"For the spirit of the Lord fills the world, and that which holds everything together knows every word said." (Wisdom 1: 7)
Wisdom, knowledge and holiness are attributes of the Holy Spirit. He imparts these same gifts to people. The Holy Spirit is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent.
"God, create in me a clean heart, renew within me a resolute spirit. Do not thrust me away from your presence, do not take away from me your spirit of holiness." (Psalm 51: 11)
The highest consequence of grave sin is losing the presence of the Holy Spirit in the soul. For anyone who is aware of this presence and has enjoyed it like David, it is an unbearable situation. Less grave sins or venial sins cause the diminution of the Holy Spirit in the soul. The Holy Spirit is the best promise and the best gift of God. In fact, the Holy Spirit is the only thing we need. God is the source of all inspiration and power. Inspiration and power come to us through the agency of the indwelling Spirit. David calls the Holy Spirit here, the Spirit of holiness. Indeed holiness is the original condition for inspiration and power.
"There is, you see, a spirit residing in humanity, the breath of God conferring intelligence." (Job 32: 8 – New Jerusalem Bible)
The NIV renders it thus:
"But truly it is the spirit in a mortal, the breath of the Almighty, that makes for understanding."
The Holy Spirit gives understanding and knowledge.
"My dear friends, not every spirit is to be trusted, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets are at large in the world. This is the proof of the spirit of God: any spirit which acknowledges Jesus Christ, come in human nature, is from God, and no spirit of antichrist, whose coming you have heard of; he is already at large in the world." (1 John 4: 1-4)
The spirit of antichrist works to deny the person and work of Jesus Christ. This is a critical principle of discernment of spirit. When we add to this another principle: "By their fruits, you shall know them," you have an unassailable battery of discernment of spirits.
The antichrist will diminish Jesus whenever and wherever he can. The good spirit bears witness to Jesus and spreads knowledge of His name everywhere.
"The particular manifestation of the Spirit granted to each one is to be used for the general good…….to another, the power of distinguishing spirits…" (1 Corinthians 12: 7 – 11)
Today more than ever we hear many voices not just in the market place but inside the household of God. The gift of sorting out these voices and their messages belong to the discernment of spirits. A good way to nourish this gift is to immerse oneself in sacred scripture. Jesus is the good Shepherd. He calls His sheep. They recognize His voice and follow Him.
"Do not stifle the Spirit or despise the gift of prophecy with contempt; test everything and hold on to what is good and shun every form of evil." (1 Thessalonians 5: 19)
Do not stifle the Spirit.
Do not sadden the Spirit.
Do not let the Spirit become weakened in you.
Cultivate the Spirit.
"About the gifts of the Spirit, brothers, I want you to be quite certain. You remember that when you were pagans, you were irresistibly drawn to inarticulate heathen gods. Because of that, I want to make it quite clear to you that no one who says 'A curse on Jesus' can be speaking in the Spirit of God, and nobody is able to say, 'Jesus is Lord' except in the Holy Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12: 1-3)
The gift of discernment of spirits helps us to discern the will of God for us in concrete situations. The same gift can be used to discern the spirit inside a person. The above scripture gives a simple guideline. Nobody who causes Jesus can have a good spirit living within him. On the other hand, acknowledgment of Jesus as Lord is sign of the presence of a good spirit.
Do you want to exercise the gift of discernment of spirits, then fill your mind with the word of God. The word of God is filled with principles of discernment. One of my favorites is "By their fruits you shall know them."
"These sufferings bring patience, as we know, and patience brings perseverance, and perseverance brings hope, and this hope is not deceptive, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us." (Romans 5: 4-5)
The love of God has been truly poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. How I rejoice in this truth. Once upon a time, I considered myself the most selfish man on this planet. And then one day in a confession, a priest reminded me of this great truth. If the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love is dwelling in you, how can you consider yourself the most selfish man on earth? I understood immediately that my idea of me does not make sense. The love with which I love is the love poured into my heart by the Holy Spirit. This love is so much unlike the love of the world. With the Holy Spirit in us, we love as God loves us. We love as God wants us to love. We love our neighbor as ourselves. We love the poor and the weak who have no means to say "thank you." This is the love the Holy Spirit pours into our hearts.
"When Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the imposition of the hands by the apostles, he offered them some money, "Give me the same power," he said, 'so that anyone I lay my hands on will receive the Holy Spirit." (Acts 8: 18-20)
The temptation of Simon, the magician is the lure to buy and sell spiritual favors. We cannot buy the Holy Spirit. We cannot buy spiritual gifts. We cannot purchase our salvation. All the promises of God are meant for us. They are freely given. We receive in direct proportion to our readiness to receive and our boldness in asking for the favor.
"God himself confirmed their witness with signs and marvels and miracles of all kinds, and by distributing the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the various ways he will." (Hebrews 2: 4)
The Spirit and His gifts
What power manifestation of the Spirit am I seeking today? I am seeking for power to witness to Jesus Christ in word and deed. St. Paul says in regard to this:
"Of course I can dare to speak only of the things which Christ has done through me to win the allegiance of the gentiles, using what I have said and done by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of the Spirit of God." (Romans 15: 17-19)
What is say and what I do must bear witness to Jesus Christ. I am a work-in-progress.
