In the lighting of the spirit, WE WILL SEE THE TRUE LIGHT THAT ILLUMINATES EVERY MAN WHO COMES INTO THE WORLD

There are two equally deadly ways of separating Christ from his Spirit: that of dreaming of a kingdom of the Spirit who would bring beyond the Christ, and that of imagining a Christ who would constantly bring us back to this side of the Spirit.

.

PDF print format article

 

.

.

Il prophet Isaiah begged: «If you rent the heavens and come down» (Is 63,19). At Pentecost that ancient desire was fulfilled.

 

«In your light we will see the light», the psalmist prayed (Shall 36,10) and Saint Basil commented: «In the illumination of the Spirit, we will see the true light that illuminates every man who comes into the world". Pentecost is the fulfillment of the Paschal mystery and revelation of the Christian vocation. The Spirit, indeed, like a teacher to a disciple, teaches and reminds, so that Christ dwells in the disciple, becomes an interior and intimate presence. Therefore not external, extrinsic or functional: the fulfillment of the Christian vocation comes true when the life of Christ lives in us. And the vocation, O, if you want, the essential part of Christian life under the guidance of the Spirit is the interior life, as the ability to make the word of the Lord dwell within us, to meditate on it, understand it, interpret it and then live it. Let's read the Gospel of this Solemnity:

"During that time, Jesus told his disciples: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments; and I will pray to the Father and he will give you another Paraclete to remain with you forever. Be one my love, He will observe my word and my Father will love him and we will come to him and we will take home with him. Who does not love me, does not observe my words; And the word you listen to is not mine, But of the father who sent me. I told you these things while I'm still with you. But the paràclito, The Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything that I have told you." (GV 14,15-16.23-26).

The fulfillment of the Lord's Passover implies the inclusion of the believer in this fundamental mystery and this occurs through the gift of the Holy Spirit. He favors the transition from Christ to Christian, from the mission of Jesus to that of the disciples, as well as from the preaching and action of Jesus to the preaching and action of believers in history. Complete, that is, the transition from Christ to the Church. As Jesus states in the Gospel, thanks to the Spirit, the believer understands and remembers the word of Jesus and announces it with His strength, he responds to you with prayer and obeys you with testimony. In this way the Pentecostal event reveals to us who the believer is, because it shines the light on life according to the Spirit. Let's take prayer for example. Thanks to the Spirit it arises in response to the Word of the Lord heard and allows us to invoke God with the name of Father, Abbà, for those born again of the Spirit are his children, as the Apostle Paul recalls in today's second reading with words that have remained famous:

«For all those who are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God. And you did not receive a slave spirit to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit who makes you adopted children, through which we cry: “Abba! Dad!”. The Spirit itself, together with our spirit, testifies that we are children of God. And if we are children, we are also heirs: heirs of God, co-heirs of Christ" (RM 8, 14-15).

Immediately before, the Apostle had recalled another intrinsic aspect to life according to the spirit, that of the internal struggle, which is characterized by the break with the "flesh" and selfishness:

«But you are not under the dominion of the flesh, but of the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, it doesn't belong to him. Now, if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life for righteousness. And if the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, siblings, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live according to carnal desires, Why, if you live according to the flesh, you will die. Are, instead, by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body, you will live".

While instead the value of the advert and of the testimony are the Acts of the Apostles, today's first reading, to underline them, when the disciples begin to speak the language of the Spirit, making the message of God's great works eloquent for all:

«Aren't all these who speak Galileans? And how come each of us hears people speaking in their native language?» (At 2,8).

Returning to the Gospel, we can briefly summarize how Jesus prepares his followers to receive the "other" Paraclete. At the Last Supper the hearts of the disciples are troubled by the unexpected announcement of Jesus' departure (GV 14,1). Until now he had remained with them (GV 16,4; 14,25); but now he announces that he will only stay for a short time (GV 13, 33): soon they will no longer see him (GV 16,11) because it goes to the Father (John 16:10). However, Jesus will immediately return to his people (GV 14,18) not only at the time of the Easter apparitions, but through an entirely spiritual and interior presence: then only the disciples will be able to see it, in a contemplation of faith (Gv14,19). And this will be the work of the Holy Spirit, who is called "another Paraclete" (GV 14,16), because the work of the first Paraclete will continue among the disciples, Jesus, he started. In the great conflict between Jesus and the world, the Spirit will have the task of defending the cause of Jesus among the disciples and confirming them in their faith. In this way it becomes in the interest of the disciples that Christ Jesus leaves, since without this departure the Paraclete will not come to them (GV 16,7). Only in this way will the Father give them the Paraclete at the request of Jesus and in the name of Jesus (GV 14,16.26); rather, Christ himself from the Father will send them the Paraclete (GV 15,26). This Spirit that comes from the Father will remain with the disciples forever (GV 14,16), that is, until the end of time: throughout his entire stay here on earth, the life of the Church will be characterized by the assistance of the Spirit of truth.

