The Indwelling Of The Holy Spirit In The Souls Of The Just. Part 4.

According To The Teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas

PART FIRST. 

THE ORDINARY PRESENCE OF GOD IN ALL CREATURES ³

And if you question the Angelic Doctor as to how God, an immaterial, unextended and indivisible substance, can be present in all places, and in the inner depths of beings occupying material space, he will answer you with a comparison borrowed from nature and already employed by the Fathers, namely: He is present in three ways: "By His power, by His presence, and by His essence. By His power, because all things are subject to His sovereign command: He is present everywhere like a king who, while residing in his palace, is by a fiction deemed present in all the parts of his kingdom where he exercises authority. By His presence, that is to say most intimately, because He knows all things and sees all things; and nothing, however hidden it may be, can escape His attention; all things are present to Him as objects are said to be in our presence, although they may be situated at a slight distance from our person. Finally by His essence, for He is as really and in His very substance present to all created things as a monarch is present in person to the throne on which he is seated." (Summa Theologica, I., q. viii., a. 3.)

The reason for this substantial presence of God in His creatures is that not one of them could dispense with the divine action preserving its existence and actuating its operations; and since substance and action are not really distinct in God, it follows that "He is substantially—in His actual reality—present wherever He works, i.e., in all things and in all places." (Summa Theologica, I., q. viii., a. 1.)

The Indwelling Of The Holy Spirit In The Souls Of The Just. Part 3.

According To The Teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas

PART FIRST. 

THE ORDINARY PRESENCE OF GOD IN ALL CREATURES ²

We may compare God's action with that of the sun. Although vastly distant from our planet, it still comes into contact with it through its rays, else how could it give light and heat to the earth? But God works in every created thing, not only through the medium of secondary causes as the sun acts upon the earth, but also in a direct and immediate way, by Himself bringing into existence and preserving in things that which is most intimate and deep-rooted in them, namely, their very being. For, as the characteristic effect of fire is to burn, so the characteristic effect of God, Who is Being itself, is to cause the being of creatures. "And so God is intimately present to all things as their efficient cause—as causing the being of all things." (Summa Theologica, I., q. viii., a. 1.)

God, then, is not present to the world like the artisan or the artist; he is external to his work, and does not often touch it in a direct way, but rather through his instruments, or is present to his work when he produces it, but later on withdraws from it without endangering its existence. God is so intimately united to the works of His hands that if, after calling a created thing into being, He should withdraw from it and cease to sustain it, it would immediately fall into the nothingness out of which it was made.

The Indwelling Of The Holy Spirit In The Souls Of The Just. Part 2.

According To The Teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas

PART FIRST. 

THE ORDINARY PRESENCE OF GOD IN ALL CREATURES ¹

Centuries before, the Psalmist had made this same divine omnipresence the theme of his song: "Behold, O Lord, Thou hast known all things, the latest and those of old; Thou hast formed me, and hast laid Thy hand upon me. Thy knowledge has become wonderful to me; it is high, and I cannot reach to it. Whither shall I go from Thy spirit? or whither shall I fly from Thy face? If I ascend into heaven, Thou art there; if 1 descend into hell, Thou art present. If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there also shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me'' (Psalm cxxxviii. 5-12.)

Finally, in order fully to convince us that we cannot escape His ever-vigilant eye, God Himself, using our weak human language, with infinite condescension, says to us through the mouth of His prophet: "Shall a man be hid in secret places, and I not see him, saith the Lord? Do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord?" (Jeremiah xxiii. 24.).

It is not necessary to cite other testimonies in proof of a point of doctrine admitted by all who believe in the existence of an infinite Being, the Author of all things; yet, on account of its extreme importance, we should like to set down here the philosophical proof of the omnipresence of God, given by St. Thomas. God, he says, "is present in all things, not as part of their essence, or as an accidental element, but as the active principle is present to the thing on which it acts; for it is essential that the efficient cause be united with the object upon which it exercises an immediate activity, and that it comes into contact with this object, if not bodily, then, at least, by the exercise of its power and energies." (Summa Theologica, I., q. viii., a. 1.)

The Indwelling Of The Holy Spirit In The Souls Of The Just. Part 1.

According To The Teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas

PART FIRST. 

