Byline: Sister Anna Marie McGuan

6 min read

Religious Life

Why Celibacy?

Sister Anna Marie McGuan

June 3, 2023 12:06 am June 3, 2023

6 min read

26664 views

Comments Off

6 min read

Recently, I was asked about priestly celibacy by a person interested in becoming Catholic. The practice of priestly celibacy is viewed with suspicion, he explained, because Protestants are unfamiliar with it and it seems unnatural. Besides that, his is a timely question given that some people have pointed to celibacy as having a direct causal link to the abuse crisis in the Church.

Celibacy, or chastity, seems like a stumbling block for people. What is celibacy, exactly? According to the glossary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, celibacy is “the state or condition of those who have chosen to remain unmarried.”

But why would a man choose that life, or why is this the standard discipline for priests in the Roman (Latin-rite) Catholic Church?

First, the nature of the priesthood has to be understood. Simply put, each man who becomes a priest becomes a minister of Jesus Christ’s own priesthood. Jesus’ priesthood is made visible and present through these ordained ministers. They participate in Jesus’ life and priesthood in a specific way. Therefore, a look at Scripture and how Jesus himself lived is helpful to see the foundations on which priest’s life is modeled.

Jesus did not marry. He also spoke positively about those who remain celibate “for the sake of the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 19:12). Indeed, Jesus chose, from among his followers, certain men to be with him and become “fishers of men” (Mt 4:19; Mk 1:17). His invitation to them was to leave everything behind for the sake of the kingdom of God. Therefore, this practice of total dedication to God in and through Christ goes back to the very beginning of discipleship. Today as well, men are chosen by God to “to consecrate themselves with undivided heart to the Lord” (CCC, No. 1579).

Jesus is not the only person in the Bible, however, to have lived a single life with the intention of being consecrated for God’s purposes. The prophet Jeremiah, for example, appears to have remained celibate. He was called from his youth (see Jer 1:6-7) and never mentions a wife or family like some of the other prophets. Another example, closer to the time of Jesus, is John the Baptist. The last in the long line of biblical prophets, John’s entire life was lived as a sign that pointed to Jesus, even from his time in the womb (Lk 1:41-44). Everything about him pointed to the transcendent realm, including his choice to forego a wife and children. While it is true that celibacy was not a common practice at the time of Christ, it was not unheard of. In fact, there are examples from Qumran, a desert community in existence around the time of Jesus, of a type of celibacy lived in community.

Additionally, priests are not the only celibates in the Catholic Church. The consecrated life in its various forms entails some type of commitment to chastity, either a promise, private vow, public vow or some other sacred bond.

Getting back to the definition of celibacy mentioned above, it related only to the state of being unmarried. Any discussion on celibacy must relate back to chastity, which is the virtue by which a person integrates his or her sexuality in a healthy way appropriate to his or her state in life. The goal of chastity is the wholeness and integrity of the person in his bodily and spiritual being. This is true for married persons as well as celibate persons. However, chastity in the context of consecrated life entails refraining from any behaviors in the realm of sexuality that belong properly to marriage, as well as avoiding any offenses against chastity such as masturbation, pornography or fornication. Religious chastity is also a gift to those called by God to lead a life totally dedicated to him.

Is it “unnatural” to lead a celibate life and, therefore, practice continence within chastity? In one sense, yes, and in another, no. The proper path of sexual expression for most people is that of marriage, in which two persons give each other their bodies as “a sign and pledge of spiritual communion” (CCC, No. 2360). This is a great good, and marriage, while not easy, is the natural path that most people take to live the vocation to love God and neighbor to which we are all called.

There are some, however, as Jesus points out in the Gospels, who renounce marriage and the goods of marriage (holiness together as husband and wife, welcoming and educating children) for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Not only that, the fact that some people do this is a very good thing.

Living out chastity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven means to live one’s life as a sign that points to God all the time. The married state is good and beautiful, and at the same time God is more beautiful and better. He is so good, in fact, that it is legitimate to offer everything to him and live for him alone. A consecrated person, whether priest or religious, witnesses to that by the very way he or she lives. The highest form of love is not the love between husband and love, it is the love of God, charity. This charity can and should inform all other relationships of love. This means that they are rooted in a person’s relationship with God and lead to a further and deeper love of God.