Saint John recalls that the Father will send the Holy Spirit "in the name of Jesus", as before he had said that Jesus himself was on earth "in the name of his Father" (GV 5,43), in close communion with the Father; in fact he was among men to make the name of the Father known, to reveal the Father (cf.. GV 17,6). From here we understand better what Jesus means when he announces that the Paraclete will be sent "in his name". It does not simply mean that the Father will send the Spirit at the Son's request, or in place of or as a representative of the Son, or even to continue the work of the Son. The "name" here expresses what is most profound in the person of Christ Jesus, his quality as Son, and as such will have an active part in the sending of the Spirit. For this reason the two complementary formulas are found in farewell speeches: the Father will send the Spirit in the name of Jesus (GV 14,26); the Son himself will send the Spirit from the Father. The formula "in my name" therefore clearly indicates the perfect communion between the Father and the Son when They send the Spirit. Without a doubt the origin of this "mission" is the Father and this is why the Son will send the Spirit "from the Father". However, the Son is also the beginning of this sending: and therefore the Father will send the Spirit "in the name of the Son". Thus the Father and the Son are both the principle of this mission of the Paraclete. Therefore, if the Spirit is sent in the name of Christ Jesus, his mission will be to reveal Christ Jesus, to make his real name known, that name of Son of God which expresses the mystery of his person: The Paraclete will have to inspire faith in Jesus Son of God.

But the Gospel goes further. The second half of the verse (GV 14,26) describes the Paraclete «in the office of teacher of doctrine» (Reginald Garrigue Lagrange). This action is designated by two different verbs: «He will will teach everything and it will do to you remember everything I told you". This is an important proposition, because it gave rise to a recurring temptation in the Church, that of introducing new revelations due to the Spirit. A temptation that is not at all illusory if we remember Montanism at the beginning of the Church and the spiritualist current of Joachim of Fiore in the Middle Ages. Father Henry de Lubac wrote very well:

«There are two equally deadly ways of separating Christ from his Spirit: that of dreaming of a kingdom of the Spirit who would bring beyond the Christ, and that of imagining a Christ who would constantly bring us back to this side of the Spirit".

But the Paraclete will not bring a new Gospel to the disciples, in the life and teaching of Jesus, indeed, it contains everything we need to know in view of the establishment of the Kingdom of God and to implement our Salvation. The function of the Spirit remains essentially subordinate to the Revelation already brought by Jesus. «Teaching» according to John is almost a verb of revelation. The Father taught the Son what he revealed to the world (GV 8,28). But more often Jesus himself is presented as the one who teaches (GV 6,59; 8,20). However, this doctrine of Christ Jesus must not remain extrinsic to the believer, for this reason John strongly insisted on the need to make it internal by welcoming it through an ever more lively faith. This is the meaning of the typically Johannine expressions "to remain in the doctrine of Christ" (2GV 9), «remain in his word» (GV 8,31). Precisely here the action of the Spirit arises: he also "teaches". He teaches exactly what has already been taught by Jesus, but to make it penetrate the hearts. So, Revelation has perfect continuity: coming from the Father, it is communicated to us by the Son and yet it does not reach its end until it has penetrated into the most intimate part of ourselves and this happens through the work of the Spirit.

The exact nature of this teaching of the Paraclete is specified by another verb: he will "make us remember" everything that Jesus said. This theme of "recall" or "remembrance" is strongly underlined by the fourth Gospel. John observes more than once that after Jesus' departure the disciples "remembered" this or that other word or action of Jesus, that is, they understood its true meaning and full significance only after the Resurrection (GV 2,17.22; 12,16). Precisely here lies the function of the Holy Spirit: in "remembering" everything that Jesus had said, but He will not limit himself only to bringing to their memory a teaching that they would otherwise have risked forgetting. His real task will be to make the words of Jesus understood in their interiority, to make them grasp the light of faith, to perceive all its virtualities, and riches for the life of the Church. Therefore, through the secret work of the Paraclete, the message of Jesus no longer remains external and alien to us or simply consigned to the past; the Holy Spirit internalizes it in us and helps us to penetrate it spiritually so that we discover in it a word of life. This word of Jesus, assimilated in faith under the action of the Spirit, it is what John calls "the anointing oil" in his first letter that remains in us (1GV 2,27). The Spirit acts within the believer so that Jesus' teaching acquires an ever fuller meaning (vv. 20 e ssg.) and instructs him about all realities; the Christian is now "born of the Spirit" (GV 3,8). Having reached this level of spiritual maturity he no longer needs to be educated (1GV 2,27): now the only thing that matters is that he remains in Jesus and allows himself to be taught by God (cf.. GV 6,45).

From the Hermitage, 07 June 2025

.

.

 

.

Visit the pages of our book shop WHO and support our editions by purchasing and distributing our books.

.

______________________

Dear Readers,
this magazine requires management costs that we have always faced only with your free offers. Those who wish to support our apostolic work can send us their contribution through the convenient and safe way PayPal by clicking below:

Or if you prefer you can use our
Bank account in the name of:
Editions The island of Patmos

n Agency. 59 From Rome – Vatican
Iban code:
IT74R0503403259000000301118
For international bank transfers:
Codice SWIFT:
BAPPIT21D21

If you make a bank transfer, send an email to the editorial staff, the bank does not provide your email and we will not be able to send you a thank you message:
isoladipatmos@gmail.com

We thank you for the support you wish to offer to our apostolic service.

The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

.

.

.

.

.