The convincing power of the Holy Spirit ...

The convincing of sin is a gift of the Holy Spirit.

The emphasis on 'the convincing power of the Holy Spirit' is a favorite source of meditation for me, it is part of my deepest prayer. It is the Holy Spirit who convinces us and the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgement. How essential this action is, not just once, in a sort of baptism of the Spirit, or confirmation, but ongoing: deep calling unto deep, drawing us deeper into the mystery of the Trinity; the abyss of mercy and love, calling to the abyss of sin and misery, convicting the soul in an embrace of the merciful love of Christ crucified. Things I can't put into words because I have no higher degrees in theology, no skill in writing, but they are things that one can know, without knowing as it were - experientially - in and through prayer and sacred reading.

St. John Paul II wrote:

The Spirit of truth, who "convinces the world concerning sin," comes into contact with that laborious effort on the part of the human conscience which the Conciliar texts speak of so graphically. This laborious effort of conscience also determines the paths of human conversion: turning one's back on sin, in order to restore truth and love in man's very heart. 

We know that recognizing evil in ourselves sometimes demands a great effort. We know that conscience not only commands and forbids but also Judges in the light of interior dictates and prohibitions. It is also the source of remorse: man suffers interiorly because of the evil he has committed. Is not this suffering, as it were, a distant echo of that "repentance at having created man" which in anthropomorphic language the Sacred Book attributes to God? Is it not an echo of that "reprobation" which is interiorized in the "heart" of the Trinity and by virtue of the eternal love is translated into the suffering of the Cross, into Christ's obedience unto death? When the Spirit of truth permits the human conscience to share in that suffering, the suffering of the conscience becomes particularly profound, but also particularly salvific. Then, by means of an act of perfect contrition, the authentic conversion of the heart is accomplished: this is the evangelical "metanoia." 

The laborious effort of the human heart, the laborious effort of the conscience in which this "metanoia," or conversion, takes place, is a reflection of that process whereby reprobation is transformed into salvific love, a love which is capable of suffering. The hidden giver of this saving power is the Holy Spirit: he whom the Church calls "the light of consciences" penetrates and fills "the depths of the human heart."  -Dominum et vivicantem

The convincing power of the Holy Spirit ...

Denuding, stripping away all that we cling to, making us even poorer -  is his gift.

A particularly important kind of denudation, through which the Holy Spirit prepares us for his 'decent,' is the process of stripping us of the false image we have of ourselves and freeing us from living a falsehood.  In the Gospel, St. John relates the promise of Christ to us that the Paraclete - the Holy Spirit - will convince the world about sin when he comes.  Thus one of the functions of the Holy Spirit is to convince us of our sin, therefore bestowing upon us the grace of humility.  This is the fundamental grace of the Holy Spirit. - Fr. Tadeuz Dajczer

"If the Church, through the power of the Holy Spirit, can call evil by its name, it does so only in order to demonstrate that evil can be overcome if we open ourselves to 'love for God to the point of contempt for self. This is the fruit of Divine Mercy...'" - John Paul II, Memory and Identity

Holy Spirit, inspire me.
Love of God consume me.
Along the true road, lead me.
Mary, my good mother, look down upon me.
With Jesus, bless me.
From all evil, all illusion, all danger, preserve me. 

- Bl. Mary of Jesus Crucified, OCD

 

Mother of God, Unexpected Joy, pray for us.

The icon was originally painted to commemorate the conversion of a sinner.  As he was at the point of committing a grievous sin, the man actually prayed to the Virgin to assist him to accomplish his deed.  The Mother of God appeared to him, demonstrating her disdain, and pointing to the wounds on the hands and feet of the Divine Child in her arms, which opened and bled, the Blessed Virgin admonished the sinful man and explained that every time someone chooses to commit grave sin, the wounds begin to torment Christ. Fearful of the divine wrath, the man prayed for forgiveness and began to lead righteous life. 

Is the Pope ...

Pope Francis for the Feast of Pentecost with New Movements.

Homily here.

Charismatic?

Charismatic is sort of a dirty word for traditionalists - they usually associate the Charismatic Movement with liberalism and modernism, indifferentism and liturgical novelty and abuse.  Nevertheless, the Church has had Her eye on the movement since its 'revival' in the late 1960's, and it has been praised by the Popes as well.  So, is Pope Francis 'charismatic'?  Hmmm.  I think it more appropriate to say... the Pope is Catholic.

