The Abiding Presence of the Holy Ghost in the SoulJarrett, Bede
Religion
The Abiding Presence of the Holy Ghost in the Soul
Jarrett, Bede
Holy Spirit; Presence of God
The beginnings of this regeneration and renovation of man are by
Baptism. In this sacrament, when the unclean spirit has been
expelled from the soul, the Holy Ghost enters in and makes it like
to Himself. "That which is born of the Spirit, is spirit" (John
3.6). The same Spirit gives Himself more abundantly in
Confirmation, strengthening and confirming Christian life; from
which proceeded the victory of the martyrs and the triumph of the
virgins over temptations and corruptions. We have said that the
Holy Ghost gives Himself: "the charity of God is poured out into
our hearts by the Holy Ghost who is given to us" (Rom. 5.5). For
He not only brings to us His divine gifts, but is the Author of
them and is Himself the supreme Gift, who, proceeding from the
mutual love of the Father and the Son, is justly believed to be
and is called "Gift of God most High." To show the nature and
efficacy of this gift it is well to recall the explanation given
by the doctors of the Church of the words of Holy Scripture. They
say that God is present and exists in all things, "by His power,
in so far as all things are subject to His power; by His presence,
inasmuch as all things are naked and open to His eyes; by His
essence, inasmuch as He is present to all as the cause of their
being" (St. Th. 1a, q. viii, a. 3). But God is in man, not only as
in inanimate things, but because He is more fully known and loved
by him, since even by nature we spontaneously love, desire, and
seek after the good. Moreover, God by grace resides in the just
soul as in a temple, in a most intimate and peculiar manner. From
this proceeds that union of affection by which the soul adheres
most closely to God, more so than the friend is united to his most
loving and beloved friend, and enjoys God in all fullness and
sweetness. Now this wonderful union, which is properly called
"indwelling," differing only in degree or state from that with
which God beatifies the saints in heaven, although it is most
certainly produced by the presence of the whole Blessed Trinity--
"We will come to Him and make our abode with Him" (John 14.23)--
nevertheless is attributed in a peculiar manner to the Holy Ghost.
For, whilst traces of divine power and wisdom appear even in the
wicked man, charity, which, as it were, is the special mark of the
Holy Ghost, is shared in only by the just. In harmony with this,
the same Spirit is called Holy, for He, the first and supreme
Love, moves souls and leads them to sanctity, which ultimately
consists in the love of God. Wherefore the apostle, when calling
us the temple of God, does not expressly mention the Father or the
Son, but the Holy Ghost: "Know ye not that your members are the
temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you, whom you have from God?"
(1 Cor. 6.19). The fullness of divine gifts is in many ways a
consequence of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the souls of
the just. For, as St. Thomas teaches, "when the Holy Ghost
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