Happy Pentecost! We celebrate the outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit on the Church. Paulists have a particular devotion to the Holy Spirit, so for this Pentecost Feast I share with you some thoughts on the Holy Spirit from St. Cyril of Jerusalem. He was Bishop of Jerusalem from 350 to 386 AD. He wrote a famous series of instructions for the newly baptized, and the selection below (which is now used in the Office of Readings for Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter) is from that. Enjoy!
Happy Pentecost!
The living water
of the Holy Spirit
The
water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of living water,
welling up into eternal life. This
is a new kind of water, a living, leaping water, welling up for those who are
worthy. But why did Christ call the grace of the Spirit water? Because all
things are dependent on water; plants and animals have their origin in water. Water
comes down from heaven as rain, and although it is always the same in itself,
it produces many different effects, one in the palm tree, another in the vine,
and so on throughout the whole of creation. It does not come down, now as one
thing, now as another, but while remaining essentially the same, it adapts
itself to the needs of every creature that receives it.
In the same way the Holy Spirit,
whose nature is always the same, simple and indivisible, apportions grace to
each man as he wills. Like a dry tree which puts forth shoots when watered, the
soul bears the fruit of holiness when repentance has made it worthy of
receiving the Holy Spirit. Although the Spirit never changes, the effects of
his action, by the will of God and in the name of Christ, are both many and
marvelous.
The Spirit makes one man a
teacher of divine truth, inspires another to prophesy, gives another the power
of casting out devils, enables another to interpret holy Scripture. The Spirit
strengthens one man’s self-control, shows another how to help the poor, teaches
another to fast and lead a life of asceticism, makes another oblivious to the
needs of the body, trains another for martyrdom. His action is different in
different people, but the Spirit himself is always the same. In each person, Scripture says, the Spirit reveals his presence in a
particular way for the common good.
The Spirit comes gently and makes
himself known by his fragrance. He is not felt as a burden, for he is light,
very light. Rays of light and knowledge stream before him as he approaches. The
Spirit comes with the tenderness of a true friend and protector to save, to
heal, to teach, to counsel, to strengthen, to console. The Spirit comes to
enlighten the mind first of the one who receives him, and then, through him,
the minds of others as well.
As light strikes the eyes of a
man who comes out of darkness into the sunshine and enables him to see clearly
things he could not discern before, so light floods the soul of the man counted
worthy of receiving the Holy Spirit and enables him to see things beyond the
range of human vision, things hitherto undreamed of.
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