THE ORDINARY PRESENCE OF GOD IN ALL CREATURES

CHAPTER I

The Presence of God in All Creatures as Their Active Principle or Efficient Cause

Before broaching the interesting yet difficult question of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the souls of the just, and of the mysterious union He thus effects with them; before going into the proofs of the presence both substantial and extraordinary of the three Divine persons in the just soul which thus becomes a living temple wherein the adorable Trinity finds delight, it will be useful, and, to a certain extent, even necessary, to grasp a few preliminary notions on the ordinary way in which God is present in all things. Nothing, indeed, could be more unreasonable than to expound the doctrine of the extraordinary or special presence of God in the souls of the just, before we know quite clearly what is His ordinary presence in all creation.

To be in a fit position to speak in precise terms of these two kinds of presence, and to distinguish one from the other, we must first of all become acquainted with their respective characteristics, and see in what they agree and in what they differ. This may be achieved by carefully examining, defining and comparing their natures. Were we to follow a different course of action, plunging at once into a more or less scientific explanation of the indwelling of God in the soul by the life of grace, without having, at the outset, firmly established and clearly explained that such an indwelling is to be found nowhere else in nature, we should be in danger of imparting very incomplete notions, and of leaving the reader in a state of vagueness that could not but be regrettable. On the other hand, it will not be necessary to dwell at length on the proofs for the divine omnipresence, since all Catholics believe in it; we shall, however, insist on the way in which it is to be understood in order to convey an exact idea of God's immensity, and so to prepare the way for a clear understanding of the special presence of God in the souls of the just.

I

It is a dogma of faith, as well as a truth of reason, that God is everywhere—in heaven, on earth, in all things and in all places: that He is present in a very intimate manner in everything created. This truth is known to all, not only to the philosopher and theologian, but even to the little child whose intelligence is but awakening; it is one of the first lessons it receives at its mother's knee—one of the first truths it learns from any Christian teacher.

This doctrine, which the simplest Christian holds at the beginning of his moral life, and which he continues to hold without always understanding its full bearing, nor suspecting what deep truths it expresses, was preached long ago by the Apostle St. Paul, before the most illustrious audience in the world. He was addressing, not an ignorant populace, but the official representatives of human wisdom, the members of the Areopagus of Athens, when, referring to the existence of God in every creature, the Apostle exclaimed: "That they should seek God, if haply they may feel after Him or find Him, although He be not far from every one of us; for in Him we live, and move, and are." (Acts xvii. 27, 28.)

How to walk with The Holy Spirit. part 4.

By Father James, O.F.M.Cap.

3—WHY OUR LORD DEPARTED

Even then, as He uttered these words, the thought of our blessed Lord was fixed upon the future. In the faces of these disciples He beheld the men and women who, accepting Him in faith, would be committed to the most magnificent programme of perfection ever preached. In the Beatitudes, Jesus had announced an ideal for life which, as He well realised, was entirely beyond the power of the natural man. And when He said majestically “Be ye perfect . . . . He was conscious that the Holy Spirit alone could bring the heroism of this ideal within their reach. But His own death, He also knew, would make effective His exhortations since, besides consecrating in His own Blood the paradoxes of His teaching, it would merit for humanity the Giver of Gifts, the Spirit of God. . .

If our Lord declared his intention of going away, His departure was in no sense radical or final. He had promised to remain with them all days ; He said He would not leave them orphans. His mind was filled, in fact, with the thought of the unity that must subsist between them and Him. “I am the true vine . . Every branch that beareth not fruit, he will take away . . Abide in me : and I in you.” But the grace of this abiding, by which followers should be one with Him, would need a Jiving Source and Principle, the Holy Spirit, Who, by virtues and gifts, would enlighten and empower His Church to be a witness to His enduring presence in the world of time and space. Our blessed Lord would depart only to return again to take possession of a new, a mystic Body, of which we are members, so that an eternal dream of God should be realised by the agency of His Spirit.

This dream is a humanity re-made, regenerated, “to the image and likeness** of the Perfect, Jesus, in Whom the Spirit of God had entire sway. This is a high ideal and who can hope to achieve it ? If the music of perfect life is to be heard upon the earth then men and women must have access to this music’s secret Inspiration so that no dissonance, no false and jarring notes, shall mar the harmony of the piece. This precisely is what the Spirit of Christ aims at doing in the sevenfold gift that ranges from fear to wisdom. Let a man, under the influence of Divine grace, but make his first poor efforts at reproducing in his life a music that has its source in the soul of his Master and he must find that a moment comes when the Spirit takes over and then there is heard, on earth, a music that has power to gladden heaven.