Very shortly after my conversion I encountered friends in the Renewal - I went to prayer meetings with them.  My spirituality was more contemplative, Eucharistic and Marian - at the time, Charismatics were not so centered in that respect - Eucharistic devotion was centered around the Mass, the rosary and Marian devotion was present, but not prominent.  Prayer meetings were more or less comprised of praise, prophecy (mostly scriptural witnessing) and healing.  I always felt inwardly strengthened, but preferred solitary, quiet adoration to communal prayer meetings.  Did I see abuses?  Of course, but I saw abuses anywhere I cared to look in the Church.  In my opinion the movement changed, or matured under John Paul II and most especially after Medjugorje began.  Charismatics were very much attracted to Medjugorje, and it was around that time that Marian devotion became a focus in the movement.  (M. Angelica was instrumental in promoting Marian devotion in the Charismatic Movement as well.)

That's my brief experience on the Charismatic Movement, along with my opinion.  I see nothing wrong with it, as with any spirituality, it simply needs the guidance of the Church.  That said, Catholic World Report has an interesting article regarding the Pope(s) and the Movement - especially it's Catholic roots.  Who knew Pope Leo XIII initiated it?

 First, Pope Francis.

When the newly elected Pope Francis appeared at the window before the cheering crowd in St Peter’s Square, and promptly bowed down asking the people to pray for him, most of the public at large was charmed, but puzzled. Pope Benedict too had asked the people to pray for him from the outset, but without the bowed head. To some spectators, however—including the members of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and their counterparts in the Protestant and Orthodox worlds—the gesture came as something surprisingly familiar. In the “charismatic” galaxy, prayer is offered and asked for in this way by people of all levels—specifically, prayer for a renewed outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Pope Francis’ frequent mentions of the Holy Spirit—whom he has described as someone who “annoys us”and “moves us, makes us walk, pushes the Church to move forward”—as well as his unprecedentedly frequent references to the devil (rather than to a generic“evil”), indicate his affinity for the Charismatic Renewal. The election of such a back-to-basics man as Supreme Pontiff provides us with an opportunity to look at the road traveled by the Charismatic Renewal and to “hold on to what is good” (1 Thess 5:21). 

Before Francis, Pope Leo XIII 

January 1, 1901, Pope Leo XIII ushered in the new century by solemnly invoking the Holy Spirit over all of Christendom.

One of the chief ends that Pope Leo had explicitly dedicated his long pontificate to was the reunion of all Christians. Now, he was asking the Holy Spirit to bring his work to maturity and to bear fruit, with a renewed outpouring of his gifts not just over Catholics, but over all the disciples of Christ. Very few in the Protestant and Orthodox worlds—indeed, not even many Catholics—are aware of this historical fact. But to believers who attach such specific meaning and tangible effects to the invocation of the Holy Spirit, it can be no small matter. 

It all started with a nun in Lucca, Italy, Elena Guerra (1835-1914), the founder of the Oblate Sisters of the Holy Spirit, whom Pope John XXIII was to beatify and give the title “Apostle of the Holy Spirit “in 1959.

Over a period of eight years, around the turn of the last century, Blessed Elena Guerra wrote 13 letters to the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIII, urging him to establish an institutional devotion to the Holy Spirit. Leo was thus prompted to call the faithful to a novena in preparation for Pentecost 1895, in an apostolic letter entitled Provida Matris Charitate, in which he called particular attention to one of the fruits of the Paraclete, “the unity and unanimity” described in Acts 4:32: “The whole group of believers were united, heart and soul.” Two years later, he wrote his short encyclical on the Holy Spirit, Divinum Illud Munus, (“He is the substantial, eternal, and first Love, and there is nothing more lovable than love”), explaining the Spirit’s unity with the Father and the Son in the Trinity and making the novena to the Holy Spirit public and permanent. - Read more here.

Fascinating stuff, huh?  That's why I try not to criticise - and never condemn - the new movements in the Church, and wait - and allow - the Magisterium to rule upon them.  The Holy Spirit moves where He will, when He will, and how He will.

It is the Paraclete Spirit, the “Comforter”, who grants us the courage to take to the streets of the world, bringing the Gospel! The Holy Spirit makes us look to the horizon and drive us to the very outskirts of existence in order to proclaim life in Jesus Christ. Let us ask ourselves: do we tend to stay closed in on ourselves, on our group, or do we let the Holy Spirit open us to mission? - Pope Francis, Pentecost Homily, 5/19/13

The Pope is so Catholic.

 Update, just discovered late Sunday night:  As usual, Fr. Angelo covered the subject better than I could.  Read his post from May 10, Pope Francis the Charismatic.  It's excellent.