In addition, Jesus tells us that there will be no marriage in heaven. Rather, he says, in “the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like the angels in heaven” (Mt 22:30). For this reason, the consecrated life or the celibate life is an eschatological signpost that points to heaven. Essentially, the message is: Remember where you ultimately want to be headed. Remember your end. Do what it takes to get there.

Returning to an earlier question, living chastity for the kingdom of heaven is not “unnatural” — it is supernatural. It is to live as God’s messenger, all day, every day. Like all vocations, that takes faith, hope and charity. It also takes prayer, asceticism, more prayer and fidelity to the age-old practices that help form the interior spiritual life. Good, holy friendships are also a wonderful aid to chastity, no matter what a person’s vocation is.

The goal in each vocation is to love God with all one’s heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love one’s neighbor like one’s self. To each person, God will give the graces necessary to grow in holiness if and when we cooperate with him.

Sister Anna Marie McGuan, R.S.M., is Director of Christian Formation in the Diocese of Knoxville.

Comments Off

7 min read

Evil

Can the Existence of Evil Disprove God’s existence?

Sister Anna Marie McGuan

May 15, 2023 7:08 am May 15, 2023

7 min read

20902 views

Comments Off

7 min read

The existence of evil is a common objection to the existence of God, or at least to a personal God who is all-knowing and all-good. How is it possible to…

The existence of evil is a common objection to the existence of God, or at least to a personal God who is all-knowing and all-good. How is it possible to reconcile belief in God with the clear evidence of evil and its manifold manifestations? This is a good question, and one that people have been asking for thousands of years (just read through the book of Job in the Old Testament). To answer the question, two related, yet distinct ideas must be examined.

The meaning of evil

Firstly, it is necessary to establish what exactly is meant by “evil.” When speaking of evil, it is easy to see it as a force that drives nature or people toward destruction. However, evil does not exist per se, meaning in and of itself. It only exists in things as a lack of something that should be present. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote: “…every being, as such, is good; …evil can exist only in good as in its subject” (STh., Q. 49, a. 3). For example, blindness is not something added to the eye; it is the lack of a power that should be there. The eye suffers the deprivation of the good of sight, which is an evil. Sickness is not the addition of a new perfection; it is the lack of health in a body. Hence, a physician works precisely to restore someone to health, the good state the body should be in.

This understanding of evil is important because it immediately rules out the idea that the material world is evil and must be overcome in order for human persons to be happy. That dualistic perception of the world and its origins is at the heart of the Manichean heresy, which lies within the Gnostic tradition. Essentially, the two eternal principles of “good” and “evil” are at war, and all matter is seen as evil. This, of course, is in direct opposition to the biblical tradition which precedes it, in which all creation is declared “good,” even “very good,” in Genesis 1. Matter is definitely not evil in the biblical vision.

What about when bad things happen? Physical or natural evil that people experience is the playing out of the laws of the universe, like the earthquake that causes the tsunami that causes the destruction of an island and all the plants and creatures living on it. One the one hand, it is seen as a tragedy. On the other hand, however, how it happened is perfectly logical and can be traced back through the laws of nature. This type of evil can also be quite relative. For example, the lion eats the antelope. Good for the lion, evil for the antelope. As St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, “Now, the order of the universe requires…that there should be some things that can, and do sometimes, fail” (STh., Q. 49, a. 2).

The existence of evil

Secondly, once evil is understood as the privation of a good and not a principle of existence, the idea free will in rational creatures must be addressed. Moral evil is more nuanced than physical evil, and it is really at the heart of the above-stated question about God. Moral evil refers to the choice by a rational creature to do what he knows is not good, either for himself or for others. In this case, the privation of the good that ought to be there is caused by the choice of the creature. For example, the thief lacks the virtue of justice. The good that ought to be present, namely, the ready disposition to give to each what is due, is lacking. Instead, the thief has an inordinate desire to possessions and violates justice in order to satisfy that desire. A famous line from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn summarizes this perfectly: “Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes … right through every human heart — and through all human hearts.” Man, each and every man, chooses to commit moral evil or not. God is not the cause of this type of evil, but he does allow it to exist.

