Even the devil can quote Scripture

Then the devil took (Jesus) to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
    and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Matthew 4:5-7

There is a lot of quoting of Bible passages going on in the world, and in the Church today.  People use the Bible as a crutch to convince others that one is right in his or her social or political position.  If someone tries to persuade you using a select Bible passage, remember this: even the devil quotes Scripture.  Here is the famous line from William Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice:

“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
An evil soul producing holy witness
is like a villain with a smiling cheek,
a goodly apple rotten at the heart.
O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!”

This is a good time for us to review Church teaching on the Sacred Scriptures.   The material below is largely taken from posts on this topic back in June of last year.

Popular language typically refers to the Scriptures as the Bible.  Scriptures literally means "the writings".  "Bible" is adapted from the Greek word "ta biblia" which means "the books".   They are pretty much synonyms.  The Catechism uses the collective word "Scripture" instead of "Scriptures".

Divine Revelation (God's revealing of himself) is transmitted, from one source, but in two distinct modes, Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines Sacred Scripture as "the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit." (Paragraph 81).   The word "speech" here is important.  Revelation is indeed God speaking to us; it is not just showing us, or demonstrating something, but more than that, desiring a connection with us.  In order for God to communicate with us, and establish that connection, it would make sense that He would choose to speak human words.

However, God did not choose to just open the skies and speak from the heavens.  He chose, rather, to speak through human beings like you and me, in the pages of Sacred Scripture. 

Why did He choose to do it this way, and not more openly?   This is only my speculation, but I think that it has something to do with the reality that we are more open to hearing something, and comprehending it better, especially when it comes to Divine realities, if it comes in the course of everyday speech, rather than if it was thunderous and loud.  We would not be "afraid" of what was said.   Furthermore, I think only a select few people, saints, would be able to understand if God spoke as He would normally communicate.  By communicating in human words, He can reach more people, who may not be in as tune with heavenly realities.  God speaking in human words, the Catechism says beautifully, is the "condescension of his goodness" (p.101).

So Scripture is God speaking in human words.  What is he speaking?  He is speaking His Word, Jesus.  As the Catechism says in paragraph 181, "Through all the words of Sacred Scripture, God speaks only one single Word, his one Utterance in whom he expresses himself completely."   Ultimately, everything in Scripture points to Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 

But what about the Holy Spirit? Well, we can only be led to Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the inspiration and interpreter of Sacred Scripture.

In order to understand Scripture in accordance with the Spirit, three criteria must be followed:

1) There are different forms of literature in the Bible, from different time periods, but they all form one unity.  Any understanding of one particular passage must take into account the unity of the entire book.
2) The Scriptures must be read within the Tradition of the Church.  The Church came before the Bible.  Yes, some of the books were written before the Church began, but they were not declared to be part of the Canon of Scripture until after the Church was founded by Our Lord.   "Canon" means "list of books".  In this case, it was which books were inspired, and which were not.  (We will speak more on the canon later.)

3) When reading Scriptures, we must be attentive to the analogy of the faith.   This means we must read the Scriptures in light of what the Church teaches about faith and morals.

The Church teaches there are two "senses" of Scripture, the literal and the spiritual.   The literal refers to the literal words on the page.   The spiritual sense refers not to the literal text, but to the spiritual realities they point to.

The spiritual sense can be further subdivided into three more types.  The first is allegorical.   Something can be a figure of something else.  Most of the time, when speaking of this sense of Scripture, it means something being a figure of Christ and the Church.  For example, the bronze serpent tied to the pole (Numbers 21:8-9) is a symbol of Christ on the Cross.  The second is moral.   The words in Scripture should lead us to act a certain way.  For example, in giving the Ten Commandments to Moses to give to the Israelites, or Paul waxing lyrical on love to the Corinthians, God is also inspiring us to live in moral ways.  Finally, there is the anagogical sense.   The word means "leading"; Catholic theology takes that to mean here "leading to heaven".   Some things in the Scriptures point directly toward heavenly realties; for example, Jerusalem can be viewed as a symbol of the Church triumphant.

Speaking of the Church, only in the Catholic Church is there a teaching office that is charged with giving an authentic interpretation of Sacred Scripture.  This office is called the Magisterium.   The magisterium is the teaching office of the Church, which is the bishops in communion with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope.   We will probably speak more about the Magisterium in a future post, as interpretation of Scripture is not its only function.  However, it is an important one, and how so glad I am for this gift, that I don't have to interpret Scripture for myself.   Especially considering the times we live in, I am so grateful for the gift of the Magisterium, and I find myself thanking God for it almost daily now.  Our Lord says to his apostles in Luke 10:16, "He who hears you, hears me."  The apostolic teaching tradition lives in the Magisterium of the Church.