In the thirteenth century there lived at a place not far from Assisi a woman named Angela de Foligno. Out of shame she was unable to confess her sins, and “ many times communicated without confessing, until Saint Francis himself intervened from heaven and found for her a suitable Confessor. Absolved from her sins, she began a life of penance and from step to step she advanced in heroic holiness. At each step new sufferings came upon her by which she was purified and enlightened for the reception of greater things. And then, on one occasion, as she herself relates, “she walked with the Holy Spirit to the Basilica of Saint Francis.” From whom derives the inspiration of this booklet, with its borrowed title, should by now be sufficiently apparent and in gratitude let Blessed Angela de Foligno, reporting what was said to her on that occasion, have the last word : “ Thou hast asked of My Servant Francis, and I have been pleased to send another messenger. And I am the Holy Ghost . . because my servant Francis hath loved me much, therefore have I done much for him. And if, at the present day, there were any person who loved Me more, still more would I do for him . . .

How to walk with The Holy Spirit. part 3.

By Father James, O.F.M.Cap.

2.—GIFT OF GIFTS

To those who accepted Him, our blessed’ Lord revealed many things. But there is one revelation that is unforgettable. He drew aside a veil which, for many to this very day, hides the true nature of God behind human conceptions of power and knowledge. Jesus affirmed, and showed in His Person that God is a God of love. “God,” cries out St. John, “is charity.” But the heart of charity is the impulse to* give and the God Who, in charity, gave to the world His Son is not yet content. In the Son, our Lord, beats the same pulse of charity and He will not rest until He has shared with those who accept Him all that He is and all that He has.

A first inkling of the Master’s intentions is found in a mysterious conversation with the Samaritan woman. On that day she had come to the Well, quite unaware of what awaited her, and the impressive Figure, resting there, took her by surprise. “Give me to drink,” He said to her. When she demurred, He added : “If thou didst know the gift of God, and who he is that saith to thee, give me to drink, thou perhaps wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.” Jesus was Himself the Gift of God, as He insinuated and she finally understood, but there was a further thing which she did not perceive : there is a Gift of Gifts. On a later occasion this is made clear. “And on the last, and great day of the festivity, Jesus stood and cried, saying : “If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink.. Now this he said of the Spirit which they should receive who believed in him : for as yet the Spirit was not given.” That is how Saint John explains the invitation of Jesus.

The Disciple whom Jesus loved was peculiarly attentive to two ambitions of His Master : the one, which concerned his Lord’s continued presence in the Flesh ; the other, which had to do with his Lord’s presence in the Spirit. In support of this one might cite the care with which Saint John set down the not unrelated promises of the Holy Eucharist and the Holy Spirit And should any one desire to obtain a glimpse of the splendour of these promises, let him read and re-read those farewell chapters where, in verses that never grow old, Saint John conveys the Master’s message to humanity.

The scene is the Supper-Room. Our Lord is talking earnestly to His disciples. Their honest faces are puckered in perplexity, for He has just taxed their understanding with this enigma/' A little while and ye behold me no more : and again a little while, and ye shall behold me.” They are completely at sea. Already the Master has done His best to explain ; but they are unable to follow. “Let not your hearts be troubled'’ He had begun, thus striking the keynote to all that follows. “ You believe in God, believe also in me.” He would hold their loyalty at least, if not their comprehension. As the voices of Thomas, Philip, Judas (not the Iscariot), men usually in the background, are raised in tense successive enquiries, He sees that He shall have to tell them bluntly. Just when their love of Him is in full tide, He utters the appalling words : “It is expedient for you that I go.” Peter asks impulsively, “Whither ?” The Master answers: “Whither I go you cannot come.” The blow has fallen : there is to be a separation. Loving them as He did, our Lord could only say : “A little while . .”, for He would minimise His absence.

How to walk with The Holy Spirit. part 2.

By Father James, O.F.M.Cap.

PART II

Love of the Holy Spirit

in an

Exhortation

“But I tell you the truth : it is expedient to you that I go. For if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you: but if I go, I will send him to you ” —John XVI. 7.

1—A NEW EPOCH

It must have been an impressive scene on the day when Jesus stood up for the first time in the Synagogue of His native Nazareth. As yet He was unknown ; He had not studied under any of the approved teachers ; He was simply “ the son of a carpenter.’* Imagine their surprise when He signalised His intention of taking the reading : all eyes were fixed upon Him.