If God is all good — why doesn’t He stop people from doing bad things? This is the conundrum, right? The answer lies in the great value and the goodness of freedom, even when it has gone wrong. Make no mistake — God has explained what freedom is for: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (Dt 6:5). Or, as St. Paul wrote: “The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rm 3:9-10).

Each person has an innate understanding that what St. Paul says is true, and freedom’s true purpose is clear. Yet, if someone makes a bad or a vicious choice, God still permits the choice. The power of goodness and love, latent within the human will, is so great and good, that God will not thwart man’s use of it. He wants humans to choose to love freely — to love him freely, to love the self freely, and to love others freely. He could have created puppets who automatically loved him and could not do otherwise. He did not. As such, there are adverse consequences to human freedom: sin and the effects of sin.

Sin and evil

That is really the crux of the problem. It can be explained metaphysically and in a satisfactory way that evil exists, but God’s seeming absence from the scene right when we need him fails to satisfy. But, is he absent? St. Augustine said: “For the Almighty God, who, as even the heathen acknowledge, has supreme power over all things, being Himself supremely good, would never permit the existence of anything evil among His works, if He were not so omnipotent and good that He can bring good even out of evil.”

St. Augustine’s argument here is actually the only solution. The existence of evil cannot disprove the existence of God, because evil exists only in something good as in a subject (blindness in the eye, illness in the body) or as part of the lawful order of the universe. Yet, God’s allowance of evil, especially evil freely chosen on the part of human persons, cannot but bring us to the question of why? To begin to understand this, the nature of human freedom must be appreciated and understood. Freedom is a power for good, not for evil, but it can be misused. God allows this because this is how he created rational human beings — for the good, capable of evil. He will not go back on his creation. At the same time, the evil that God permits, will, in his time and purposes, be an avenue from which he brings good.

Sister Anna Marie McGuan is with the Religious Sisters of Mercy in Alma, Michigan.

Comments Off

4 min read

Easter

The Resurrection and Scripture: Lessons from the Road to Emmaus

Sister Anna Marie McGuan

April 16, 2023 7:00 am April 16, 2023

4 min read

12272 views

Comments Off

4 min read

On Easter morning, two disciples were traveling on the road to Emmaus. Leaving Jerusalem, they were downcast and disappointed over what had happened to Jesus. They did not understand the…

On Easter morning, two disciples were traveling on the road to Emmaus. Leaving Jerusalem, they were downcast and disappointed over what had happened to Jesus. They did not understand the stories of the women who said that they had seen him early that morning. As the disciples were walking away from the holy city, Jesus came and walked alongside them.

As in the other resurrection appearances, the disciples did not recognize Jesus. And, as in the other appearances, Jesus did not reveal himself immediately. Instead, he walked with these two disciples and engaged them in conversation. They expressed their frustration and sorrow over the events of Good Friday. One of them, named Clopas, said:

“‘Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?’ And (Jesus) replied to them, ‘What sort of things?’ They said to him, ‘The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel’” (Lk 24:18-21).

Continuing, Clopas explained about the testimony of the women and how strange it all had been. Having only heard the women’s account, the disciples did not know what to make of the disappearance of the body. No one understood what resurrection from the dead even meant.

Jesus listened patiently, but instead of nodding in an understanding way, he turned their sorrow on its head — to their shock and our surprise — saying, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Lk 24:25-26).

Jesus explained that it was actually necessary that the Messiah would undergo the suffering of the Passion and crucifixion. He does this by walking the disciples through the Old Testament. The evangelist writes: “Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures” (Lk 24:27).

At this point, of course, there was no New Testament as we have today, so “all the scriptures” referred to here are only the writings of the Old Testament. The apostles and disciples had only the Greek and Hebrew scriptures of the Old Testament, along with their own experience of being with Jesus and watching him suffer and die. Without Jesus’ help, they could not make the connections between what happened to Jesus and the writings of Moses and the prophets.