You may be thinking now, "Well, didn't we just say the Holy Spirit is the interpreter of Scripture?"  Yes, we did.   However, one person could easily say well the Spirit says this, and another could say the Spirit says that.  Yes, the Spirit is the interpreter of Scripture, but who gives the interpretation?  Who is the voice of the Holy Spirit?   If there is a dispute, where do we turn to?   Protestants have nowhere to turn to.  Other religions have nowhere to turn to.  Only Catholics do.  Catholics have the Magisterium, who the Catechism says has "the task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition." (paragraph 85) 

A Catholic in joyful humility will defer to the teaching authority of the Church to help him or herself better understand those difficult passages in Scripture, or seeming contradictions within the words of Scripture.   The Magisterium, rather than being a burden, is a tremendous liberator for us, and safeguard, to keep us all united, and centered, in our never ending desire to drink deeply of the words of Sacred Scripture.  Only the Magisterium can prevent us from going to extremes or off into our world of private interpretation, of which we can see throughout history the devastating results of.  Let us thank God daily for this gift, and know, as we read Scripture, that the Church is always there as a caring mother, helping us to understand what is being spoken to us.   Like our mothers helped us learn to read, Holy Mother Church helps us learn to read Scripture, but not just to read it, but to hear what God speaks to us through the pages of the Bible.

We mentioned earlier the canon of Sacred Scripture.  The definition of canon is a collection or list of sacred books accepted as genuine.  In the early days of the Church, the Church Fathers had to decide which writings taught false or incomplete ideas of God, which taught good or noble ideas, but were not necessarily inspired, and finally, which books were inspired by God, the speech of God. 

It is important to note that the final canon was not determined until four centuries after the death of Our Lord.  It is not just like a book dropped out of the sky right at the beginning of the Church.  There was time in the Church without the Bible as we know it.   There was Tradition, and there was Scripture, but there was not a canon of Scripture, or what we now call the Bible.  The inspired works, however, were being read at liturgy.  This is critically important.  The first use of Scripture was not for private meditation, but for use at public liturgy.  We must realize that anew today. There is nothing wrong with private mediation and prayer with the Bible, but the primary forum in which we engage, and get the most out of the written Word of God, is at liturgy, in the public worship of the Church.  The words of Scripture are meant to be lived at the heart of the Church, which means they have their most power when they are read and heard at her celebration of the liturgy, where She is most Herself, because only there, does She celebrate and makes present the events of our salvation.  Catholic biblical authors such as Scott Hahn have written beautifully on the connection between Scripture and the liturgy, and I encourage you to read them.  We have spoken about liturgy in a previous post or two, and may speak about it more.

The complete list, or canon, includes 46 books in what is called the Old Testament, and 27 in what is called the New Testament. 

The Old Testament is the gradual revelation of God before He revealed Himself fully in the person of Jesus Christ in the New.  Through the trials, tribulations, victories, and defeats of God's chosen people Israel, whom he selected to begin his Revelation through, God gradually revealed Himself. 
 
The New Testament reveals the full revelation of God in His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.  At this chosen time in history, God fully revealed Himself.  Why this time, and not another time?  Perhaps we will only know in heaven why 2000 years ago in the Middle East was the perfect time for God to become man.  The bottom line, for us, now, though, is that He did. 

The New Testament's center object is Jesus Christ, and the beginnings of His Church.  It is my contention if the New Testament was simply about Jesus, it would only have included the 4 Gospels, and not the Acts of the Apostles, and the various letters that follow.

Speaking of the Gospels, they are considered the heart of the Scriptures, because it is from them that we learn and hear the most about Jesus, who is the full revelation of the Father.   The Gospels did not come at the same time as Jesus, but were written several decades after His Resurrection.  They were written based on the life of Jesus, but also based on the experience of his first followers, empowered by the Holy Spirit, who began an oral tradition.