Unfolding the book of the prophecies, He read : “ The spirit of the Lord is upon me ” When He had finished the reading, He bound up the scroll again, handed it back to the attendant . . . there was an expectant silence. Into that silence, like a clap of thunder, fell the words: “This day is fulfilled this Scripture in your ears.”

With an eloquence full of dignity He expounded first the text and then, by way of climax, He returned to His original affirmation. The reign of Evil, He declared, was at an end . . . Could it be possible ? Could it be that this young Man, upon whose countenance they gazed enraptured, was the beginning of a new epoch ? We now know that this precisely was the truth. By the overshadowing of the Virgin, immaculate and unspotted, Jesus had been conceived in His human nature. And from that moment until his final breath on Calvary, Jesus was utterly and entirely under the empire of the Spirit of God. With more literal truth than they could then have suspected did He proclaim in their midst : “The spirit of the Lord is upon me...”

With an artistry of their own the Evangelists announce this truth as the motif of of the Master’s life on earth. “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost” remarks St Luke, “returned from the Jordan and was led by him into the desert And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit, into Galilee.” Through all their phrases, like a musical theme, runs the power of the Spirit by which Jesus accomplished all he came to do. And Saint Paul, who was not an associate of the earthly ministry, takes up the self-same theme and adds his voice in magnificent unison. This is how he describes the saving death of the Master: “For if the blood of goats and of oxen and the ashes of a heifer, being sprinkled sanctify such as are defiled, to the cleansing of the flesh : How much more shall the blood of Christ, who by the Holy Ghost offered himself unspotted to God, cleanse our conscience from dead works, to serve the living God.”

The climax thus evoked sends back the mind to those first moments when, inaugurating His ministry, Jesus went down into the waters of the Jordan to be baptised by John. “I saw the Spirit coming down as a dove from Heaven.” relates the Baptist, “and he remained upon him.” This was for the Baptist's benefit and ours. Jesus had not to await the age of thirty to receive the Spirit. He came to His baptism, as Saint Augustine remarks, without sins and therefore not without the Holy Ghost. But it was important that, visibly and externally, He should receive consecration and that the great prophecy of Isaiah should be fulfilled : “And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse : and a flower shall rise up out of his root. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him : the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and of godliness. And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord.” Jesus had come, as He said, to cast fire upon the earth and the fire that would renovate the earth of humanity was the fire of the Holy Spirit.

How to walk with The Holy Spirit. part 1.

By Father James, O.F.M.Cap.

Rom 8:14  For whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 

In one of those synthetic phrases, of which he was a master, Saint Thomas of Aquin has said: “In order to save his soul a man needs threefold knowledge : he needs to know what to believe, what to desire, and what to do.” The accuracy of this summing up reveals itself on reflection : man’s nature is a complex unity in which it is possible to discern the threefold need of knowledge, love and action. To relate these essential needs to the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, is the aim of the following pages. That they may succeed, with the help of God’s grace, in awakening souls to the very real influence of One Who has been called “the forgotten Paraclete” is my prayer and wish.

Father James, O.F.M.Cap.

Saint Bonaventure’s, University Hostel, Cork.

PART I

Knowledge of the Holy Spirit in Question and Answer

"We earnestly desire that faith may be aroused in your minds concerning the mystery of the adorable Trinity and especially that piety may increase and be inflamed towards the Holy Ghost . — Pope Leo XIII.

1. Q. Why a special booklet on the Holy Spirit ?

A. Because it is the desire of Holy Church that her children should appreciate the exact mission of the Holy Spirit.

2. Q. Do not the Faithful already know of the Holy Spirit ?

A. Yes. The Faithful are aware, by faith, of His existence and they invoke Him.

3. Q. Do the Faithful appreciate, at its true value, the work committed to the Holy Spirit ?

A. Few people are sufficiently aware of their extreme need of the Holy Spirit.

4. Q. Is it quite correct to speak of men's extreme need of the Holy Spirit ?

A. It is. Without the Holy Spirit it is impossible to understand in what being a Christian consists or to make any real progress in Christian holiness.

5. Q. In what precisely does being a Christian consist ?

A. Our blessed Lord replies: “Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

6. Q. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit then that a man is made Christian ?

A. Assuredly.

7. Q. Was it not by the power of the Holy Spirit also that the Son of Man was Himself conceived ?

A. Yes, but with a difference. Saint Thomas explains : “ Christ was conceived in holiness to be by nature the Son of God ; others are sanctified to be the sons of God by adoption”

8. Q. If Christians are by adoption what Jesus is by nature, then the destiny of Christ is bound up with that of Christians ?

