WALKING IN THE SPIRIT

Walking in the Holy Spirit
by
Bernard J. Callaghan

“Why are you a man of hope in these days?” a person once asked the late Belgian Cardinal Joseph Suenens. The charismatic Vatican II (1960-63) prelate answered, “Because I believe God is new every morning....” Suenens added: “I am hopeful because I believe that the Holy Spirit is still a creating Spirit, and that He will give us every morning fresh freedom, joy and a new provision of hope, if we open our soul to him.” The Cardinal was speaking of the sixties, but his words were prophetic for our time.
First, we must be clear on who the Holy Spirit is. Before Vatican II the teaching was the Holy Ghost is the Third Person of the Trinity, the eternal love between the Father and Son. We still hold this belief, but since Vatican II and The Catechism of the Catholic Church,(CCC), we refer to the Holy Spirit as “... the interior master of life according to Christ, a gentle guest and friend who inspires, guides, corrects, and strengthens this life” (1697). In other words, to walk in the Holy Spirit is to encounter Christ.
Second, how then are we to walk in the Spirit? We must believe, like Job, the Father is the creator ;we are his creatures. We do not mean subjugation, but a tender, intimate relationship embodied most of all in our model, Jesus. Moreover, the Father is always the initiator of faith; our hearts are like humus in which God plants the Spirit. Thus all growth in faith stems from the Holy Spirit.
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Third, we cannot be open to the Holy Spirit, “the source of all holiness,” ( CCC, 749) without prayer, formal or informal. Most Catholics rightly think of the Our Father, Hail Mary, and the Glory to the Father, but a living prayer rises from a docile, humble and repentant heart. As the Lord speaks through Ezekiel,”A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh”(36:26).
Fourth, we believe the power of the Spirit comes primarily through the sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation administered by the
Church.
In Baptism the same Spirit that hovered over the water in Genesis, cleanses us from Original Sin and initiates divine life in us; we become children of the Father who shares the Holy Spirit with us as we mature in faith.
Next, in our journey, the Holy Spirit effects the change of bread and wine into the Lord's Body and Blood as we receive Eucharist for the first time.
Confirmation strengthens our Baptismal faith and confers on us the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, counsel, piety, fear of the Lord, fortitude, understanding, and knowledge(Isaiah 11:2).
The above said, some sincere Catholics might say yes, I follow all the above, but I still do not feel the power of the Spirit. To paraphrase theologian Alan Schreck, one may know the faith, but have yet to experience it through a personal encounter with the Lord (Your Life in the Holy Spirit p.69 ).
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Moreover, we cannot limit the Holy Spirit. The encounter with the Spirit could occur in a prayer group, a Marriage Encounter meeting, an AA meeting, during a personal crises, or a healing. For example, this article writer experienced healing of scrupulosity(re-confessing forgiven sin) when his Catholic prayer group prayed over him. But whatever the circumstances, the necessary constant is a personal encounter with Jesus.
St Paul himself speaks of such encounter: “I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, God may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner self with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are rooted and grounded in love” (Ephesians 3: 16-18). Today, we would say the inner self would be the personalty, however flawed , but shaped through the ups and downs of life and the grace of the Holy Spirit.
But we might still ask what is the theology behind opening to the Holy Spirit. Through the example of Popes St. John XIII and Francis, Catholics realize the Holy Spirit is not only an omnipotent divine person but is also immanent in the trenches of life. Thus Catholic teaching is grace does not negate nature, but as St. Thomas writes, grace builds on nature. Peter Erb, Catholic Studies specialist, once said to this writer, “Grace infuses or animates human nature.”
The foregoing example of scrupulosity illustrates grace infusing nature: the Holy Spirit freed this writer's mind and heart of a debilitating compulsion.
Therefore ,walking in the Holy Spirit, is not a static but a dynamic lifelong relationship. An analogy will help. When a man and woman are in love and
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want to marry, they do not merely walk together; they share their selves as they become one. Like wise, but on a divine level, we walk in the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us in the truth (John 17:17). The Lord through the Holy Spirit makes us holy in and through our everyday shifting circumstances as the Spirit whispers divine truths into our hearts.
Echoing Cardinal Suenens, we conclude walking in Spirit, the giver of life (the Creed), comes through a personal encounter with Jesus. As theologian Bernard Haring prays in the final chapter of Prayer, the Integration of Faith and Life, ...[W]hen the Spirit dwells in us and we become docile in him, we can call you[the Lord] in joy and in truth 'Our Father.' But we know, too through your revelation, that your abundant gifts and promises do not allow us to be lazy. You ask and make possible our creative co-operation”pp. 144-45. Thus, in the Spirit we witness to our faith in Jesus through prayer, the Mass, the sacraments, scripture, and service to a world thirsting for stability of the Holy Spirit.

Bernard J. Callaghan
bandscall@eastlink.ca