The Holy Spirit in Salvation
History
H. H.
John Paul II
General Audience
August 12, 1998
1. In view of the
Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, ever since the Encyclical Dominum et
Vivificantem I have invited you to see “with the eyes of faith the
2,000 years of the action of the Spirit of truth, who down the
centuries has drawn from the treasures of the Redemption achieved by
Christ and given new life to human beings, bringing about in them
adoption in the Only-begotten Son, sanctifying them, so that they
can repeat with St Paul: 'We have received ... the Spirit which is
from God' (cf. 1 Cor 2:12)” (Dominum et Vivificantem, n. 53a).
In our previous catecheses, we have described the manifestation of
God’s Spirit in the life of Christ, at Pentecost, from which the
Church came into being, and in the personal and community life of
believers. Our gaze now extends to the horizons of the world and the
whole of human history. Thus we are moving within the plan outlined
by this same Encyclical on the Holy Spirit, in which it is stressed
that it is impossible for us to limit ourselves to the 2,000 years
which have passed since the birth of Jesus Christ. Indeed, we need
“to go further back, to embrace the whole of the action of the Holy
Spirit even before Christ — from the beginning, throughout the
world, and especially in the economy of the Old Covenant” (ibid., n.
53b). At the same time “we need to look further and go further
afield, knowing that 'the wind blows where it wills' according to
the image used by Jesus in his conversation with Nicodemus (cf. Jn
3:8)” (ibid., 53c).
2. Moreover, the Second Vatican Council, focusing on the Church’s
mystery and mission in the world, offered this breadth of vision.
The Council holds that the Holy Spirit’s action cannot be limited to
the institutional dimension of the Church, where the Spirit also
works in a unique and full manner, but should be recognized outside
the visible frontiers of Christ's Body as well (cf. Gaudium et spes,
n. 22; Lumen gentium, n. 16).
For its part, the Catechism of the Catholic Church recalls with the
whole of Tradition: “The Word of God and his Breath are at the
origin of the being and life of every creature” (n. 703). And a
meaningful text of the Byzantine liturgy says: “It belongs to the
Holy Spirit to rule, sanctify and animate creation, for he is God
consubstantial with the Father and the Son.... Power over life
pertains to the Spirit, for being God, he preserves creation in the
Father through the Son” (ibid.). Thus there is no corner of creation
and no moment of history in which the Spirit is not at work.
It is true that all things were created by God the Father through
Christ and in Christ (cf. Col 1:16), so that the meaning and the
ultimate purpose of creation is to “unite all things in him” (Eph
1:10). However, it is just as true that all this happens through the
power of the Holy Spirit. Illustrating this Trinitarian “rhythm” of
salvation history, St Irenaeus says that “the Spirit prepares man
beforehand for the Son of God, the Son leads him to the Father and
the Father gives him incorruptibility and eternal life” (Adv. Haer.,
IV, 20, 5).
3. The Spirit of God, present in creation and active in all the
phases of salvation history, directs all things towards the
definitive event of the Incarnation of the Word. Obviously, this
Spirit is no different from the one who was given “not by measure”
(cf. Jn 3:34) by the crucified and risen Christ. The same identical
Holy Spirit prepares the advent of the Messiah in the world and,
through Jesus Christ, is communicated by God the Father to the
Church and to all humanity. The Christological and pneumatological
dimensions are inseparable and not only run through the history of
salvation, but the entire history of the world.
Therefore we can legitimately think that the way to salvation is
open wherever there are elements of truth, goodness, genuine beauty
and true wisdom, wherever generous efforts are made to build a more
human society in conformity with God’s plan. Even more so, wherever
there is a sincere expectation of God’s revelation and a hope open
to the saving mystery, we can recognize the hidden and effective
work of the Spirit of God who spurs man to the encounter with Christ
“the Way, the Truth and the Life” (Jn 14:6). When we turn over
certain wonderful pages of literature and philosophy, justly admire
some masterpiece of art or listen to passages of sublime music, we
spontaneously recognize in these expressions of human genius a
radiant reflection of God’s Spirit. Of course, these reflections are
on a different plane from those interventions which make the human
being, raised to the supernatural order, a temple in which the Holy
Spirit dwells together with the other Persons of the Blessed Trinity
(cf. St Thomas, Summa Theol., I-II, q. 109, a. 1, ad 1). Thus the
Holy Spirit, directly or indirectly, orients man to his integral
salvation.
4. For this reason we would like to pause in the next catecheses to
contemplate the Spirit’s action in the vast arena of humanity’s
history. This vision will also help us grasp the deep relationship
that unites the Church and the world, the overall history of man and
the particular history of salvation. The latter is not actually a
“separate” history, but rather plays a role with regard to the
former that we could describe as “sacramental”, that is, as a sign
and instrument of the one great offer of salvation which reached
humanity through the Incarnation of the Word and the outpouring of
the Spirit.
With this as the key, it is easy to understand several marvellous
pages of the Second Vatican Council on the solidarity that exists
between the Church and humanity. In this pneumatological perspective
I am pleased to reread the preface of Gaudium et spes: “The joy and
the hope, the grief and anguish of the men of our time, especially
of those who are poor or afflicted in any way, are the joy and hope,
the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well. Nothing
that is genuinely human fails to find an echo in their hearts. For
theirs is a community composed of men, of men who, united in Christ
and guided by the Holy Spirit, press onwards towards the kingdom of
the Father and are bearers of a message of salvation intended for
all men. That is why Christians cherish a feeling of deep solidarity
with the human race and its history” (n. 1).
It can be clearly seen here how the Church’s solidarity with the
world and her mission to it must be understood as starting from
Christ, in the light and power of the Holy Spirit. The Church thus
experiences herself at the service of the Spirit who works
mysteriously in hearts and in history. And we feel we are sent to
transmit to all humanity the fullness of the Spirit received on the
day of Pentecost.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors the Holy Father said:
I cordially welcome all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors,
especially those from Taiwan, Japan and the United States of
America. I gladly invoke the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ
upon you and your families.
Return to General Audiences on
the Holy Spirit...
This page is the work of the Servants of the
Pierced Hearts of Jesus and
Mary |
