Unleashing the Spirit
How to unleash the gifts of the Holy Spirit
This Sunday is the Feast of Pentecost. The Sacrament of Confirmation perpetuates the grace of Pentecost in us. At our Confirmation we received an increase of the Holy Spirit and the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. But how do we unleash the gifts of the Spirit in our lives. First, we must have confidence the Holy Spirit dwells withing us and wants to inspire and carry forth all, and I mean all we do at every moment. Listen to St Faustina:
“O my Jesus, how very easy it is to become holy; all that is needed is a bit of good will. If Jesus sees this little bit of good will in the soul, He hurries to give Himself to the soul, and nothing can stop Him, neither shortcomings nor falls – absolutely nothing. Jesus is anxious to help that soul, and if it is faithful to this grace from God, it can very soon attain the highest holiness possible for a creature here on earth. God is very generous and does not deny His grace to anyone. Indeed He gives more than what we ask of Him. Faithfulness to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit – that is the shortest route.” (Diary 291)
Making a resolution
To benefit from the inspirations of the Holy Spirit it is necessary to be faithful to daily meditation and a resolution. Pay attention to what God puts on your mind and heart during Mass or reading and reflecting on Scripture or praying the Rosary, then whatever you think it is, just do it. Don’t agonize over it. Just try things. Don’t you think God is really pleased when he sees someone out there who really wants to know and do his will and is trying to put it into practice. Don’t you think God will come to that persons aid immediately. I can picture God saying to the angels: look at Scherschligt, he is pathetic you know, but at least he is trying – one of you guys go down and help him, okay.
Examples of a resolution
A resolution is to choose some concrete and practical thing to remember from our meditation to put into practice that day.
Examples of a resolution are:
Today I will not gossip, judge or speak badly about others
I complain too much, therefore, today I will practice thanking God for everything.
I become anxious easily, so today I will replace that feeling of Anxiety with an Act of Trust in God. Every time I feel anxious I will say: Jesus I trust in you.
We want to see Results and if we don’t see results we tend to quit. The result of our prayer is that over time we should change. But change does not come about magically and it does not come about by vague generalities. Change comes from the grace of God in combination with our honest reflection on the Word of God and our own life and then committing to a resolution, some concrete step that we will put into practice that day. Therefore if we meditate every day and form a resolution we put into practice, over time one of two things will happen – we will change or we will quit doing meditation.
Friendship, conversation, and the Holy Spirit
St Francis de Sales knew the importance of having a good friend with whom you can have good conversation and help you be faithful to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. He begins by quoting Sirach 6:14, “A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure. A faithful friend is a life-saving remedy…it is necessary that we submit ourselves to the direction of a faithful friend, who by the prudence and wisdom of his counsels can guide us in all our actions and secure us from the ambushes and deceits of the wicked one. Such a friend will be to us like a treasure of wisdom and consolation in all our afflictions, our sorrows and relapses…He will guard us from evil and make us advance in good…Ask God with the greatest insistence to furnish you with one who may be according to his own heart. Be assured God would rather send you an angel from heaven…than to fail to grant your request…Open your heart to him with all sincerity and fidelity, expressing clearly and explicitly the state of your conscience without fiction or concealment. By this means, your good actions will be examined and approved, and your evil ones corrected and remedied…For this purpose, choose one among a thousand, says Teresa of Avila. But I say, choose one among ten thousand…he must be a man of love, learning and prudence. But I say to you again, ask God for him, and having obtained him, bless the Divine Majesty for such a great gift.”
The Holy Spirit and Mary
St Maximilian Kolbe saw clearly that if we want the Holy Spirit to act in our lives then we should turn to Mary – for the Holy Spirit works through her.
The Third Person of the Blessed Trinity never took flesh; still our human word "spouse" is far too weak to express the reality of the relationship between the Immaculata and the Holy Spirit. We can affirm that she is, in a certain sense, the "incarnation" of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that we love in her; and through her we love the Son. The Holy Spirit is for too little known.
On July 28, 1935 Kolbe wrote (p. 473-474 Foster)
And what about the Holy Spirit? He is in the Immaculata as the second person of the Holy Trinity, as the Son of God is in Jesus, but of course, with this distinction – in Jesus Christ, one divine person, two natures, the divine and the human, are united. In the Immaculata, her nature and person are distinguished from the nature and person of the Holy Spirit. However, the union between the Holy Spirit and the Immaculata is so inexpressibly perfect that He conducts His activity through her only. Therefore, she is the mediatrix of all graces flowing from the Holy Spirit…In honoring the Immaculata, we honor in a special way the Holy Spirit.
Since the Holy Spirit and Mary act as one, the more we belong to Mary, the more we can be led by the Spirit. Just imitate the way Jesus lived for 30 of his 33 years. He lived an intimate personal relationship with Mary. He lived under her direction and care. That is what Kolbe did and that is what we should do if we want to experience the seven gifts of the Spirit - Belong entirely to Mary. Ask her what to do. Pay attention to the way she orchestrated things. Then respond the best you can. That is precisely what Jesus did at Cana when Mary recognized there was no wine. She brought the servants to Jesus, and then told them – “Do whatever he tells you.”