Despite the fact that the New Testament contains the fullness of God's self-revelation, and the Old Testament does not, it is important to note that the Church still considers the books of the Old Testament as inspired by God because in them, the realities of the New Testament are preconfigured. If one reads the Old Testament with the allegorical sense (one of the "senses" we spoke of moments ago.)   For example, Adam preconfigures Christ.   Eve preconfigures Mary.   Noah's ark preconfigures the Church. The serpent tied to the staff preconfigures the Cross.  Having said that, the books of the Old Testament have their own intrinsic value as it tells the love story of God for His people, and gives us many valuable life lessons today (i.e. the 10 Commandments).  Also, the New Testament really cannot be understood in its fullness without the light of the Old.

Because of this, at Sunday Mass, we usually see the First Reading from the Old Testament tie somehow into the Gospel reading; if you pay attention you will see the connection.   For example, on a Sunday last June, the 1st Reading from the Prophet Zechariah spoke of the house of David looking "on him whom they have pierced”, and in the Gospel reading from Luke, Jesus said he must be "killed".  The prophet's words preconfigure what would happen to Jesus many years later. 

There is a unity to the Old and New Testament.  There is a unity to Scripture.  There is a Magisterium who can faithfully give interpretation to Scripture, based on the Holy Spirit, who is the authentic interpreter of Scripture.  Scripture is primarily for use at liturgy, but it can also be read on an individual level for personal spiritual nourishment, as long as the person reading asks the same Holy Spirit for wisdom and understanding. This is all the beautiful Catholic vision of Scripture.  


If Scripture does not mean much to you now, or overwhelms you, then ask the Holy Spirit for inspiration to help you be able to engage it more fully.  Do not go at it alone.  Hear and listen to God's Word with fellow believers at liturgy.  Seek the wisdom of the Church for questions on interpretation of this or that passage.  At the same time, however, do not get bogged down in one or two specific lines of Scripture.  The totality and unity of the entire book is more important.

May we grow in love for the written Word of God, the Sacred Scriptures, as a whole, and in seeing the love and unity of God revealed in those pages, may there be love and unity in our lives, as well.  Let us not isolate passages from the Bible as many do today, and let us certainly not isolate ourselves from the authentic interpreter of Scripture, the Magisterium of the Catholic Church.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

The Holy Spirit and Mary, Part 3

In the first two posts in this series, we looked at the active relationship between the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Holy Spirit, and the Blessed Virgin Mary, throughout the course of her earthy life, and the beginning of her eternal one in heavenly glory.  In this final post in this series, we will examine how Mary and the Spirit work together from heaven in the life of the Church today, for our salvation (our being saved from hell) and sanctification (our being made holy).

A lot of this post will comes from the writings of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, as explained by theologian Dwight Campbell.  Kolbe, like many other Saint and thinkers in the Catholic tradition over the years, pointed out that all grace comes from God to man through Mary.  If Jesus is the head of the body, and we are the body, she is the neck.  Traditionally, most have tied this reality into her role as Mother of God.  After all, if salvation comes through the merits of Christ, the god-man, then surely in her unique and dignified role as His Mother, she would have a role to play in their dispersion.   However, Kolbe instead thinks her role, not as Mother of God, but rather, as Spouse of the Holy Spirit is the real reason she is the mediator of all graces.  His basic thesis is this:

1) All grace comes to us from the Father through the merits of Jesus Christ, and is distributed by the Holy Spirit.

2) The Holy Spirit, in distributing all grace, works in and through Mary, because God wills it.

3) God wills it because, as we saw in the first post in this series, Jesus came through Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, so it would make sense, and be fitting, that all grace continue to come through Mary by the Holy Spirit.

4) If this point is true, then the reverse process must also be true.  Our graced return to God comes also by the way of the Holy Spirit, operating through Mary, through Christ, to the Father.

Kolbe agrees with the basic point of Mary being the Spouse of the Holy Spirit because of their close cooperation and union.  Kolbe believes, however, that the relationship between the two is even more intimate than that of a husband and wife in marriage.  He says: 

Among creatures made in God's image, the union brought about by married love is the most intimate of all. In a much more precise, more interior, more essential manner, the Holy Spirit lives in the soul of the Immaculata, in the depths of her very being.

So, in other words, the Holy Spirit is not just joined to Mary to become one.  Rather, the Holy Spirit lives in Mary and can do whatever he wants in there, no matter what, for she posits no obstacles.  At the same time, Mary lives in the Holy Spirit.  His will and that of Mary's are perfectly aligned.  Mary was immersed in the Spirit like someone being submerged in water (yet still able to live), and her body was aglow with the Spirit.  They were totally immersed in each other.   They were not just joined at the hip, not just joined at the soul, but truly living within each other.  He can do this in her, and her in him, because of her Immaculate Conception, which we noted in the first post in this series, and again in the four point summary above, was an activity and fruit of the Holy Spirit.