A. Certainly. It was God's design that the Man Christ Jesus should be the Head of a new, a mystic Body.

9. Q. When did our blessed Lord take possession of this mystic Body ?

A. Pope Leo XIII replies: “ The Church which, already conceived, came forth from the side of the second Adam in His sleep on the cross, first showed herself before the eyes of men on the great day of Pentecost."

10. Q. How did our Lord take possession of His Church ?

A. By means of His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, Who “on that day (of Pentecost) began to manifest His gifts in the mystic Body of Christ.” (Pope Leo XIII).

11. Q. The mission of the Holy Spirit then is inseparably bound up with that of our blessed Lord ?

A. It is. Not only did Jesus accomplish all He did by the power of the Spirit but He explicitly declared that it was expedient for His followers that He should depart from them.

12. Q. How could it ever be expedient that our Lord should go away ?

A. Our blessed Lord is Himself the best Judge of that and He said : “ But I tell you the truth : It is expedient to you that I go. For if I go not, the Paraclete will not come : but if I go, I will send Him to you.”

13. Q. Is it true then that the Holy Spirit has come ?

A. Our blessed Lord promised that He would ; the first Pentecost is a witness to His advent.

14. Q. How is this coming to he described ?

A. Theologians speak of it as His external mission to mankind and it was to celebrate this mission that Pentecost was instituted.

15. Q. It is not being suggested that there was anything unfinished in the work of our blessed Lord ?

A. Certainly not. Our blessed Lord, as Saviour, declared upon the Cross that His work was consummated, that is, brought to its fullest achievement.

16. Q. How is it then that it is said that the Holy Spirit completes the work begun by Jesus ?

A. Because it was the design of God that the mission of our Lord, the Saviour, should be carried forward into that of God the Holy Ghost, the Sanctifier.

17. Q. Would you show from the words of Jesus that this was the divine plan ?

A. Yes. “ Jesus stood and cried, saying : If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink . . . Now this He said of the Spirit which they should receive who believed in Him : for as yet the Spirit was not given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

Prayer to the Holy Ghost. By Fr. Bede Jarrett

Come, O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy Faithful, and enkindle in them the
fire of Thy love.

V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created.

R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth. Let us pray.
O God, who hast taught the hearts of the faithful, by the light of the Holy
Spirit, grant that by the gift of the same Spirit we may be always truly wise
and ever rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord.

R. Amen  

Warm Our Hearts, Benumbed and Chill. By Fr. Bede Jarrett

I have been taught that the object and effect of this sacrament was to make me
strong, that this strengthening of me was to be achieved by the abiding
Presence of the Holy Spirit, and that this abiding Presence was to continue for
the whole of my lifetime. As the need endures, so must the remedy endure.
This sacrament, therefore, is tremendously alive and I should not regard it, as I
may have done in the past, as though it were some childish thing that had to
be got over while I am young. Do I not find sometimes that people look on it
much as they look on the measles as a normal heritage of children? Surely, in
my fuller age, the need of divine strength increases rather than diminishes.
As a child, I probably thought that I was naughty only because I was a child,
but that when I grew up I supposed that I would find life easier. Instead, I
discovered that I look back upon my childhood as the innocent time of my life
and look upon my older years as years of wrongdoing. Though, perhaps I
clung to the salve of conscience that a man might be a little wild in youth, but
he had time to become a saint in his old age. Thus, it is always yesterday or
tomorrow, never today. However, Confirmation suddenly reminds me that it
is now that God calls, and now that the Holy Ghost makes appeal to me to
remember His presence and to make use of it.

Do I, indeed, think of that Presence in my times of stress? In the struggles of
temptation, do I sufficiently have recourse to that divine Helper given me?
Do the Sevenfold Gifts really signify anything practical to me? Let me turn in
devotion to the Holy Spirit, recite the hymns to Him, and be conscious always
of the resident force pent up in my soul.  

Heal Each Wound and Bend Each Will. By Fr. Bede Jarrett

However, every sacrament has both an outward sign and an inward grace.
What are these in Confirmation? First, the external thing, material instrument
of God’s grace to my soul, is the anointing of my forehead by the Bishop with
the consecrated oil. That is the essential outward sign. What is the inward
grace? Strength. In the East, oil, which is at once a food and a preservative of
the skin, is frequently used among athletes. It is, indeed, the source of the
strength of the toilers and is mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures as the symbol
of that which it helps to produce. Hence, the oil is the external representation
of that inner strength that the soul requires.