What Jesus did on the road to Emmaus was interpret the writings of the Old Testament in terms of their relationship to his incarnation, passion, death and resurrection — all of which fulfilled the Old Testament. They were predicted, and everything that happened to Jesus was there, albeit hidden from the disciples’ understanding. Jesus opened their minds and hearts to see his life and death in the light of the Old Testament. Without the Old Testament, the life, teaching and sacrificial death of Jesus would be incomprehensible.

The Church in every age has followed Jesus’ example on the road to Emmaus, upholding the value of the inspired Hebrew and Greek writings that prepared for the coming of Jesus. The apostles passed on the fullness of God’s revelation by showing reverence to the Old Testament, while composing the writings we now call the New Testament.

The Old Testament is a part of God’s Revelation and finds its fulfillment in Jesus. Additionally, there is a principle of continuity between the Old Testament and the New Testament, such that the two must never be separated. From St. Augustine, the Church still holds this classic maxim: the New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament are God’s word, all part of God’s Revelation, in which he shows forth who he is and who we are in relation to Him. Jesus taught this on the road to Emmaus, and his exposition of the Scriptures set the hearts of the disciples on fire.

Sister Anna Marie McGuan, RSM, is director of Christian formation in the Diocese of Knoxville.

Comments Off

5 min read

Scripture

Bible 101: A Brief Introduction to the New Testament

Sister Anna Marie McGuan

April 10, 2023 7:17 am April 10, 2023

5 min read

11560 views

Comments Off

5 min read

As the Old Testament is divided into particular genres (the Pentateuch or Torah, the Historical Books, the Prophets, and the Wisdom books), a similar division of the New Testament can…

As the Old Testament is divided into particular genres (the Pentateuch or Torah, the Historical Books, the Prophets, and the Wisdom books), a similar division of the New Testament can also be helpful. The purpose of such a schematic outline is to orient the reader as he reads each book in this second half of the Bible. Knowing what type of writing one is reading can be extremely useful in understanding the text. For example, the Book of Revelation is a symbolic or allegorical interpretation of history and eschatology, the theology of the last things. It does not carry the same historical valence as the four Gospels, and it is not meant to be read as a literal historical account of the end times.

The New Testament literature can be divided more easily by genre or type of writing than the Old Testament because the contents of each book are more uniform.

Interestingly, as in the Old Testament divisions, one can perceive three categories of texts: the Gospels, the letters or epistles, and the apocalyptic genre. These correspond roughly to the three-fold division of the Old Testament according to the Jewish mindset: the Gospels are the new Law; the letters and epistles are similar to the Wisdom literature in that they contain doctrinal teachings, practical counsel and moral exhortation; and the apocalyptic genre can be compared to the prophets. In fact, some of the symbolic and allegorical imagery in the Book of Revelation, which can seem very strange to the modern reader, is very similar to some passages in the Old Testament prophets.

The Gospels

The texture of each section is different, which becomes almost immediately apparent as one begins to read. The Gospels are historical in nature, but they also contain a theological message. They answer: who is Jesus of Nazareth and what is the meaning of his life, death, and Resurrection? The four Gospels are according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

The Acts of the Apostles is also a historical-theological book and is almost certainly the second volume of a two-volume work that includes the Gospel according to Luke. A look at the introductory verses of those two works makes it clear that they are meant to be read together.

Epistles and Letters

The epistles and letters of the New Testament claim various authors, most notably St. Paul. He is the purported author of 13 letters in the New Testament, not counting the Letter to the Hebrews, which has been traditionally ascribed to him as well. St. Paul’s style is intelligent, direct and zealous. After preaching the Gospel in Israel, Syria, Asia Minor and Greece, he corresponded with the communities to teach and encourage them in the Faith. He was on a mission to bring the salvation won by Jesus Christ to as many as possible and did so through almost constant travels. Hence, his letters allowed him to keep in touch with many communities.

St. Paul also asked that the communities share his letters with one another, which they did.

Other New Testament letters are attributed to St. Peter, St. John, St. James and St. Jude. Like the letters of St. Paul, they include doctrinal content and encouragement on the path of virtue. Some scholars posit that certain letters of the New Testament, like 1 Peter, are actually homilies because of their pastoral tone and scriptural explanations.

