Pope Benedict on two favorites

….two of my favorites, that is: St. Paul, and the Holy Spirit. I was reading over the Vatican Information Service account of the Wednesday audience in St. Peter’s Square, really enjoying these weekly catechesis opportunities to focus on the individual apostles, starting last spring with St. Peter. Today, for the second week, he talked about St. Paul and what he wrote about the Holy Spirit.

Quoting the words of St. Paul, the Holy Father said: “You did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship.” It is clear then, he went on, “that Christians, even before they act, possess a rich and fruitful inner life … that instates them in a … filial relationship with God.

An awful lot of people live in fear these days, so this is a good reminder that, simply, it’s not a spirit that comes from God. And I also hear in these words the emphasis of who you are more than what you do. And that who you are determines what you do. If you pray, you are a child of God, Benedict said.

“Paul also teaches us,” the Holy Father continued, “that there is no true prayer without the presence of the Spirit within us.” The Spirit is “like the soul of our soul, the most secret part of our being, whence a prayer incessantly rises towards God.”

  “Another aspect of the Spirit … is its association with love. … The Spirit introduces us into the very rhythm of divine life, which is a life of love. … And since by definition love unites, this means, above all, that the Spirit is a creator of communion within the Christian community.”

  “Finally, the Spirit, according to St. Paul, is a generous down payment given us by God Himself as a foretaste and guarantee of our future inheritance. …The action of the Spirit guides our lives towards the great values of love, joy, communion and hope.”

I believe that, if St. Paul were here today, he’d be using the internet, the air waves, print media and probably even podcasting. Through Benedict, he still is.