Part Three of the “Motives of Christian Forgiveness” Series
The Holy Ghost also has a great claim on our love for is He not continuously loving us? Indeed He is. And He does so personally, individually, and in the manner best calculated to win our hearts by His sweetness.
He loves us simply by being with us. Ven. Fr. John Arintero exclaims,
[W]hat power, what generosity, what respect for self, what watchfulness and what consolation and joy, would not this thought, if constantly held before the mind and piously meditated upon, inspire: The Holy Ghost dwells in my heart! He is there, a powerful Protector, always ready to defend me against my enemies, to sustain me in my combats, to assure me the victory. A Faithful Friend, He is always disposed to give me a hearing, and, far from being a source of sadness and weariness, His conversation brings gladness and joy: it “hath no bitterness nor His company any tediousness, but joy and gladness.” He is there, the ever present witness of my efforts and sacrifices, counting every one of my steps in order to reward them some day, following my whole course, forgetful of nothing that I do for His love and His glory. (Mystical Evolution in the Development and Vitality of the Church, Vol. I, 283)
Does this dear Guest not have a right, therefore, to expect us to enjoy spending time with Him in return? Do we? Or would we prefer to be surrounded by noise and distraction rather than spend five minutes of quiet in His presence? Are we not rather bored and dissipated during our times of prayer, feeling them tedious and unproductive? Ah, let us remind ourselves of how easy it is to spend time with One Who loves us, and perhaps we will more readily turn to the Holy Ghost and speak with Him present within our very selves! How easy it should be to speak to One so loving! “Do not put yourself in misery,” says St. Francis de Sales,
by forcing yourself to any kind of exercise while praying. If you are tired on your knees, sit down; if you have not enough attention to pray for half an hour, pray a quarter of an hour. Do not worry that you do not perform well the acts of the virtues because your acts are still very good, even though they are done without fervor, tardily, and, as it were, through force. You can give nothing to God except what you have. Do not torment yourself by trying to do a great deal, but dispose yourself to do with love that which you do. (Spes Nostra, 89)
The Holy Ghost loves us by speaking to us through the Scriptures. And hear what He has to say! I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore have I drawn thee, taking pity on thee (Jer. 31:3). Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, and called thee by thy name: thou art mine…and I have loved thee (Is. 43:1–4). The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty, He will save: He will rejoice over thee with gladness, He will be silent in His love, He will be joyful over thee in praise (Soph. 3:17).
As the Spirit of Truth, does not our God have the right to be believed? Yet how often to we question His love, shamelessly doubting it when trials come; how often do we allow ourselves to feel angry, discouraged, even resentful towards this Spirit of Gentleness?
The Holy Ghost loves us by His actions. Far from limiting the manifestations of His love to His ineffable presence and words of tenderness, the Divine Spirit is ever working for our benefit by means of blessings, both temporal and spiritual. His temporal blessings include all the persons, things, and events in which we delight: a loving spouse, healthy children, a steady job, a reliable vehicle, etc. He has a right to our gratitude, but do we thank Him? Or do we complain when these goods are not forthcoming, thereby showing no appreciation for the truth that the crosses God sends are equally works of love — spiritual ones! Thus can St. Claude de la Colombière admonish us with such unction:
Let us imagine our confusion when we appear before God and understand the reasons why He sent us the crosses we accept so unwillingly. The death of a child will then be seen as its rescue from some great evil had it lived; separation from the woman you love, the means of saving you from an unhappy marriage; a severe illness, the reason for many years of life afterwards; loss of money, the means of saving your soul from eternal loss. So what are we worried about? God is looking out for us, and yet we are full of anxiety! If we could see all He sees, we would unhesitatingly wish all He wishes. We would beg Him on bended knees for those afflictions we now ask Him to spare us. (Spes Nostra, 108–109)
I have called these natural benefits and supernatural blessings “acts of love” on the part of the Holy Ghost to distinguish them from the Seven Gifts which must needs now be enumerated in a class unto themselves.
The Holy Ghost proves His love for us by the bestowal of His Gifts which are infused into our souls immediately at Baptism. We will use St. Francis de Sales’ definitions (cf. Treatise on the Love of God, 509–510):
(7) Fear of the Lord is nothing but love that makes us fly and avoid what is displeasing to the divine Majesty. But do we fear to displease His Majesty? Or do we not rather presume that He loves us too much to deny us any, even our most base desires, and excuse us all our acts of self-harm?
(6) Piety is the love which sweetens labor and makes us, with good heart, with pleasure, and with filial affection, employ ourselves in works which please God, our Father. Do we seek to please God as our Father? Or do we rather treat Him as a harsh and exacting law-giver, keeping Him at a distance, regarding even His tenderness with suspicion, lest in loving Him we be obliged to give up those other people, items, and amusements also dear to us?
(5) Knowledge is but the same love, keeping us attentive to the knowledge of ourselves and creatures, to make us ascend to a more perfect knowledge of the service which we owe to God. Do we seek Truth, or are we content to fill our minds with trivialities or even to pervert it by accepting the fallacious maxims of the corrupt anti-culture around us?
(4) Fortitude is love encouraging and animating the heart to put in execution that which counsel has determined should be done. Do we bravely rely on God’s never-failing grace to aid us in the performance of our duties? Or do we instead, like cowards, excuse ourselves from our obligations on the grounds that they are too hard or that we do not have the strength?