Book of Revelation

The Book of Revelation is in a category all its own as far as New Testament writings. The genre is that of apocalyptic literature, and it contains specific elements that, if not understood correctly, can lead to misinterpretation. For example, the use of numbers, colors and physical descriptions of monstrous beasts and cosmological disturbances is a symbolic way of describing and explaining the vicissitudes of history and the end times.

The apocalyptic genre is not meant to be read literally; it purposely describes events of history in mysterious images to offer a theological reading of that same history. The goal is to describe the theological importance of the events. For this reason, many scholars understand the Book of Revelation as a theological interpretation of the persecutions the first Christians were facing. The ultimate triumph of the armies of God over the bestial forces of evil and each person’s decision to worship God or bow down to the beast summarizes the Christian understanding of history: despite the horrific persecutions the Christians suffered, the war against evil has been won in the triumph of Christ, but each person must freely believe and cooperate with God to be saved.

The focus of all the New Testament writings is one: to bring to the world the person of Jesus Christ and the salvation he won for us. The diversity of literary styles and genre corresponds to the needs present in different communities and to the most effective way for the evangelists and other authors to preach the Gospel.

Sister Anna Marie McGuan is a Religious Sister of Mercy of Alma, Michigan. She serves the Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee, as the director of the Office of Christian Formation. Read more from this series here.

Comments Off

5 min read

Church Seasons and Feasts

Two things to know about Christ’s ascension into heaven

Sister Anna Marie McGuan

April 1, 2023 7:47 am April 1, 2023

5 min read

31713 views

Comments Off

5 min read

The ascension of the Lord Jesus into heaven is a mystery rooted in history and spoken of in Scripture, like the Resurrection. It is presented both at the end of…

The ascension of the Lord Jesus into heaven is a mystery rooted in history and spoken of in Scripture, like the Resurrection. It is presented both at the end of Matthew’s Gospel and at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles. It is also alluded to in John’s Gospel, when the risen Jesus encounters Mary Magdalene and says, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God’” (Jn 20:17).

The Ascension is the completion of the Easter mysteries of Jesus’ life, passion, death and resurrection, and it is the final step before the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “Jesus’ final apparition ends with the irreversible entry of his humanity into divine glory, symbolized by the cloud and by heaven, where he is seated from that time forward at God’s right hand” (No. 659).

Yet perhaps we feel somewhat like the Apostles who witnessed the Ascension, standing there, looking up, wondering what just happened. Why did Jesus go? Where did he go? The angels’ response to them is apropos for us, too: “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven” (Acts 1:11).

There are two things to remember about this mystery. First, in a very real way, Jesus’ ascension into heaven is the goal for each one of us. He goes before us, and we are to follow Him there. In the Ascension, the domain of God’s glory is opened to us, and Jesus, in His glorified humanity, takes His rightful place at God’s right hand. It is a privilege for all of us that one of our own, a man like us in all things but sin, has been so glorified. Not only that, he is calling us and interceding for us always so that we will one day join him. As the Catechism states: “Left to its own natural powers humanity does not have access to the ‘Father’s house,’ to God’s life and happiness. Only Christ can open to man such access that we, his members, might have confidence that we too shall go where he, our Head and our Source, has preceded us” (No. 661).

The second thing to remember about this mystery is that Jesus will come back. When that day comes, we should be ready. He has asked us to be his faithful disciples, living in a vital friendship with him. This is not magic, however. It takes the power of the Holy Spirit, whom each of us receives in baptism and confirmation. It also takes a lived relationship with God in prayer. Finally, Jesus expects us to be open, available and ready to cooperate with him in the mission he calls us to.

The last thing Jesus said to the Apostles was, “But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). In Matthew’s Gospel, the last injunction is similar: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (28:19-20). If we live out that mission from Christ, and truly make disciples of all nations, then his presence is with us despite his bodily absence. First and foremost, Jesus is with us in the Eucharist and in the liturgy of the Church. Jesusalso is present spiritually when we pray in his name, as he said: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20).

