Holy Spirit Encyclical (cont'd) - Part I -paragraph 21

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today we have before us paragraph 21, which concludes section 5 of Part 1 of our Holy Spirit Encyclical:

1. That which during the theophany at the Jordan came so to speak “from outside,” from on high, here comes “from within,” that is to say from the depths of who Jesus is. It is another revelation of the Father and the Son, united in the Holy Spirit. Jesus speaks only of the fatherhood of God and of his own sonship-he does not speak directly of the Spirit, who is Love and thereby the union of the Father and the Son. Nonetheless what he says of the Father and of himself-the Son-flows from that fullness of the Spirit which is in him, which fills his heart, pervades his own “I,” inspires and enlivens his action from the depths. Hence that “rejoicing in the Holy Spirit.” The union of Christ with the Holy Spirit, a union of which he is perfectly aware, is expressed in that “rejoicing,” which in a certain way renders “perceptible” its hidden source. Thus there is a particular manifestation and rejoicing which is proper to the Son of Man, the Christ-Messiah, whose humanity belongs to the person of the Son of God, substantially one with the Holy Spirit in divinity.

In the magnificent confession of the fatherhood of God, Jesus of Nazareth also manifests himself, his divine “I”- for he is the Son “of the same substance,” and therefore “no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son,” that Son who “for us and for our salvation” became man by the power of the Holy Spirit and was born of a virgin whose name was Mary.

This paragraph, for me, bears witness to the beautiful work of the Holy Spirit in Pope St. John Paul II himself. How could he write in such a compelling way about the “depths of who Jesus is”, if St. John Paul II did not have some experience of intimate friendship with Jesus? I believe St. JPII did have such an intimate friendship with Jesus, and heard His revelation of the Father, by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the intercession of Mary, primarily pondering the Scripture. Like Mary, St. JPII kept everything Jesus said and did, in his heart; and he did the Truth he heard, lovingly.

St. JPII spent much time continuing to learn from Jesus, listening to Him in Scripture and hearing profoundly by the power of the Holy Spirit, the revelation of the Father and the Holy Spirit which he then shared with the Church and the world. I thank God for His wonderful work in St. John Paul II and for the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in the Church Jesus founded. May each of us enter into that union with the Trinity to which we are called, and like Pope St. John Paul II bear our own unique witness to the Church and to the world for God’s glory and the salvation of souls.

Come Holy Spirit, kindle in us the Fire of Your Love, bring us into all the Truth of Jesus, and lead us home to our Father – where also Mary, our Mother and Model awaits us. Enable us to bring Jesus to others as Mary did in this world.