Usually, Confirmation is administered to children when they stand upon the
threshold of life, when they are beginning to feel that they will have to
overcome and endure many difficulties—when they are becoming conscious
that life grows not easier, but harder. Can I remember that at that age I
discovered that not everyone agreed with me regarding the duties owed to
God and all those duties entailed? I found that the things I held sacred and the
people I had been taught to reverence were now held up to my ridicule and the
things I had been afraid to do, afraid even to think about, were spoken of and
done openly before me without shame. Even my own inclinations began
suddenly to become stronger. Unsuspected instincts and hidden forces that I
did not yet understand began to be felt and to give pleasure.

Thus, the full practice of faith, hope, and love grew increasingly difficult to
observe. Then I was confirmed and these tendencies were henceforth to be
counteracted by the indwelling within me, not merely of grace, but of the very
Spirit of God. He Himself was to take charge of my soul.  

Confirmation Once and for All, and Only Once. By Fr. Bede Jarrett

I will probably acknowledge that, to a very large extent, I have neglected to

make use of this sacrament. Of course, I have received it, and I know well

that it cannot be repeated. How, then, can I be held to blame for neglecting

that which I have received just the one time that I can possibly receive it? To

realize this, let me ask myself why it is that it can be received once only. The

answer is obvious that, in receiving this sacrament, I receive a character or

mark on my soul that can never be effaced. What does all this mean? It

means that I cannot receive Confirmation more than once, simply because I

have no need to repeat it. Once given, it is given for always, because the

effects last as long as life lasts.

The grace of Communion may refresh me all my days, but the Presence fades.

Absolution removes all my sins from me. They are forgiven forever. If,

unhappily, I fall again into sin, I must approach this saving sacrament again.

With Confirmation, on the other hand, the sacramental grace perseveres until

the end. Once I have been marked with the grace of Confirmation, I have had

set up in my soul a power, a force, that never runs dry or can be drained or

even wholly affected by sin. When I do wrong, the grace ceases to work, but

it does not cease to exist. Therefore, as soon as I have reconciled myself to

God, back again comes the flood that Confirmation for good and all

established within me.

Hence, the value of Confirmation does not exist simply in the day of my

reception of it, but is to be made use of all the days of my life. The indwelling

of the Spirit of God that began at Baptism is now made perfect and the

wonderful Sevenfold Gifts of God are put into my charge. With me, it lies

whether I have the benefit those gifts can confer or not.  

On the Dry and Fruitless Soul. By Fr. Bede Jarrett

Reverence, then, suggests that there is needed in us somehow a feeling of
tenderness towards God, a softening of the hardened edges of the soul, and, at
the same time, a subjection, an avowal of our dependence on Him. The Holy
Ghost is, then, to be considered as perfecting by means of these gifts even that
borderland of man that lies between the purely reasonable and the purely
sensual. The vague stretches of man’s consciousness are by the indwelling of
the Spirit of God made at once responsive to the slightest communication
from it.

Psychology in our own time has made its greatest progress by exploring all
the unknown lands that are in each of us. The phenomena that are produced
by hypnotism and spiritualism are evidence of many other things, which are at
as closed to us as the regions of Tibet. However, in this connection, they
explain to us how whatever is beyond the influence or direction of our reason
and our will must still be brought into subjection to the standard of Christ.
We have, therefore, nothing to fear from the research of professors, for they
are giving us opportunities to extend in our own souls the territory that must
be handed back to Him who made it.

This communication and susceptibility to the movement of God is His work,
not ours. The virtue must be added to the gift, must follow it as man’s
contribution (not of course, to the exclusion of God) to the work of his
salvation. It is not sufficient for me to feel this presence or to be conscious of
the reverence due. I must further add to it the love and fear of my heart
embodied in action—namely, in thought, word, and deed.  

Gently Shed Thy Gracious Rain. By Fr. Bede Jarrett

Piety, then, is said to perfect the attitude of man to God and to things of God
by giving the appearance of friendship to his relationship to his Maker. Fear
of the Lord, on the other hand, inclines him rather to look upon God in the
character of a judge. Piety sanctifies the feeling of love and the other hallows
the feeling of fear. In the life of the soul, there is room and need for both.
Indeed, it may be said, not unjustly, that together they produce in the soul that
instinct of reverence that is begotten of both.