Jesus’ work on earth is now complete, but the task of bearing witness to Him and making disciples is never done, not until he returns at the end of time. That is the task the Apostles began to do, starting with prayer in the upper room as they awaited the promised Holy Spirit. Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was there with them. Clothed with the power of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the Apostles and disciples of Jesus began to preach and teach about him to Jews and to Gentiles. They began to do what the Lord Jesus asked them to do: bear witness and make disciples. That task is not just theirs; it belongs to all of us.

Sister Anna Marie McGuan, R.S.M., is Director of Christian Formation in the Diocese of Knoxville.

Comments Off

5 min read

Scripture

Why the Holy Spirit matters

Sister Anna Marie McGuan

March 28, 2023 11:27 am March 28, 2023

5 min read

29419 views

Comments Off

5 min read

Jesus told his Apostles at the Last Supper many things about the Holy Spirit, and some of these are included in the readings at this time, such as: “And I…

Jesus told his Apostles at the Last Supper many things about the Holy Spirit, and some of these are included in the readings at this time, such as: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth…” (Jn 14:16-17). In another moment during the Last Supper discourse, Jesus even said to the Apostles, “But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (Jn 16:7). The Holy Spirit’s presence with the Apostles, disciples and with the entire Church throughout the centuries is always meant to be a comfort, a consolation, a leader and a guide to Jesus’ friends.

If we think back to the Last Supper, it is totally appropriate that Jesus would make such a promise at that time. The impending departure of Jesus was troubling his friends. They did not know what was about to happen, and they did not understand many of the things Jesus was saying. All they really seemed to grasp at that moment was that Jesus was going away — and this reality left them in the dark, even desolate.

Jesus knew this, so at the Last Supper he not only instituted the holy Eucharist, whereby he would always be present to his friends, but he also promised them the Counselor, the Holy Spirit. He told them that the Holy Spirit would dwell with them and be with them. The Holy Spirit’s presence in and among the disciples would make it possible for them to live for Jesus, just as he was asking them to do. Living for Jesus means more than a simple calling to mind; it is to actually live Christ’s life within the sphere of my own existence. As St. Paul put it, “For to me life is Christ, and death is gain” (Phil 1:21). It is the Holy Spirit that enables that sentence to be true for Paul and for all of us.

The Holy Spirit makes God’s plan for each of us real, and we know the Holy Spirit by what he does in each life. Here is one way the Catechism expresses this: “…[T]he mission of the Spirit of adoption is to unite [God’s children] to Christ and make them live in him…” (CCC, No. 690).

In other words, that mission is to reveal Jesus, the Word of God, and to make the image of Jesus fully alive in each person. The Holy Spirit teaches us who Jesus is and how we are to become more and more like him. He also makes us ready to receive Jesus in faith. The life of a baptized person can be an ever increasing union with God through faith, hope and love. The Holy Spirit is the author of that union; he teaches us how to know God better and love Him more fully.

There are many ways that the Holy Spirit can do this, but two very important ones are through Sacred Scripture and through the sacraments. In Sacred Scripture, the same Holy Spirit who inspired the sacred authors to write is the one who dwells within the heart of each person reading it. As the Spirit inspired the writing, so the Spirit inspires the reading — so that the mind and heart of Christ can be formed in us.

In the Sacraments, we receive grace. Grace makes us like God, but we have to be disposed to it and cooperate with it. What does it mean to be like God? What does God do? Above all else, God knows and loves himself and knows and loves all things in himself. That is why the Lord Jesus taught us that the greatest commandment is to love God: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment.The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt 22:37-39). The Holy Spirit teaches us and forms us to do what Jesus taught us to do. It is the Holy Spirit that enables us to do this, because “The Holy Spirit, whom Christ the head pours out on his members, builds, animates, and sanctifies the Church” (CCC, No. 747).

If you do not have an active and growing relationship with the Holy Spirit, you can ask for that friendship with Him at any time. You can invite the Holy Spirit to play a real, dynamic role in your life starting now. As we turn our minds and hearts toward Pentecost, we can invite the Holy Spirit to renew Pentecost in our own lives.

Sister Anna Marie McGuan, RSM, is director of Christian formation in the Diocese of Knoxville.

Comments Off