From this title of Mary, Kolbe designates another term that we can use to define the Holy Spirit, one which undeniably ties him to the Blessed Virgin.  While Mary is the created Immaculate Conception, he calls the Spirit the Uncreated, Eternal Immaculate Conception.  Kolbe says:

And who is the Holy Spirit? The flowering of the love of the Father and the Son. If the fruit of created love is a created conception, then the fruit of divine Love, that prototype of all created love, is necessarily a divine "conception." The Holy Spirit is, therefore, the "uncreated, eternal conception," the prototype of all the conceptions that multiply life throughout the whole universe.

To be called an Immaculate Conception, one must be conceived.  Thomas Aquinas notes that something is conceived either by an act of the intellect (how the Son proceeded from the Father), or by an act of the will, "an impulse or movement to an object".  The Spirit is conceived the second way, by an act of the will.  The Father loves the Son, and vice versa, and their movement toward each other, love, is a person in itself, the Holy Spirit, because Divine love is perfect, and so it must necessarily be personified.

Now read this next quote from Kolbe and see how closely it resembles the one above about the Holy Spirit, when it discusses him as the uncreated Immaculate Conception.

He [the Holy Spirit] makes her [Mary] fruitful from the very first instant of her existence, all during her life, and for all eternity. This eternal "Immaculate Conception" (which is the Holy Spirit) produces [conceives?] in an immaculate manner divine life itself in the womb (or depths) of Mary's soul, making her the Immaculate Conception, the human Immaculate Conception. And the virginal womb of Mary's body is kept sacred for him; there he conceives in time . . . the human life of the God-man

Mary, like the Holy Spirit, is also conceived also by divine love.  She, too, is the result of eternal, fruitful love. The only difference is her conception is not eternal; in other words, it is not always co-existent with the persons who were responsible for her creation.  Her conception happened at a particular moment in time.  She had a beginning. 

So, there we have it, Mary and the Spirit have a special, unique, intimate relationship from the beginning of her creation.  They are both immaculately conceived; one from eternity, one in time.  They live in each other.   Their work is intimately tied together and made fruitful by their likeness and therefore, attraction, toward each other. This work is the salvation and sanctification of the human race.  This work continues in the Church.  It makes no sense to say that they worked together to bring salvation to the human race during her and Jesus' earthly life, and now they have nothing to do with each other, or this work.  No, their love, and the fruit of their love continues. All the graces that flow from the Father now, through the Son, do so in the power of the Holy Spirit, who operates through Mary.

When we think of all the graces and fruits of the Holy Spirit that we have discussed, we can see now that Mary has a central role in their dispensation.  If we want to develop a closer relationship with the Holy Spirit, and receive those gifts and fruits more abundantly in our lives, developing a relationship with Mary is indispensable.  Many say if we want peace in the world, we should pray the Rosary daily.  After our explanation here, we can see why.  Peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.  What better way to receive an outpouring of that gift in ourselves, and throughout the world, than praying her prayer?

Before we close, I want to add one more thing.  Saint Maximilian Kolbe, who was the source of much of the thought that we discussed here tonight, was a priest who was martyred at Auschwitz during the Second World War.  He asked his life be taken in place of a Jewish man who had a family.  That man whose life was spared because of Kolbe was present at his canonization later in the 20th century.  Can we not see the gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially fortitude, visible in the life of this Saint?  Kolbe is a shining example of how devotion to Mary leads to the gifts and fruits of the Spirit being alive in us.  The life and writings of this modern Saint are certainly worth more study and prayerful reflection.

Mary and the Holy Spirit are partners forever in the salvation and sanctification of the human race.  Let us revere her, worship him, and come to know and love them both deeply, and if we do that, we shall have peace, now and into eternity.

Joseph, spouse of the Mother of God, pray for us.

The Holy Spirit and Mary, Part 2

In my post earlier today, I discussed the Holy Spirit in the early life of Mary.  (Recall Mary was a mere teenager when she gave birth to Our Lord, so the events in his childhood can still be considered part of the early life of Mary.)   This discussion included the role of the Holy Spirit in her life before the conception and birth of Jesus, as well, notably her own conception, the Immaculate Conception.


