2023-05-28 11:32:00
May 28, 2023 / 4:32 a.m.
Pope Francis affirmed that with the help of the Holy Spirit we can defeat the devil, who is the evil and divisive spirit that “enjoy injustice and slander”.
On the Solemnity of Pentecost, which is celebrated this Sunday, May 28, Pope Francis presided over Holy Mass at 10 am (Rome time), in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.
The ceremony was celebrated by Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz before numerous faithful and pilgrims from different parts of the world.
In his homily, the Holy Father highlighted 3 moments in which the Holy Spirit acts: in the world he has created, in the Church and in our hearts.
1. In the world he has created
In the first place, the Pontiff explained that the Holy Spirit “He who, at the beginning and at all times, causes created realities to pass from disorder to order, from dispersion to cohesion, from confusion to harmony”.
According to Pope Francis, “He gives the world, in a word, harmony; thus he ‘he guides the course of time and renews the face of the earth’”.
The Holy Father then lamented that today “we are all connected and yet we find ourselves disconnected from each other, anesthetized by indifference and oppressed by loneliness.”
“Many wars, many conflicts; It seems incredible the evil that man can do. But actually, what fuels our hostilities is the spirit of division, the devil, whose name means precisely ‘he who divides’”, he explained.
The Pontiff assured that “the evil spirit enjoys antagonism, injustice, slander.”
“And, faced with the evil of discord, our efforts to build harmony are not enough. Behold, then, the Lord, at the height of his Passover, at the height of salvation, poured out on the created world his good Spirit, the Holy Spirit, who opposes the spirit of division because he is harmony; Spirit of unity that brings peace. Let us ask him to come to our world every day,” he added.
2. In the Church
Second, Pope Francis explained that the Holy Spirit came “descending on each one of the apostles; each received particular graces and different charismas”.
Thus, he stated that “su harmony is not an imposed and approved order”, since “it did not create an equal language for everyone, it did not eliminate differences, cultures, but it harmonized everything without homologating, without standardizing. Let us dwell on this aspect: the Spirit does not begin with a structured project; no, He begins by distributing free and superabundant gifts”
For Pope Francis, this is how the Spirit creates harmony, “invites us to let his love and his gifts, which are present in others, surprise us.”
“To see every brother and sister in the faith as part of the same body to which I belong; This is the harmonious look of the Spirit, this is the path that it indicates to us”.
In this sense, he pointed out that “the Synod that is taking place is —and must be— a path according to the Spirit; not a parliament to claim rights and needs according to the world’s agenda, not the opportunity to go where the wind takes us, but the opportunity to be docile to the breath of the Spirit”.
He then asked to return “to put the Holy Spirit at the center of the Church, otherwise our hearts will not be inflamed with love for Jesus, but for ourselves. Let us put the Spirit at the beginning and at the center of synodal work”.
“Yes, to show himself to the world He chose the moment and the place where they were all together. Therefore, the People of God, to be filled with the Spirit, must walk together, hold a synod. This is how harmony is renewed in the Church: walking together with the Spirit at the center. Let’s build harmony in the Church”.
3. In our hearts
Finally, Pope Francis remarked that God gives us the Holy Spirit “to forgive sins, that is, to reconcile spiritsto harmonize hearts lacerated by evil, broken by wounds, disintegrated by feelings of guilt”.
“Only the Spirit restores harmony to the heart because it is He who creates the ‘intimacy with God. “Let’s invoke the Holy Spirit every day, let’s start by praying to Him every day, let’s be docile to Him.”
Later, the Holy Father encouraged the faithful to ask themselves the following questions: “Am I docile to the harmony of the Spirit or do I follow my projects, my ideas, without letting myself be shaped, without letting myself be transformed by Him? Is my way of living the faith docile or is it stubborn to words, to so-called doctrines that are only expressions of a cold life?
“Am I quick to judge, point my finger and slam the door in the face of others, considering myself a victim of everything and everyone? Or, on the contrary, do I accept his harmonious creative power, the ‘grace of the whole’ that he inspires, his forgiveness that gives peace, and in turn forgive? Forgiveness is making room for the Spirit to come. Do I promote reconciliation and create communion, or am I always searching, sticking my nose out where there are difficulties, to speak ill, to divide, to destroy?
Lastly, he asked that “if the world is divided, if the Church is polarized, if the heart is fragmented, we do not waste time criticizing others and getting angry with ourselves, but rather invoke the Spirit, He is able to solve these things”.
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