We are a few days away from the solemnity of Pentecost. The latter solemnly commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Church. From an underground fearful Church, the Holy Spirit infused in each and every believer of Jesus that courage and determination to openly proclaim that “this Jesus God raised up, and of that (each one of them is a) witness” of his resurrection (Acts 2, 32). In the early Church, as demonstrated in the Bible, the Spirit had already been presented as her coach. It was under his guidance that the Apostles boldly preached the name of Jesus, that they organised themselves as missionaries, as well as undertook their apostolic endeavours. All these wonders show that the Spirit is the axis and the everflowing spring of holiness for the people of God.
Both the ecclesiastical writers and the Fathers of the Church continued to enhance the idea of the Holy Spirit as being a trainer in holiness. For instance, Tertullian spoke of the Holy Spirit as coaching the martyrs while Jesus, being the games’ president, anointed his athletes before sending them to the arena.
As the time of persecutions ceased, the idea of the Holy Spirit as coach was still prevalent in the Church. Now there was a shift in its emphasis: from the martyrdom of the latter to the martyrdom of the spirit; i.e. spiritual warfare. A leading proponent of this idea is St Augustine. In one of his homilies, Augustine concludes it by the following words: “And so it is the Holy Spirit who trains our hands for battle and our fingers for war” (Exposition on the Psalms, 143.7). Through teaching his combat tactics, the Spirit helps the Christian to plan and carry out strategies to win her/his spiritual battles against the invisible powers of darkness that surround her/him.
The Holy Spirit does provide the weapons for the spiritual warfare we are all called to wage against the Evil One, with, in and through Christ. His help is always there, available to us. But, as Macarius the Egyptian rightly commented, the Holy Spirit on his own account cannot protect us in our struggle. He needs our full collaboration with him. Thus, the proposals of the Evil One are crushed “with the aid of the Holy Spirit together with our personal effort in exercising all virtues” (Spiritual Homilies, 21.5). Hence, this is another proof of how God, to bring about the human person’s salvation, needs her/his own consent before showing his almighty power. God respects the human person’s freedom even if the latter chooses not to collaborate with him for her/his healing; thus destroying herself/himself due to her/his irresponsible decision.
Let us pray the Holy Spirit, our coach, to inspire and invigorate our will to completely adhere to Christ, our genuine way, truth and life of our existence. May the Holy Spirit continually assist us in our constant battle against the powers of darkness that incessantly assail us from the outside and the inside.
Come, Holy Spirit, almighty Sanctifier, God of love, who filled the Virgin Mary with grace, who wonderfully changed the hearts of the apostles, who endowed all Your martyrs with miraculous courage, come and sanctify us. Enlighten our minds, strengthen our wills, purify our consciences, rectify our judgment, set our hearts on fire, and preserve us from the misfortunes of resisting Your inspirations. Amen.
FR MARIO ATTARD OFM CAP
San Gwann