"We know, brothers loved by God, that you have been chosen, because our gospel came to you not only in words, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with great affect." (1 Thessalonians 1: 4-5)
I paraphrase the above scripture thus: Although we used words to convey the message of the gospel, those words were imbued with power by the Holy Spirit. That is why they were very effective in your case.
When we share the gospel with people, the gospel is effective in proportion to the control of the Holy Spirit in the process. The more we let go and let the Holy Spirit, the more effective is our witness. The Holy Spirit is not just the power behind the words, He is the effective cause of conversion. No Holy Spirit, not conversion.
"I came among you in weakness, in fear and great trembling and what I spoke and proclaimed was not meant to convince by philosophical argument, but to demonstrate the convincing power of the Spirit, so that your faith should depend not on human wisdom but on the power of God." (1 Corinthians 2: 4-5)
How do we demonstrate the convincing power of the Holy Spirit in our work of sharing the good news? First, we allow the Holy Spirit to take control. We do this by invoking His help through prayer. We call to mind what Christ said to Paul: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9) This truth banishes fear, doubt and worry from our mind.
There are only two ways we can work for God: through the energy of the flesh or through the convincing power of the Holy Spirit. The flesh is futile and has nothing to offer. All that we need is the Holy Spirit.
"So I can be proud in Christ Jesus, of what I have done for God. Of course I can dare to speak only of the things which Christ has done through me to win the allegiance of the gentiles, using what I have said and done, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God." (Romans 15: 17 – 19)
The Holy Spirit is the prime mover in all works of evangelization. He produces signs and wonders in our life to help us win people for Jesus Christ. In Romans 15: 17 – 19, Paul probably refers to miracles as signs and wonders. Such miracles are reported in Acts of the Apostles. Signs and wonders continue to accompany the work of evangelization today. I would call great teaching or preaching that move people to conversion signs and wonders.
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in your faith, so that in the power of the Holy Spirit you may be rich in hope." (Romans 15: 13)
Why is God described here as the God of hope? What is the implication of being rich in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit? What is hope?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines hope in paragraph 1817 as:
" Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit. "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful." "The Holy Spirit . . . he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life."
God has made us for Himself and our hearts are restless until they rest in Him. This is why God is the God of our hope. We are rich in hope when our faith in final union with God is unshakable. We believe we shall attain to this blessed hope "relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit."
"And now I am sending upon you what the Father has promised. Stay in the city, until you are clothed with the power from on high." (Luke 24: 49)
The Holy Spirit is the greatest promise of God to man. He is the power from on high. There is a power from on high and a power from below.
Power is the dominant attribute of the Holy Spirit. What is power, anyway?
"Ability, whether physical, mental or moral, to act; the faculty of doing or performing something; capacity for action or for performance or receiving external action or force; capability of producing or undergoing an effect, whether physical, mental, moral."
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and be called the Son of God." (Luke 1: 35)
What do we learn about the person of the Holy Spirit from the above scripture? First, He
is the power of the Most High. We already know that power is the dominant attribute of the Holy Spirit. So if you need power to live out God's purpose in your life, ask the Holy Spirit to help you. The opposite of power is powerlessness. We know friends who have great intentions and resolutions all the time but are always powerless to take the first step.
When the Holy Spirit is present in our life, we are guaranteed to produce fruits that are holy and worthy of the children of God.
"God had anointed him with Holy Spirit and power, and because God was with him, Jesus went about doing good and curing all who had fallen into the power of the devil." (Acts 10: 38)
The highest form of blessing is the gift of the Holy Spirit. The anointing of Jesus with the Holy Spirit made an immediate impact on His ministry. He went about doing good and the anointing launched Him into His healing ministry.
The Holy Spirit gives us the power to do good. The Holy Spirit also gives us a share in the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. The fullness of this ministry is exercised in the priesthood through the Sacrament of Reconciliation and breaking open the word of God. The word of God releases the healing truths of God's word which can touch our hearts and minds where it hurts the most.
"It is not for you to know the times or dates that the Father has decided by his own authority, but you will receive the power of the Holy Spirit which will come upon you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to earth's remotest end." (Acts 1: 8)
The dominant attribute of the Holy Spirit is power, power to witness to the person and mission of Jesus Christ. And power to become an active player in the world mission of Jesus Christ. Without the special anointing of the Holy Spirit, it will be impossible to accomplish either of these.
"I have chosen you from the world to go and bear fruit bear fruit that will last." (John 15: 16, 19)
"I will bear a witness to you in the world, O Lord. I will spread the knowledge of your name among my brothers, alleluia!" We need the Holy Spirit power to say this and to do it.
"On the other hand the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control." (Galatians 5: 22 – 23)
A good tree produces good fruits. A bad tree produces rotten fruits. By their fruits, you shall know the tree. The word of God gives us in the above scripture an irrefutable principle of discernment. You want to know the man, look at his fruits. Discernment of spirits is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The more you know the word of God, the more you exercise this gift.
"Anyone who welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me." (Luke 9: 48)
Who is the little one? The poor, the weak, the marginalized, the undocumented immigrant. To serve them is to welcome the "little one" in the name of Christ.
"Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do for me."
The Church has a preferential option for the "little one" Watch out for the opportunity to do things for the little ones.