(3) Counsel is also love, love that makes us careful, attentive, and wise in choosing the means proper to serve God holily. Do we ask for God’s guidance, try to discern His plan and purpose when faced with difficult decisions? Or do we not, rather, forge ahead more or less blindly guided by our own preferences?
(2) Understanding is nothing else than love attentive to consider and penetrate the beauty of the truths of faith, to know thereby God in Himself, and then descending from this to consider Him in creatures. Do we ever stop to ponder the deep mysteries of our Faith, showing by our interest how precious we hold them to be? Or do we, on the contrary, take these mysteries for granted, accepting them only on a superficial level?
(1) Wisdom is no other thing than the love which relishes, tastes, and experiences how sweet and delicious God is. Do we try to see reality from God’s perspective? We should. For, says Br. Francis Maluf:
When we realize that the will of God has been ruling the universe since the day of creation, and will continue to rule it long after we are gone; that victory is already guaranteed and prophesied; that our only legitimate worry is to see to it that we are on the side of victory; it is then that we begin to do our immediate daily duties, leaving the issue to God. In this is peace. (Spes Nostra, 49)
The Holy Ghost manifests His love for us even by divine “touches.” These come in three forms:
Remonstrances. In an effort to restore intimacy when we have offended His love, our Divine Friend often touches our heart with remorse and contrition. He holds out His hand to us, as it were, with a gracious offer of unmerited pardon. Do we humble ourselves to admit our failings? Or, like Pharaoh, do we harden our own hearts and strive to justify our selfishness? Do we, perhaps, resent being made to feel guilty when, after all, we live far more virtuously than many others of our acquaintance?
Inspirations. It is true that God loves us as we are, but true, also, that He loves us too much to let us stay as we are. Our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29), and fire never saith: It is enough (Prov. 30:16). We are called to be saints — and would in fact become so if we would cooperate with the actual graces our God showers on us day by day, moment by moment. “We underestimate the amount of grace we receive,” Fr. Frederick Faber insists; “If we would but let each day’s grace lead us whither it wills with its gentle step, its kind allurement, and its easy sacrifice, in what a sweetly incredible nearness to the world of the saints should we not find ourselves before many years were gone by!” (Spes Nostra, 223). But do we? Or do we not carelessly discard these calls to little sacrifices, little acts of kindness towards others or piety towards God?
Consolations. It is certain that our life is filled with troubles and sorrows, but is it not just as filled with sweetnesses and consolations? From a delicious meal to the soothing stillness of the night sky, the grandeur of an ocean sunset or the thrill of a child’s hug — we are surrounded by roses making life’s thorns bearable. Do we acknowledge that all these consolations are from God? Or do we misattribute them to creatures, forgetting the roses the moment we feel a thorn-prick? Do we ever thank Him? Is He not our Best Friend? Does He not have a right to our gratitude?
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If God the Father provides the command to forgive those who have hurt us, and God the Son provides the example of what perfect, selfless forgiveness looks like, then God the Holy Ghost is He Who provides the strength to follow Christ’s example. How does He do this? With His grace. “What is grace?” asks Msgr. Jean-Joseph Guame,
Who shall be able to worthily define it? It is a free gift, an undeserved bounty, a light for the darkness of our spirit, something which touches and changes the heart with exquisite charm and irresistible power; in a word, it is a divine influence, which, doing away with the perverse and corrupt inclinations of the old man, puts in their stead the noble thoughts and longings of the new, so that from the sinner that he was, he becomes a penitent, a just man, and a saint. Such is grace. (Spes Nostra, 232)
To spurn the offer of the Holy Ghost’s of assistance is to refuse to live in accordance with our dignity as children of God; to refuse to become the saints God created us to be. The esteemed Dominican theologian Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange laments that “the great majority of souls do not belong to any of the these categories, of beginners, proficients, or perfect, but rather to that of stunted souls” (Three Ages of the Interior Life, 38). That is what we will be. Souls self-doomed to thwart God’s plan for our happiness; souls who by our own choice remain wrapped in the baby blanket of our cozy victim status, unwilling to cast our care upon the Lord (cf. Ps. 54:23) and follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth (Apoc. 14:4). Unwilling to let Him heal us. Maybe unwilling to admit even that He can.
Dear soul! You must believe that there is hope! Believe Fr. Alban Goodier, if you will not believe me:
Of all the many kindnesses of God to man, is there any kindness greater than the permission to live each day as a life apart, to make of each day a perfect thing, unspoiled by what may have been, still more by what may not be? And yet is there any kindness of God more commonly neglected, more recklessly thrown away?
It is what I am now, not what I have been or shall be; what I do now, not what I have done or shall do, that here and now matters most to me, and to God, and to all the world besides.
Those who face that which is actually before them, unburdened by the past, undistracted by the future, these are they who live, who make the best use of their lives; these are those who have found the secret of contentment. (Spes Nostra, 237)
To truly love the Holy Ghost, then, is to commit ourselves to cooperating with His guidance. Does He wish us to forgive? Then we will try! Does He promise that with His help we will be successful? Then we will persevere in our efforts! Is He worthy of our trust? Then we will trust Him.
Bird silhouette flying in the sky. Matthew T Rader, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