Love that knows no reverence is not love at all, but passion. Fear that cannot
climb to revere the object of our fear is altogether inhuman.
From the opposite standpoint, it can hardly be questioned that the chief
obstacles that interfere with our perfect service of God are the two
characteristics of hardness and independence.

We do not respond to His appeals. Passion and ever-flowing love leave us
cold because our hearts are so hardened by the interests and the cares of our
daily life and the deep respect that we owe to the Master of life too often
becomes irritation at the way His commands cut across our pleasures. We
object to the manner that, through His ministers, we are told to do something
that altogether revolts us—not because it is something very great but because
of its very pettiness. We are often inclined to think that He treats us as though
we are children. Fear of restraint is a natural instinct in men and animals.  

Gifts that Perfect the Emotions, Wash Away Each Sinful Stain. By Fr. Bede Jarrett

Besides the intelligence and the will, other faculties, though they are

numerous and diverse, can be shortly grouped under the heading of the

emotions. Sometimes they are called passions in the philosophic meaning of

the word; that is to say, the movements of the non-rational portion of our

being. Sometimes we speak of them as sentiments, especially when we wish

to imply that they are to be considered weak and effeminate. Under both

categories, there will be meditations on them, for they constitute, as will be

pointed out, a very considerable force in human life.

Here, however, we have only to consider them as perfected by two gifts of the

Holy Ghost. For this purpose, it will be necessary to say that these emotions,

though various, can be themselves divided into two main headings: love and

anger.

Under the heading of love, we place joy, desire, and other similar emotions—

sentiments that have upon us the effect of drawing us towards something or

some person and giving us expansive feelings towards all humanity. The

chief result of these, even physically, is that they widen our sympathies.

Under the heading of anger, we would place fear and the other set of

feelings, the effects of which are to chill the soul, to contract the emotions,

and to produce upon us the feeling of numbness. We know from

experiments of psychologists that the result is to stifle action, even physically.

One set shows that our mind has been attracted, the other that it has been

repelled.  

The Soul’s Sweet Guest. By Fr. Bede Jarrett

This, then, is the precise purpose of this particular gift—a perception, apart

from all the ordinary methods, of the proximity of God to the soul. Not as

though it meant nothing more than the appreciation that God is everywhere,

but rather just one aspect of the appreciation—namely, such an idea of it as

will enable the soul to gain courage.Always the gifts mean, according to the 

teaching of the Church, such arefinement of spirit as shall enable us to perceive 

the least passing breath ofGod. Our soul has become so still that the slightest stir 

ruffles the surfacewith ripples of a passing presence. My soul is so delicate that 

instinctively Iam conscious of the indwelling of the Spirit of God and nerved in

consequence by a corresponding strength that is not the result of any

determined act of will. It is, as it were, forced on me by the very nature of the

case. Neither presence nor strengthening are in any case my doing, nor do I

participate in either.

However, when I take the further step and proceed to act in consequence of

them—when, in virtue of a strength that is not my own, I banish fear and face

resolutely the difficulties of the good life—then the gift has led to the virtue

and something that is human has blossomed out of something that was divine.

Surely, it will be of the utmost consequence to me to realize this nearness of

God and the courage that its perception will give.

In all my trials, none are so hard for me to bear as discouragement and

depression. How, then, can I now shirk my duty and the disagreeable

necessities imposed on me once I have made use of this divine friend, whose

hand is always locked in mine?

God - Nearer than Dearest Friend. By Fr. Bede Jarrett

To grasp the way God thus works, we can describe it as a sense of firmness imparted to the soul by the perceived presence of God. A comparison, however inadequate, suggests to us in what manner this is effected.

The mere presence of others gives us a courage that we should probably not have experienced if alone. A child having to undergo some slight operation or some test of pain, is usually willing to bear it patiently if only its mother will hold its hand. It is of course not that the pain is in this way rendered any the less, but that a feeling of bravery is imparted by the mere presence of the mother.

In a still more striking way, it is similar with children in the dark. They are frightened by the loneliness of it. If another is in the room, though he may not be seen nor heard, without any sensible appreciation of the presence and sustained only by the knowledge of the nearness, the child is at once reinforced by a courage that springs entirely from the other’s proximity. An invalid will grow querulous when he knows he is alone. The mere presence of an onlooker will nerve us to bravery without a word being spoken or a thing being done. Similarly, our soul is encouraged by the perceived presence of the Holy Spirit, despite its natural or acquired timidity, to persevere.

