Catechesis of Pope Francis: The Holy Spirit leads towards Jesus, our Hope

Pope Francis concluded the cycle of catechesis on The Holy Spirit and the Bride at the General Audience this Wednesday, in which he reflected on hope as a certainty based on God’s fidelity to his promises.

Below is the complete catechesis of Pope Francis:

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

We have reached the end of our catechesis on the Holy Spirit and the Church. We dedicate this last reflection to the title that we have given to the entire cycle, that is: “The Spirit and the Bride.” The Holy Spirit leads the People of God towards Jesus, our Hope”. This title refers to one of the last verses of the Bible, in the book of Revelation, which says: “The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come!”” (Ap 22,17). To whom is this invocation addressed? To the resurrected Christ. In fact, both Saint Paul (cf. 1 Cor 16:22) as the Didachea writing from the apostolic era, attest that in the liturgical meetings of the first Christians the cry “¡Maràna yes!”, which meant precisely “Come Lord!” The prayer to Christ to come.

In that oldest phase, the invocation had a background that today we would call eschatological. It expressed, in effect, the ardent expectation of the glorious return of the Lord. This cry and the expectation it expresses have never faded in the Church. Even today, in the Mass, immediately after the consecration, he proclaims the death and resurrection of Christ.”waiting for your coming”. The Church is waiting for the coming of the Lord.

But this waiting for the coming last of Christ has not been left alone and unique. The expectation of his coming has also been added to it. continues in the present and pilgrim situation of the Church. And it is this coming that the Church thinks above all when, animated by the Holy Spirit, she cries out to Jesus: “Come!”

There has been a significant change – or rather a development – ​​regarding the cry “Come, come Lord!” on the lips of the Church. This is not usually addressed only to Christ, but also to the Holy Spirit himself! He who cries out is now also the One to whom we cry out. “Come!” It is the invocation with which almost all the hymns and prayers of the Church addressed to the Holy Spirit begin: “Come, O Creator Spirit,” we say in the Come Creatorand “Come, Holy Spirit,” “I came in the Holy Spirit”, in the Pentecost sequence; and so on in many other prayers. And it is right that it should be so, because, after the Resurrection, the Holy Spirit is the true one.alter ego” of Christ, the One who occupies his place, who makes him present and active in the Church. It is He who “will announce what is to come” (cf. Jn 16,13) and makes him desire and hope. That is why Christ and the Spirit are inseparable, also in the economy of salvation.

The Holy Spirit is the ever-flowing source of Christian hope. Saint Paul left us these precious words: “May the God of hope fill you, believers, with all joy and peace, so that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom 15,13). If the Church is a boat, the Holy Spirit is the sail that propels it and makes it advance in the sea of ​​history, today as yesterday.

Hope is not an empty word, nor our vague desire for things to go well: it is a certainty, because it is based on God’s fidelity to his promises. That is why it is called theological virtue: because it is infused by God and has God as its guarantor. It is not a passive virtue, which is limited to waiting for things to happen. It is a supremely active virtue that helps them happen. Someone who fought for the liberation of the poor wrote these words: “The Holy Spirit is at the origin of the cry of the poor. It is the strength that is given to those who have no strength. “He leads the fight for the emancipation and full realization of the people of the oppressed.”

The Christian cannot be content with have hope; must also radiate hope, be a sower of hope. This is the most beautiful gift that the Church can give to all humanity, especially at times when everything seems to be lowering the sails.

The apostle Peter exhorted the early Christians with these words: “Worship the Lord, Christ, in your hearts, always being ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you.” But he added a recommendation: “However, do it with gentleness and respect.” (1 Pe 3,15-16). Yes, because it is not so much the strength of the arguments that will convince people, but the love that we know how to put into them. This is the first and most effective form of evangelization. And it is open to everyone. Dear brothers and sisters, may the Spirit help us always, always, to “abound in hope by virtue of the Holy Spirit.” Thank you.