During his Monday homily at Casa Santa Santa Marta, the Pope warned that for some Christians the Holy Spirit is a complete stranger, a luxury prisoner.
Pope Francis repeated that the Holy Spirit is the one who moves the Church and changes every Christian into a different person. He can do everything, the Pope explained, except one thing.
POPE FRANCIS
'There is only one thing the Holy Spirit canâ??t do: make us â??parlourâ?? Christians. He does not know how to do it! The Holy Spirit cannot make us â??virtualâ?? Christians who are not virtuous. The Holy Spirit makes real Christians. The Spirit takes life as it is and prophetically reads the signs of the times pushing us forward. He is the great prisoner of our heart. We say, 'the Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity' and we stop there...'
The Pope asked that during this week, ending with the feast of Pentecost, Christians think of and talk to the Holy Spirit.
EXCERPTS FROM PAPAL HOMILY
(Source: Vatican Radio)
'The Holy Spirit is the one who moves the Church, the one who works in the Church, and in our hearts making each Christian unique and yet, together with other Christians, a unit. The Holy Spirit opens the doors and invites us to bear witness to Jesus. At the beginning of mass we heard the words: â??you will receive the Holy Spirit and you will be my witnesses in the world.' The Holy Spirit is the one who moves us to praise God, to pray to the Lord, the one who is within us and teaches us to see the Father and to call him â??Father.â?? The Holy Spirit frees us from this â??orphan-likeâ?? condition which the spirit of the world wants to put us in.â?
The Holy Spirit is the one who moves us to praise God, to pray the Lord, the one who is within us and teaches us to see the Father and to call him â??Fatherâ??. The Holy Spirit frees us from this â??orphan-likeâ?? condition which the spirit of the world wants to put us in.â?
'But we keep the Holy Spirit as a â??luxury prisonerâ?? in our hearts: we do not allow the Spirit to push us forward, to move us. The Sprit does everything, knows everything, reminds us what Jesus said, can explain all about Jesus. There is only one thing the Holy Spirit canâ??t do: make us â??parlourâ?? Christians (â?¦) The Holy Spirit cannot make us â??virtualâ?? Christians who are not virtuous. The Holy Spirit makes real Christians. The Spirit takes life as it is and prophetically reads the signs of the times pushing us forward (â?¦),We say, 'the Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity' and we stop there...'
'â??Do I really believe or is the Holy Spirit just a word to me?' Let us try and talk to the Spirit and say:'I know You are in my heart, that You are in the heart of the Church, that You move the Church forward, that You bring unity among us all, even though we are all different among usâ?¦ We should say this to him and ask for the grace to learn what He does in my life in practical terms. This grace is granted when we are docile to the Holy Spirit. This week let us think about the Spirit and speak with Him.â?
IPC/MB
CTV
-JM
-BN
-up: IPC
