Lord:

living and precious stones 

carved by the Spirit with 

the cross and martyrdom 

in the city of the saints.

(Hymn at Vespers from the Common of the Dedication of a Church)

Mary precedes the Church, even though she is Church, of which she is the chosen and loving Mother. The power of the Spirit, which the Church continually invokes, was released, bursting forth in all its fullness, in the life of Mary. Her earthly existence and her present heavenly presence are entirely marked by Him, even if not in a perceptible way. 

In truth, God is industrious silence. Ordinarily, He hides Himself in the mysterious flowering of creation, in the events of history, beneath the veils of infinite things, in the face of man, and even more in the face of His Christ: “Philip, whoever sees me sees the Father”! (Jn 14:9). But His silence is always fruitful.

Even Mary’s life, precisely because it was immersed in God, was wrapped in silence. Rare are the human or heavenly voices that break it. At three moments the Spirit clearly descends upon her, to mark three ascents, to open three dimensions of life: at the Immaculate Conception, at the Annunciation, and at Pentecost: to make her a new creature, to make her the Mother and Companion of Christ, and to consecrate her Mother of the Church and of humanity.