The Catholic World, Vol. 21, April, 1875, to September, 1875: A Monthly Magazine of General Literature and ScienceVarious
Religion
The Catholic World, Vol. 21, April, 1875, to September, 1875: A Monthly Magazine of General Literature and Science
Various
Catholic Church -- Periodicals
No one who reads the Holy Scriptures can fail to be struck with the
repeated injunctions to turn our eyes inward, to walk in the divine
presence, to see and taste and listen to God in the soul. These
exhortations run all through the inspired books, beginning with that of
Genesis, and ending with the Revelations of S. John. “I am the Almighty
God, walk before me, and be perfect,”[38] was the lesson which God gave
to the patriarch Abraham. “Be still and see that I am God.”[39] “O
taste, and see that the Lord is sweet; blessed is the man that hopeth in
him.”[40] God is the guide, the light of the living, and our strength.
“God’s kingdom is within you,” said the divine Master. “Know you not
that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth
in you?”[41] “For it is God who worketh in you both to will and to
accomplish, according to his will.”[42] The object of divine revelation
was to make known and to establish within the souls of men, and through
them upon the earth, the kingdom of God.
In accordance with the Sacred Scriptures, the Catholic Church teaches
that the Holy Spirit is infused, with all his gifts, into our souls by
the sacrament of baptism, and that, without his actual prompting or
inspiration and aid, no thought or act, or even wish, tending directly
towards our true destiny, is possible.
The whole aim of the science of Christian perfection is to instruct men
how to remove the hindrances in the way of the action of the Holy Spirit,
and how to cultivate those virtues which are most favorable to his
solicitations and inspirations. Thus the sum of spiritual life consists
in observing and fortifying the ways and movements of the Spirit of God
in our soul, employing for this purpose all the exercises of prayer,
spiritual reading, sacraments, the practice of virtues, and good works.
That divine action which is the immediate and principal cause of the
salvation and perfection of the soul claims by right its direct and
main attention. From this source within the soul there will gradually
come to birth the consciousness of the indwelling presence of the Holy
Spirit, out of which will spring a force surpassing all human strength,
a courage higher than all human heroism, a sense of dignity excelling
all human greatness. The light the age requires for its renewal can come
only from the same source. The renewal of the age depends on the renewal
of religion. The renewal of religion depends upon a greater effusion of
the creative and renewing power of the Holy Spirit. The greater effusion
of the Holy Spirit depends on the giving of increased attention to his
movements and inspirations in the soul. The radical and adequate remedy
for all the evils of our age, and the source of all true progress,
consist in increased attention and fidelity to the action of the Holy
Spirit in the soul. “Thou shalt send forth thy Spirit, and they shall be
created: and thou shalt renew the face of the earth.”[43]
VIII. THE MEN THE AGE DEMANDS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account