Works of the Holy Ghost (2016)
Fr. Martin Fuchs´s sermon on 15th May 2016 in Prague, Czech republic
***
When the centurion Cornelius
sent for Saint Peter, the Holy Scripture says: “...the Holy Ghost fell on all
them that heard the word. And the faithful of the circumcision, who came with
Peter, were astonished, for that the grace of the Holy Ghost was poured out
upon the Gentiles also. For they heard them speaking with tongues, and
magnifying God. Then Peter answered: Can any man forbid water, that these should
not be baptized, who have received the Holy Ghost, as well as we? And he
commended them to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.“ (Act of
Apostles 10:44-48)
When we read this passage of
the Holy Scripture, we might have the impression that these people received
confirmation, i. e. the Holy Ghost, even before baptism. Is this possible? Is not
the order of the sacraments following: holy baptism, holy confession, Holy Communion,
holy confirmation...? Wouldn´t be a sacrament which follows baptism in listing
invalid without baptism? Yes, it is so.
In principle, God can grant
every sacrament's grace even without the sacrament. The apostles certainly had
not been baptized before the Last Supper and yet they received ordination and Holy
Communion in a valid manner. The same way God could give the grace of
confirmation without the sacrament of confirmation.
But here it refers to a
charismatic grace, an unusual gift of grace of the Holy Ghost, i. e. grace
which God confers in order to lead others to the true religion. There are more
unusual gifts of grace: the gift of stigmatization, of working wonders, of
languages, of bilocation, of levitation, of discernment of hearts and others.
Even a person not being in a
state of sanctifying grace may have this gift of grace, i. e. even the
unbaptized Gentiles in today's lecture. In the New Testament it is the High
priest Caiaphas who has it. He said: “...it is expedient for you that one man
should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.“ (John 11:50)
Although he was firmly
determined to hand Jesus over to death at that time and thus living in a grave
sin, he had a special gift of prophecy, being the High priest.
Like a Pope who possesses
the grace of infallibility if he complies with certain requirements, the High
priest of the Old Testament had certain charismata. This is why Saint John puts
special emphasis on it: “And this he spoke... being the High priest of that
year.“
If the pope retires, he loses
the grace of infallibility, as this is connected to the papal office.
It seems that the Gentiles
in the passage of the Holy Scripture, which I quoted at the beginning, had been
baptized after having received the Holy Ghost and that they were confirmed
sometime later.
Let us now have a look at
the works of the Holy Ghost:
His first work is the
apostles. He came down on them at Pentecost and changed them completely!
Until then they were
ignorant, slow of mind, so that they hardly understood the most common
allegories even in their mother tongue. And suddenly they spoke all the
languages of the world and remembered everything that the Lord had told them
before. They understood the deepest mysteries and they were educated as if they
had been studying for years. Until then they were fainthearted like weak
children; they did not have the slightest bravery which however they needed,
being the apostles.
Did not they all run away
from enemies of Jesus on the Mount of Olives? Did not one of them deny the
Saviour out of fear? Did they not stay behind closed doors even after the
Resurrection out of fear of Jews? But now they bravely confronted Jews and
Gentiles, kings and princes; they did not fear humiliation and mockery, neither
whips nor bitter death.
They had been selfish and
vain before, just concerned about their own honour, but then they forgot their
own self and worked for the honour of God and for the salvation of souls. They
were equipped with important gifts of grace: they worked wonders, even greater
ones than Christ himself had worked.
A second work of the Holy
Ghost is the Church of Christ – the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church
which continues Christ's redemptive work and thus produces fruits of holiness.
This is certified by every veritable canonization.
Being an institution of
salvation, Church preserves its members from error; it teaches and protects the
truth. This is why in times of crisis there were always men who stood up and
faced the storm:
Saint Athanasius against the
Arians, Saint Dominic against the Albigensians, Saint Catherine of Siena in the
time of the great papal schism, Saint Ignatius, Saint Pius V, Saint Charles
Borromeo, Saint Philipp Neri and Saint Theresa of Avila in the time of the
reformation...
The Church always defends
the truth, yes, it has to defend the truth, even if it may mean big losses.
Thus millions of men were separated from the Catholic Church due to the
doctrine that the Holy Ghost emanates from the Father and the Son. Millions of
Russians and Greeks pretended and still pretend that the Holy Ghost emanates
from the Father alone.
Such a difference seems to
be small and unimportant to a careless man but it is essential to the Church of
Christ and so she prefers to part with millions of disciples instead of giving
up this doctrine. It is remarkable that the Greeks who had not accepted this
doctrine of the Holy Ghost and had rebelled against the Catholic Church, were
submitted to the yoke of the Turks, in whose hands Constantinople is still
today and fell to them just on Pentecost of the year 1453.
Saint Thomas says: “The Holy
Ghost emanates from the Father and the Son like the warmth emanates from the
sun and the ray.“
There is another truth:
Christ has two wills. “Because I came down from heaven, not to do my own will,
but the will of him that sent me.“ (John 6:38)
“Father... not my will, but
thine be done.“ (Luke 22:42)
For some this may be
unnecessary speculation, but it is the truth revealed by God and presented by
the Church. Jesus Christ has two natures, a divine one and a human one, and
each of these natures has its will. Of course these wills of Christ are united
outwardly in such a way that is seems that he has only one will.
During the 16th century
millions of English Catholics fell away to the Anglican sect. If the pope
Clemens VII declared invalid the valid marriage of Henry VIII, this would
probably not happened. But the truth - the indissolubility of marriage – had to
be defended! Many died defending this Catholic doctrine, among others Saint
John Fisher and Saint Thomas More.
We ourselves are a third
work of the Holy Ghost. Saint Paul wrote to Christians of Corinth:
“Know you not, that you are
the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?“(1 Cor 3:16)
If we are in a state of
grace at this moment – and I hope we are – the Holy Spirit lives in us, like
the Lord in the tabernacle. Then He is with us with his seven gifts. Saint
Vincent Ferrer says that if we could see a soul free from sins, we would be so
delighted by its beauty that we would renounce to eat and drink for a hundred
years.
And if we lose the
sanctifying grace, we may regain it by a good holy confession. The two forces
of our souls – reason and will – will be enlightened and invigorated by the
gifts of the Holy Ghost.
Very often the Holy Ghost
makes use of the helping grace, for example by external reasons, persons,
sermons and books! Saint Ignatius was touched by God's grace when reading the
legend of a saint, Saint Francis Borgia when looking at the cadaver of the
empress Isabel, Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen by a lawsuit, Saint Francis of
Assisi by a sermon, Saint Andrew Corsini by a dream of his mother.
One cannot see without light
and cannot recognize the truth without the Holy Ghost's grace.
Sometimes the Holy Ghost
warns us not to do this or that; sometimes he incites us:
“Go to the Holy Mass! Visit this sick person and admonish him to have
confidence in God and in prayer!”
The Holy Ghost continues
Christ's work: in his apostles, in the Catholic Church, in us. Let us be
grateful to him and let us listen to his voice. Amen.
