The Paraclete will Teach you all Things

The divine Teacher. In John's Gospel, the Holy Spirit is presented as "the Spirit of Truth." (In Luke, as the "power of God.")

• Jesus says: When I return to the Father, "I will not leave you orphaned. I will ask the Father and he will give you another Paraclete to be with You always: the Spirit of truth." (Jn 14:16-18) "Paraclete" is one who stands by to help.
• "When he comes, he will guide you (lead you) to all truth. (Jn 16:13)

He will do that in 2 ways:

• “He will instruct you in everything." He will complete the work of Jesus by revealing and explaining all you need to know.
• He will bring to your mind all that I myself have taught you." (Jn 14:26) It is not enough to have the Gospel, the very words of Jesus. We need to understand what Jesus says. We need to be reminded of his teachings at certain times.

That is the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church. It will continue for all times.

• In a special way he enlivens Pope & Bishops (Magisterium), so that they can teach with authority and be sure teachers (authentic spokesmen for Jesus); even infallible.
• In a general way: he enlightens and guides all believers who honestly seek God and divine guidance; those who are open to be "led by the Spirit."

The Holy Spirit teaches, enlightens our minds in many wonderful ways

• giving us deeper understanding of God and the way of holiness;
• he also gives us divine guidance, counsel to make the right decisions. This he does through the "Gifts of the Holy Spirit" we studied when we prepared for Confirmation. Let us see,

Gift of Knowledge: By this gift the Holy Spirit illumines our mind and gives us a right appreciation of created things, by making us see them in their relationship with God. In this vision, all creation speaks to us of God, instead of turning us away from him. Examples:

• Psalmist sings: "The heavens declare the glory of God." (Ps 18:2)
• St. Francis of Assisi: most remarkable example of this gift. Better than anyone, he saw God in nature and praised him for Brother Sun, Sister Moon; Brother Wind, Sister Water, etc.
• Theresa of Lisieux: Some people, she says, renounce the joy of smelling the wonderful fragrance of flowers, in a spirit of mortification. I would rather smell their wonderful aroma and give glory and praise to God.

Gift of Understanding: This gift gives us new insight into God's revealed truths. A passage of Scripture, for example, that we had read or heard time and over again, without noticing it in any special way, suddenly becomes so meaningful that it can change our whole life or, at least, have a great impact on it. When God speaks to our heart that way, another wonderful thing usually happens: our hearts are set on fire with the love of God, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, as Jesus walked with them and opened their minds to the meaning of the Scriptures. After the risen Jesus vanished from their sight, they said to one another: "Were not our hearts burning inside us as he talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?" (Lk 24:32). Other examples:

• Theresa of Lisieux. One day she heard these words of Jesus in the Gospel: "Unless you become like little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." (Mt 18:3) I am sure she had heard and read these words before, but this time it was different. The Holy Spirit spoke to her heart. It was very personal. She knew God wanted her to become like a little child, trusting God, being humble and totally abandoned to him. This doctrine, known as "spiritual childhood” changed her whole life, and through her writings, influenced the spirituality of millions of Catholics of the Twentieth Century.
• Our own experience. Something like that happens to all of us sometimes. As we hear a word from the Scriptures or a sermon, the Holy Spirit touches us in a way that profoundly changes our outlook on God, on our Christian life.

Gift of Counsel: Jesus promised this gift of the Holy Spirit when he said: "When they persecute you, bring you before synagogues and authorities, do not worry about how to defend yourselves or what you are to say. The Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment all that you should say" (Lk 12:11-12). He will inspire you the right words, as he did for Jesus, for Peter, etc. Examples:

• St. Theresa of Lisieux, again. As a young child, she conceived the desire to become a saint. She was inspired to make a promise: never to refuse anything to God. That was an inspiration of the Holy Spirit through the gift of counsel, that launched Theresa on the road to holiness.
• Common examples in our personal lives: Say you are upset, angry. An inner voice tells you: control yourself. A counsel from the Holy Spirit. Or suppose you lose your job, or have financial burdens that disturb you very much. A little voice within whispers to you: "Enough worrying about tomorrow. Let tomorrow take care of itself." (Mt 6:34) Or the words of Psalms 55:23: "Cast your cares upon the Lord and he will support you." And a peace comes upon you.
• He teaches us how to pray. St. Paul tells us about this special help of the Holy Spirit in Rom. 8:26: "The Holy Spirit too helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought (sounds familiar?); but the Spirit himself who dwells in us makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in speech." What does Paul mean by those "groanings”? I think he is simply referring to a great hunger and thirst for God that he awakens in our hearts. We groan like a hungry man. Our heart yearns for God with great force & intensity, something that we cannot express in words. It's like a great fire of love burning, roaring in our hearts; something that can’t be expressed in words. But it is a most fervent prayer, inspired by the Holy Spirit.
• Also important to our prayer life is what St. Paul says in Romans 8:15-16: "We have received a spirit of adoption which makes us cry out: Abba! that is, Father!" - "The Spirit himself gives witness with our spirit that we are children of God." What St. Paul is saying: the Holy Spirit inspires us a deep conviction that we are children of God by adoption, so that we can pray to God with confidence, love, as beloved children. This puts us in a right relationship with God to pray. And it is the Holy Spirit who inspires us that deep conviction.
• Finally, the Holy Spirit, through the gift of wisdom especially wants to lead us to the highest degrees and forms of contemplation. We should often ask the Holy Spirit to teach us how to pray, and to help us to grow in our prayer life and lead us to contemplation.

Conclusion. O brothers and sisters, if we only realized what a great helper we have in the Holy Spirit! Jesus was filled with new wisdom and power when the Spirit came down upon him and fully equipped him for his mission. The Apostles were transformed on Pentecost Day. So can we be. It’s the same Holy Spirit we received at Baptism and Confirmation. He is our teacher and our guide, the divine Paraclete always at our side, ready to help us with new insights into the things of God; also ready to help us to grow in a life of prayer and holiness.

Holy Spirit Novena Index