Thus, it will be seen that the paradox has been reconciled. The perception of the presence has not been our own doing, still less has the nearness of God been through any merit of our own. However, the mere indwelling of the Holy Ghost has itself refined the perceptive faculties of the will so they are strengthened by the divine Friend.

The Gift that Perfects Will - God is My Strength. Fr. Bede Jarrett

This gift is fortitude, which, as we have already stated in general terms, must be carefully distinguished from the virtue of fortitude. This gift is entirely under the direction of God and excludes altogether on my part any action at all in the operation of the gift. This exclusion of all cooperation seems harder perhaps to understand when the will is in question, as it is in the gift of fortitude. It seems altogether impossible to imagine that God can direct the will and yet that it should not be voluntary.

It is clear, indeed, from the Catholic doctrine of grace, that it is possible for God to move the will so powerfully as to determine not merely that the will shall act, but to determine also that it shall act freely. God is so intimate to the will that He can, so to say, save it from within. However, this is different from His control of the will in the gift of fortitude. In the intellect, a light can be present that is none of our own. However, in the will, how can there be a force that is not itself of the will?
In other words, we must reconcile two contradictory ideas—namely, a will that acts yet does not merit. I am apparently and actually perfectly free, for God does not compel the will unwillingly. Yet, with all my freedom under the guidance of the gift, I cannot acquire merit. That is what we said was the very characteristic of the sevenfold gifts—that they are, in their proper operation, entirely the work of God.

The Gift of Transfiguring Vision. By Fr. Bede Jarrett

These, indeed, are visions such as the gifts that perfect the intelligence evoke in the mind. However, it is our business to see that they do not remain barren visions. Just as faith is allowed us that it may lead to life, and as we shall be the more straightly condemned if we do not carry into practice what faith reveals, so also will our judgment be the more severe if with all the light that is vouchsafed to us we yet prefer to walk unheeding in the midst of this wonderful world.

Many find life dull and religion altogether a thing that bores them. Perhaps the reason is that they neglect the vision. It is there before their eyes if they would only look. For me, the world must become transfigured. Life then will be easier, less vexatious, and will lose the dreary outlook that is the most depressing of all temptations and that makes me consider it not worth living. I shall at least understand that there is a purpose in existence. Evil and suffering are seen to be parts that require careful handling that their places in the design may not be overlooked and not ignored, but acknowledged. They are found to be the stepping-stones to greatness. Success and failure have no separate meaning, for the need is for them both.

So, in all, patience is discovered to be the most perfect virtue to have achieved—patience with others, with oneself, with life, and with God. This state of soul is not due to a disregard of the circumstances that attend our time on earth but is due to a more thorough appreciation of the terms of existence.
I see life fuller and enjoy it more. It is the patience not of the wearied voluptuary but of the enraptured lover, who is so sure of his love that he can afford to wait through all time for eternity.

The Mind’s Clear Light By Fr. Bede Jarrett

In these ways, God lights up our minds by means of His gifts. Under this illumination, I now look upon creation and find it to be alive with the traces of God’s presence. Nature becomes the very loveliness of His vesture and I say to myself: If I can touch but the hem of His vesture, I shall be made whole. Even in the relentless preying of beast on beast, I see somehow the wonderful work of God. The machinery of man is no longer a sight of ugliness; instead, it becomes colored by the brightness of His power. It is the child’s toy that reproduces on an infinitely smaller scale the creative energy of the Creator.

The linked reasoning of philosophy is the imitation of an infinite intelligence. Then, I lift my mind higher to the ampler regions of faith. Here surely is the very splendor of God. In the depths of mysteries that my intelligence is too faulty and finite to fathom, lurk the wonder of His truth and the ways of His wisdom. Justice, mercy, loving-kindness, and overpowering majesty are all crowded upon my imagination by the thought of all that He has revealed to me of Himself. Here, if anywhere, I can at least understand that God is altogether above me.

Then again, the highest gift of all floods my soul with even clearer light and I see the interrelation of all things. I see how the death of a sparrow, the sunset, and the Incarnation are all parts of a perfect whole. It is not an uplifting of the soul from earth to heaven, but a perception that earth and heaven are themselves the fragments of a larger scheme.