Pentecostal thoughts...

"The Spirit and the Bride say 'Come!'"

Or rather, reflections on the feast of Pentecost.

One little gem that Blessed John Paul II wrote/issued is the encyclical, On the Holy Spirit in the Life of the Church and the World: Dominum et Vivificantem.  It is a wonderful work, wherein the Holy Father refers constantly to the documents of Vatican II - which helps us understand the important role the council played in helping to define Church teaching in the modern world.

The emphasis on 'the convincing power of the Holy Spirit' is a favorite source of meditation for me, it is part of my deepest prayer.  It is the Holy Spirit who convinces us and the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgement.  How essential this action is, not just once, in a sort of baptism of the Spirit, or confirmation, but ongoing: deep calling unto deep, drawing us deeper into the mystery of the Trinity; the abyss of mercy and love, calling to the abyss of sin and misery, convicting the soul in an embrace of the merciful love of Christ crucified.  Things I can't put into words because I have no higher degrees in theology, no skill in writing, but they are things that one can know, without knowing as it were - experientially - in and through prayer and sacred reading.

Excerpts from the Holy Father's encyclical:

[31]Conversion requires convincing of sin; it includes the interior judgment of the conscience, and this, being a proof of the action of the Spirit of truth in man's inmost being, becomes at the same time a new beginning of the bestowal of grace and love: "Receive the Holy Spirit."¹¹⁸ Thus in this "convincing concerning sin" we discover a double gift: the gift of the truth of conscience and the gift of the certainty of redemption. The Spirit of truth is the Counselor.

The Holy Spirit, who in the words of Jesus "convinces concerning sin," is the love of the Father and the Son, and as such is the Trinitarian gift, and at the same time the eternal source of every divine giving of gifts to creatures.

The Council rightly sees sin as a factor of alienation which weighs heavily on man's personal and social life. But at the same time it never tires of reminding us of the possibility of victory.

45. The Spirit of truth, who "convinces the world concerning sin," comes into contact with that laborious effort on the part of the human conscience which the Conciliar texts speak of so graphically. This laborious effort of conscience also determines the paths of human conversion: turning one's back on sin, in order to restore truth and love in man's very heart. We know that recognizing evil in ourselves sometimes demands a great effort. We know that conscience not only commands and forbids but also Judges in the light of interior dictates and prohibitions. It is also the source of remorse: man suffers interiorly because of the evil he has committed. Is not this suffering, as it were, a distant echo of that "repentance at having created man" which in anthropomorphic language the Sacred Book attributes to God? Is it not an echo of that "reprobation" which is interiorized in the "heart" of the Trinity and by virtue of the eternal love is translated into the suffering of the Cross, into Christ's obedience unto death? When the Spirit of truth permits the human conscience to share in that suffering, the suffering of the conscience becomes particularly profound, but also particularly salvific. Then, by means of an act of perfect contrition, the authentic conversion of the heart is accomplished: this is the evangelical "metanoia."

The laborious effort of the human heart, the laborious effort of the conscience in which this "metanoia," or conversion, takes place, is a reflection of that process whereby reprobation is transformed into salvific love, a love which is capable of suffering. The hidden giver of this saving power is the Holy Spirit: he whom the Church calls "the light of consciences" penetrates and fills "the depths of the human heart."¹⁷⁶  - Dominum et vivicantem

All of creation labors and is in travail...

O Holy Spirit, enlighten, guide,

strengthen and console me.

Tell me what I ought to do,

and command me to do it.

I promise to be submissive in everything you ask of me.

I promise to accept whatever you permit to befall me,

only show me what is your will.

I will run in the way of your commands,

because you give freedom to my heart!

We cannot obtain freedom of spirit when we make accommodations for evil.

Image:  Our Lady as she appeared to St. Catherine Laboure.  The Immaculate Conception is the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, and Mediatrix of all Graces.  'O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you, and for those who do not, especially the enemies of the Church and those recommended to you.'

Pentecost

"The Holy Spirit is the master of prayer, and causes us to abide in continual peace and cheerfulness, which is a foretaste of Paradise." - St. Phillip Neri

Yesterday was the feast of St. Phillip Neri, a favorite saint of mine, and a wonderful saint especially devoted to the Holy Spirit, and extravagantly gifted with charismata.  I was blessed to have been baptised on his feast day, which this year, happened to be the Vigil of Pentecost. 

On this feast of the Holy Spirit, I want to express my gratitude to the Holy Trinity for the favors granted to St. Phillip as well as to myself.