In this post, we will discuss the Holy Spirit at work in the later part of Mary's life, the final years of Our Lord and beyond.


The gift of the Holy Spirit that is understanding is present in the story of Jesus when the crowd tells him that Mary and his brothers (blood relatives) are present.  We read: Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd.  And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”  But he said to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”  (Luke 8:20-21)  As you recall, this gift helps us understand matters related to the Faith, to go beyond mere assent to it.  Here, we see the truth of the theological concept of the family of God (spiritual communion of the baptized) revealed to the people.  We see here Mary come to the crowd.  It was her presence that caused a gift of the Holy Spirit to be released to the people.  She can do the same for us today!


The next time we see Mary in the Bible is during the Passion.  We see her at the foot of the Cross, gazing upon her Son.  Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene (John 19:25).  Writers note that it was likely the gift of wisdom that allowed her to stand there and endure watching him suffer in such agony.  This makes sense.  This gift, as you recall, allows us to see God as God sees himself.   When was God more fully himself than on the Cross, giving of himself totally for our salvation?  Jesus, we said, is the Wisdom of God.   The gift of wisdom allowed Mary to see God's plan for our salvation, what was being accomplished on the Cross, and therefore, despite her grief, she did not despair. We likewise, should pray for this gift, so that we can better make sense of our own suffering, and that in the world that we see and hear about daily.


The very next line Jesus says is important for us, as well.  When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.”  Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” (John 19:26-27)   In these words, Jesus, is in effect, giving his mother to us.  The disciple John, a sinner like us, stands on our behalf to receive the gift of the Mother of God.  Mary, with all the gifts of the Spirit operative in her, is given to us as a model of how to live a life in the Spirit, as well as a gateway and intercessor for those gifts of the Spirit to flow through her to operate in us.  We will speak more on how this works in the next post.


The final earthly event of Mary recorded in the Scriptures is Pentecost itself, where the Holy Spirit is revealed to the world in all his fullness and glory.  We read in the Acts of the Apostles:   When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.  All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.....When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.  And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.  (Acts 1:13-14, 2: 1-4)


Spiritual writers note the gift of wisdom is also operative in this event.   The gift of wisdom is an illumination into divine realities.  Cannot we say that about Pentecost?  You may also recall the gift of wisdom allows us to live love heroically.  Before Pentecost, fear and hesitation guided the apostles.  After the Spirit came, they went out and boldly proclaimed Jesus as Savior, even though it cost most of them their lives.   Finally, we also noted that the gift of wisdom allows us to judge all things.  We see this several times in the Acts of the Apostles, the empowered apostles passing judgment on the actions and attitudes of people, calling them "corrupt" (Acts 2:40) and placing blame for the Lord's death on them (Acts 3:14).  They were empowered to do this by the gift of the Spirit.   In the same way, we can call out the sins of our generation only through this gift.  (Of course, we cannot condemn people, but only judge acts.)


After Pentecost, we do not see Mary again in Scripture.  Tradition has her living with John for some period of time, and then, she is assumed body and soul into heaven (the Assumption), and then crowned Queen of Heaven.  There is not much commentary on the role of the Spirit in those specific events, but it appears to me that these events are tied into, and a result of, all that had gone before, where we do see the Spirit play a role.  I believe she spent her final years on Earth in contemplation of God, and his wondrous deeds, continuing to experience the gift of wisdom.  She was assumed into heaven because due to the Immaculate Conception, she could not experience bodily decay, one of the effects of the grace the Spirit gave her.   So, one could say, the Assumption was a reality due to the Spirit.  The gift of wisdom became perfected when she saw God in his fullness at the end of her earthly life.   Traditional paintings of the crowing of Mary in heaven portray the Father and the Son as crowing her, but the Spirit hovering in the middle between the two, which to me, infers that the crown has no power or meaning without the blessing of the Spirit.   The Spirit will always be present whenever Mary is present.   We will discuss this more in the final post in this series.


Joseph, spouse of the Mother of God, pray for us.

The Holy Spirit and Mary, Part 1

As we approach the end of the Octave of Pentecost, on this Saturday, a day traditionally devoted in the life of the Church to honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is good to reflect on the relationship between the Holy Spirit and Mary.  Much rich thought to this has been given by Saints, and even contemporary theologians, on this topic.  This short three part series will just scratch the surface. 

