THE HOLY SPIRIT LEADS US
We are at our third reflection. After looking at who the Holy Spirit is and by what means or gifts He works our souls, we will reflect on how He leads us. We will dwell on the silence that is always very important to better hear his voice speaking secretly in our souls. It is therefore necessary for Him to prepare us to listen interiorly and to accept what He is going to ask of us.
It is truly in peace that the Holy Spirit reigns, that He never ceases to give himself, enriching the soul that welcomes Him with his graces, his gifts and his fruits. He also teaches how to pray. Let’s never forget to thank Him. He shows us how to love, since charity exceeds all virtues. We, who want to live the love of Christ in the present moment, need this Master to accompany us there. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Love at the centre of all virtues and perfections.
It is good to experience this new state - this inner action. There are five degrees in the life of the Holy Spirit’s dwelling in the soul and each degree has many nuances:
• First, the Holy Spirit touches the soul, awakening it and moving it. It’s the beginning of discovery. It is about becoming aware of His active presence inside us and of being amazed by it. We can only thank and be grateful for this favour. The Father does not refuse this gift when it is asked in the name of Jesus.
• Secondly, the Holy Spirit takes a place in the soul, filling it with graces. Accordingly, the soul realizes that all it has is a free gift from God and that what it does in His company is easy and always successful. It places all its trust and attention in Him. When it senses an inspiration, no matter how subtle it is, it acts on it, or speaks it without looking for the why.
• Third, the Holy Spirit reposes in the soul, that is, He is not always active. The Holy Spirit detaches the soul from the world, sometimes by a serious illness or accident, etc., which allows it to analyze all the details of its life and to realize that the graces received were for its good. Even sins are seen as opportunities to thank God for having saved it and protected it.
• Fourth, the Holy Spirit possesses the soul. The soul is totally His and responds to all His desires, because it belongs to Him; the soul belongs completely to Him. The soul abandons itself, letting the Holy Spirit transform it. The soul feels more precisely the Holy Spirit’s presence and its effects, which detaches it from all that is human. The soul seeks only the will of God, is satisfied only by it and wants only more love to invest in what happens or could happen. When it is troubled, the soul seeks its rest in the Holy Spirit and entrusts to Him all that the soul has to live.
• Fifth, is the phase of union. The soul is in great peace; it lives on this earth as if it transcends it, in a deep interiority and a great solitude. Life goes on but the soul is in a secret place, hidden from view. It discovers the Spirit’s action, enjoys it, offers and gives thanks for everything in the human heart. Even if this degree is not constantly felt, the soul remains united to the Holy Spirit by a very close and indissoluble bond. Few people reach this degree of union.
These are the souls who abandon themselves. The breath of the Holy Spirit has prepared and led them. It is He who purifies them, gives life and fans the flame. The Holy Spirit, who is Love, works in the soul. The soul discovers the Spirit’s presence in beings and in the entire universe. Love leads the soul and makes it discover new things. It recognizes the Spirit in the work of the Father, in the life of Jesus, and a song of praise, thanksgiving, and love arises within it.
Conclusion:
Let us then be guided by Love, abandoning ourselves with total trust in the Holy Spirit. Our life will be more beautiful; it will become a hymn of praise. Let us give thanks for this gift that Jesus gave us on the day of Pentecost. Each day, let us ask the Holy Spirit that these gifts be active in us.
Rose M, Oblate
