"the fruit of the
Spirit: . . . love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23)129 "
YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the
Catholic Church Lesson 119
Ave Maria series
119 What does the Holy
Spirit do in the Church?
The Holy Spirit builds up the Church and impels her. He reminds her of her mission. He calls people into her service and sends them
the necessary gifts. He leads us ever
deeper into communion with the Triune God. [733-741, 747]
Even though the Church in her long history has often seemed
“abandoned by all good spirits”, the Holy Spirit has been at work in her
despite all the human failings and inadequacies. The mere fact of her two-thousand-year
existence and the many saints of all eras and cultures are the visible proof of
his presence. The Holy Spirit is the one
who maintains the Church as a whole in the truth and leads her ever deeper into
the knowledge of God. It is the Holy
Spirit who works in the sacraments and brings Sacred Scripture to life for
us. Even today he gives his gifts of
grace (charisms) to those who are completely receptive to him.
“I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear
them now. When the Spirit of truth
comes, he will guide you into all the truth.”
John 16:12-13a
John 16:12-13a
“Our understanding is limited; thus the Spirit’s mission is
to introduce the Church, in an ever new way from generation to generation, into
the greatness of Christ’s mystery. Pope Benedict
XVI, May 7, 2005
[733-741, 747]
The Holy Spirit - God's gift
733 "God is Love" (1 John 4:8,1)124 and love is his first gift, containing all
others. "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy
Spirit who has been given to us." (Romans 5:5)125 –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition
734 Because we are dead or at least wounded through sin, the
first effect of the gift of love is the forgiveness of our sins. The communion
of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:13)126 in the Church
restores to the baptized the divine likeness lost through sin.—CCC
735 He, then, gives us the "pledge" or "first
fruits" of our inheritance: the very life of the Holy Trinity, which is to
love as "God [has] loved us." (1 John 4:12;
compare Romans 8:23; 2 Corinthians 1:21)127 This love (the "charity" of 1 Corinthians 13) is the source of
the new life in Christ, made possible because we have received
"power" from the Holy Spirit. (Acts of the Apostles 1:8;
compare 1 Corinthians 13)128 –CCC
736 By this power of the Spirit, God's children can bear
much fruit. He who has grafted us onto the true vine will make us bear
"the fruit of the Spirit: . . . love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23)129 "
We live by the Spirit"; the more we renounce ourselves, the more we
"walk by the Spirit." (Galatians 5:25;
compare Matthew 16:24-26)130 --CCC
Through
the Holy Spirit we are restored to paradise, led back to the Kingdom of heaven,
and adopted as children, given confidence to call God "Father" and to
share in Christ's grace, called children of light and given a share in eternal
glory. (St. Basil, De Spiritu Sancto,
15,36:Patrologia Graeca 32,132)131 –CCC
The Holy Spirit and the Church
737 The mission of Christ and the Holy Spirit is brought to
completion in the Church, which is the Body of Christ and the Temple of the
Holy Spirit. This joint mission henceforth brings Christ's faithful to share in
his communion with the Father in the Holy Spirit. The Spirit prepares men and goes out to them with
his grace, in order to draw them to Christ. The Spirit manifests the risen Lord to them, recalls
his word to them and opens their minds to the understanding of his Death and
Resurrection. He makes present the mystery of Christ, supremely in
the Eucharist, in order to reconcile them, to bring them into communion with God, that they may
"bear much fruit."( John 15:8,16.)132 --CCC
738 Thus the Church's mission is not an addition to that of
Christ and the Holy Spirit, but is its sacrament: in her whole being and in all
her members, the Church is sent to announce, bear witness, make present, and
spread the mystery of the communion of the Holy Trinity (the topic of the next
article):
All of us who have received one and the same Spirit, that is,
the Holy Spirit, are in a sense blended together with one another and with God.
For if Christ, together with the Father's and his own Spirit, comes to dwell in
each of us, though we are many, still the Spirit is one and undivided. He binds
together the spirits of each and every one of us, . . . and makes all
appear as one in him. For just as the power of Christ's sacred flesh unites
those in whom it dwells into one body, I think that in the same way the one and
undivided Spirit of God, who dwells in all, leads all into spiritual unity.( St. Cyril of Alexandria, In Jo. ev., 11,11:Patrologia Graeca 74,561.)133 --CCC
739 Because the Holy Spirit is the anointing of Christ, it
is Christ who, as the head of the Body, pours out the Spirit among his members
to nourish, heal, and organize them in their mutual functions, to give them
life, send them to bear witness, and associate them to his self-offering to the
Father and to his intercession for the whole world. Through the Church's
sacraments, Christ communicates his Holy and sanctifying Spirit to the members
of his Body. (This will be the topic of Part Two of the Catechism.) --CCC740 These "mighty works of God," offered to believers in the sacraments of the Church, bear their fruit in the new life in Christ, according to the Spirit. (This will be the topic of Part Three.) --CCC
741 "The Spirit
helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit
himself intercedes with sighs too deep for words."( Romans 8:26.)134 The Holy Spirit, the
artisan of God's works, is the master of prayer. (This will be the topic of
Part Four.) --CCC
IN BRIEF747 The Holy Spirit, whom Christ the head pours out on his members, builds, animates, and sanctifies the Church. She is the sacrament of the Holy Trinity's communion with men. –CCC
Pope Francis
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