In this first part, we will discuss the Spirit at work in the beginning of Mary's life.  In the second part, we will discuss the Spirit at work in the latter part of Mary's life.  In the third part, we will discuss the Spirit at work through Mary in the life of the Church today.

Before we get into that, what is the significance of Saturday that it is chosen as a special day to honor
Mary?  There are a few reasons:

1) It is the last day of creation (7th day), and Mary is the pinnacle of creation.

2) God rested on the 7th day, and Jesus rested in the arms of his mother after his death.

3) Sunday is the Lord's Day, so, it makes sense to have the day immediately before be Mary's day, as without her, the new day would not have happened.

The Spirit was involved when Mary received the honor and gift of being conceived immaculately; in other words, she was born without the stain or effects of original sin on her soul   She received her salvation right then and there, through the grace of Christ like all of us, but in a different way. The angel, recognizing there was something special about her, addressed her this way: “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." (Luke 1:28)   While Mary's conception is not recorded in the Bible, the idea of the Immaculate Conception is not contrary to anything in Scripture, and it has been unpacked by the Church as part of the mystery of Divine Revelation (which remember is both Scripture and Tradition).  If all the grace in our life to live supernaturally occurs through the power of the Holy Spirit, then there is no reason to believe the Spirit was active in the Immaculate Conception.   Saint Maximillian Kolbe, whom we will reference a few times in this series, believes that the Immaculate Conception was the result of God the Father, and God the Son wanting her to be so united to their Spirit of Love so she could be the Mother of God and be the dispenser of the graces of salvation. We read in the Catechism (p.722) why it makes sense that Mary would need to be free from sin in order to carry Our Lord in her body. The Holy Spirit prepared Mary by his grace. It was fitting that the mother of him in whom "the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily" should herself be "full of grace." She was, by sheer grace, conceived without sin as the most humble of creatures, the most capable of welcoming the inexpressible gift of the Almighty.  It was the love between the Father and the Son, which is the Holy Spirit, which appropriated this great grace upon Mary.

Mary was troubled by the angel's greeting.  We read "she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be "(Luke 1:29).   Here, and elsewhere as we shall see, she was exhibiting the gift of the Holy Spirit that we discussed recently, the fear of the Lord.

The angel responds to Mary like this:  “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.  He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.  He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”  Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God."  So, here we see the foreshadowing of the second big event of the Holy Spirit in the life of Mary, his intervention to have her become the Mother of God.   We read in paragraph 723 of the Catechism: In Mary, the Holy Spirit fulfills the plan of the Father's loving goodness. Through the Holy Spirit, the Virgin conceives and gives birth to the Son of God. By the Holy Spirit's power and her faith, her virginity became uniquely fruitful.   Mary's response to the angel is “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”  (Luke 1:38)   This humility, some have noted, is another sign of the gift of the fear of the Lord.

However, even before the birth of Our Lord, we should take note of the Spirit being active in the Visitation.  In her visit to Elizabeth, spiritual writers note that Mary exhibits the gift of the Holy Spirit, piety.    When she prays the Magnificat, she expresses the correct reverent, yet familial relationship to God that this gift gives, plus, as we noted previously, this gift overflows to love, honor, and respect for neighbor, which Mary showed by visiting Elizabeth and helping in her old age to bear her child, John the Baptist.   Here are the telling words from the Magnificat that reflect both fear of the Lord and piety.  My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.  His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. (Luke 1:46-50)

Elizabeth and her infant John clearly saw the work of the Spirit in Mary:  When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb (Luke 1:41-42).  One could say Elizabeth recognized the gifts of piety and fear of the Lord in Mary, plus also the special, unique graces that she had been given.   The Catechism in paragraph 724 confirms the presence of the Spirit in this event.  In Mary, the Holy Spirit manifests the Son of the Father, now become the Son of the Virgin. She is the burning bush of the definitive theophany. Filled with the Holy Spirit she makes the Word visible in the humility of his flesh. It is to the poor and the first representatives of the gentiles that she makes him known.

Now that Mary has manifested the Son through the Spirit, it is time to bring men into communion with them.  We read in the Catechism in paragraph 725: Finally, through Mary, the Holy Spirit begins to bring men, the objects of God's merciful love into communion with Christ. And the humble are always the first to accept him: shepherds, magi, Simeon and Anna, the bride and groom at Cana, and the first disciples.   We see several Scriptural events referenced here, the Birth of Our Lord being the first, but there are a few more noted.   One of them is the Presentation of Jesus by Mary and Joseph at the Temple.

At the Presentation, the gift of knowledge is evident in the man Simeon.  He receives a special insight into Jesus, and then gives special insight of knowledge to Mary, so she receives the gift, as well.  We read:   Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him.  It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.  Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law.  Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles  and for glory to your people Israel. And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him.   Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”  Human wisdom could not have given him or her this information, it had to be a divine gift.

The next event referenced, the Wedding Feast of Cana (John 2), we see the gift of counsel manifested when Mary tells the waiters "Do whatever he tells you." (John 2:5), and the waiters obey.  They listen to Our Lord who tells them to fill jars with water, which he proceeds to turn into fine wine.   When we give or are given an instruction under the influence of this gift, we know it is right to obey, even if we cannot understand the why or how of it.   I am sure the waiters, nor Mary, understood how Jesus was going to solve the problem of there being no wine, both before and after the direction was given, but they obeyed nonetheless through and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

There was another event, not referenced in the Catechism, in the life of Mary that demonstrates a gift of the Holy Spirit, and that is the gift of fortitude exemplified when in the caravan, Mary and Joseph lost Jesus, and found him in the Temple (Luke 2:21-51).   I said in my post that among other things, the gift of fortitude gives us the ability to face things that cause us stress.  Mary reveals this was the case when she tells Our Lord upon finding him “Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety" (Luke 2:48).  It is noted it must have been this gift that allowed them to, despite this fear, search for Our Lord patiently and persistently for the three days that it took to find him.  This gift also allows her to endure the Passion, which we will touch on in a bit more detail in the next post.

Joseph, Chaste guardian of the Virgin, pray for us.

The 12 fruits of the Holy Spirit, revisited

We continue to bask in the joy of Pentecost!  In fact, this week is traditionally known as the Octave of Pentecost, though it is not formally celebrated as such in the new liturgical calendar.  However, votive Masses to the Holy Spirit are still encouraged this week.

Last year around Pentecost, I did a post on the 12 fruits of the Holy Spirit, and thought I would repost them here, with a few additional details. 

Now in the series of posts we just concluded, we discussed the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit.  These 12 fruits are the effects of those 7 gifts.  As the Catechism says in paragraph 1832, the fruits of the Spirit are "perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory."   The list is based on Paul's letter to the Galatians, specifically 5:22-23.

Here they are:

1) Charity  Loving God above all else, with that love overflowing into love of neighbor, with no expectation of anything in return from either God or neighbor
2) Joy  The awareness of God's infinite goodness in our will (even if we don't always feel it)
3) Peace  Result of joy, we have a sense of our soul being ordered to God as it ought to be, leading to right order, tranquility, trusting in God, not disturbed by externals
4) Patience Ability to endure evil around us, the disagreeable, and the imperfections of others  (because we know we are imperfect ourselves and need God's mercy and goodness)
5) Longanimity (or long-suffering)  Being able to wait long periods of time for good to come to us, and remain faithful while doing so, even if the opposite of good (evil) is directed at us
6) Goodness  Wanting to do good to our neighbor without distinction, and take a delight in it, becoming delightful ourselves, produces kindness
7) Kindness (or benignity) Acting for (not just willing)  the good of people no matter what they do, treating others like we want to be treated, going above and beyond for the other
8) Meekness (or gentleness)  Exerting power and strength under control, a calm temperament; practicing forgiveness and understanding, controlling the effects of anger, being gracious, not vengeful,
9) Faithfulness  (or faith)  Loyalty to the good, above all to God, the Faith, and the Church, but also to our spouses, loved ones, and other noble goods, being trustworthy and reliable, being certain of what to believe and how to live

10) Modesty  Moderation in external actions (speech, action, and dress), refusing to unveil things that should remain hidden, being measured, humble, acknowledging that everything is a gift from God
11) Continence (or self-control)   Steadfastness in doing what is right, directing thoughts and actions so that one's will corresponds with God's will, right reason and the common good

12) Chastity  Moderation and control of the physical appetites, not controlled by emotions when faced with temptation

We will not do a separate post on each of these fruits, as we did with the gifts, as I think the above explanations are thorough enough for our purposes at this time.  I may in the future devote a post to one or more of them, we shall see!

When we think of Saint Joseph, can we not see a man whose life bore all these fruits? 

Can we see these fruits in our lives?  There should at least be a desire to experience them, even if we may not be experiencing them at the current moment.  If we have no desire for them, we are spiritually listless, or on life support, or dead at worst, and need to pray for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Can we see them in others?  People who do are the kind of people we should want to grow in friendship with, or establish a working relationship with, or at least develop some sort of connection with.  If a person whom we are considering developing any sort of relationship with (friendship, marriage, work)  does not bear these fruits, we should be cautious before proceeding too far into that relationship. 

Let us continue to pray for, and dispose ourselves to receive, the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit, so we may experience all 12 of these wonderful fruits of that same great Holy Spirit!

Joseph, most chaste and most faithful, pray for us.

The 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit; wisdom

The great feast of Pentecost is finally upon us, and we have reached the final gift of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, the greatest of them all!  Here is the definition of wisdom that I gave in my initial summary of the gifts:

Wisdom is the gift that allows us to value the truths of the Faith, and see the world through the eyes of that faith.  We see creation as God's gift to us, we see our place in relation to God, and our need of a Savior, the reality that Jesus Christ is that Savior, and that He founded One Church for the salvation of all men.

This gift allows us to see God as God sees himself.   (Remember, in knowledge, we see created things as God sees them.  Here, we see God himself.)   We see God as the cause of all things.  It is not so much grasping the faith, as it is in the gift of understanding.  Rather, it is more seeing and judging all reality through the lens of faith.

Speaking of faith, this gift does presuppose right faith, so in order to receive it, one must first believe in the Divine Revelation of God.  One must believe in Jesus as the Son of God and Savior of the World and in the fullness of Revelation in Scripture and Tradition.  One can have a certain natural wisdom still, perhaps, without it, but one cannot have the supernatural gift of wisdom, the gift of the Holy Spirit that we are speaking of here.

Here are the effects of this gift in us:

1) It gives us an idea of how to reach our end.    We see what our end truly is, God.  The light that comes from seeing our end illuminates our path.

2) It increases charity (love) in us, and allows us to live it to heroism.  We know why we need to do what we need to do, and we do it, no matter the cost.

3) It perfects all the virtues, and gives us what we need to practice them in the highest degree.  We do things best when we do them out of love for God. 

4) It steadies hope.  It is a little easier to believe in God's promises if we can have at least a little supernatural understanding and experience of him.

5) It gives us a sense from which we can judge all things.  When we see God, it gives us the vision and insight to judge everything as he does, both in temporal and spiritual affairs.

6) It allows us to not just believe, but to live the mysteries of faith.

This gift is associated with the Beatitude "Blessed are the peacemakers."   In order to bring peace to the world, one must first be at peace within her or herself.  Peace, according to Thomas Aquinas, is not merely the absence of conflict, but the tranquility of order.  One who has this gift operative in them has things in right order.    With wisdom comes right order, right order brings peace within, and peace within leads to peace without.

The Son of God, Jesus Christ, is called the Wisdom of God.  In Corinthians 1:24, Paul says Christ is "the power of God and the wisdom of God".  When Jesus appeared on the Earth, he graced it with a new understanding into the reality of God.  This is what wisdom gives us above all us, insight into God himself.  Then, flowing from that, we can live out our lives as we ought to, just as Our Lord and Savior did.

To dispose us to receive this gift, we can:

1) Practice prayer and mortification, as we do to cultivate all the gifts.

2) Practice humility.

3) Look at things from God's point of view; focus not how do I feel about what I am doing, how do I think God sees this?

4) Combat the wisdom of the world. If something does not seem right, look for and learn the reasons why, and be able to propose an alternative.

5) Do not judge in worldly fashion.  Judge as you think God would.

6) Cultivate detachment from all created things.

7) Cultivate indifference to spiritual consolations.  Do what is right at all times, no matter how you feel.

We need wisdom, and all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, to be perfected in the spiritual life.  We cannot attain spiritual maturity without them. Once we have established somewhat of a basic foundation in the Christian life (living a life of prayer and virtue, and being free from mortal sin, and detached from venial sin), we then need to do what we can to cultivate the gifts in our lives, and when we do that, God will send them to be operative in our lives.  If you need a refresher on the other gifts, you can go further back on my Facebook timeline, and click on the individual posts from there,  or you can click the orange banner above, and you will have access to all my posts not just for this series, but for all of them since I started this blog in 2015.

I wish you all a great Feast of Pentecost!  

Let us close this series on the gifts of the Holy Spirit with this well-known prayer to the Holy Spirit:

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.