> [[343-our-duties|← 343. Our Duties]] | [[-divine-intimacy-toc|TOC]] | [[345-union-with-god|345. Union with God →]] --- # 344. The Holy Spirit and the Apostolate PRESENCE OF GOD - O Holy Spirit, take possession of my soul and transform it into a chosen instrument for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. ## Meditation 1 The heart of the apostolate is love. St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus understood this well; after having passed in review all possible vocations, and recognizing that they would not suffice to appease her immense apostolic desires, she exclaimed: “My vocation is found at last—my vocation is love!... In the heart of the Church, my Mother, I will be love! Thus shall I be all things” (T.C.J. St, 13). Where can we obtain such a complete and transforming love? We must never forget that the source of charity is the Holy Spirit, who is the personal terminus of the love of the Father and of the Son, the eternal breath of Their mutual love. This Spirit “has been given” to us, He is “ours”; He dwells in our hearts precisely to pour forth in them that supernatural love which makes us burn with love for God and for souls. “The charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us” (Rom 5,5). By communicating the flame of divine charity to men and associating them to His infinite love, the Holy Spirit is the secret animator and sustainer of all apostolate; “It is He,” Pius XII teaches, “who through His heavenly breath of life is the source from which proceeds every vital and efficaciously salutary action...in the Mystical Body of Christ” (_Mystici Corporis_). He is the soul of the Church. Do we wish to become apostles? Let us open our hearts wide to the outpourings of the Holy Spirit, in order that His love may invade and penetrate us to the point of absorbing our poor love into Himself. When the love of a soul is united to “the living flame of love” which is the Holy Spirit, so as to “become one thing with it” (cf. J.C. LF, 1,3), then it becomes a vivifying love in the heart of the Church. This is the only way to realize the magnificent ideal: “In the heart of the Church I will be love. Thus I shall be everything” (T.C.J. St, 13). To attain to this supreme summit of love and of the apostolate, we must follow, day by day, moment by moment, the motions of the Holy Spirit, open ourselves submissively to His action, and allow ourselves to be directed and governed by Him. Above all, we must yield ourselves to His infinite love which diffuses itself totally in the Father and the Son, and then overflows on souls, to draw them all into the Blessed Trinity. ## Meditation 2 The apostolate was inaugurated in the Church on the day of Pentecost when the Apostles “were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak with divers tongues, according as the Holy Spirit gave them to speak” (Acts 2,4). Before that, the twelve were poor men, dull, weak, full of fear. But once the Holy Spirit took possession of them, He transformed them into men of fire, ready to give their lives to witness to the Lord. In our day too, the Holy Spirit can renew that great miracle. As in former times, He can—or rather, He wills— to take possession of poor men, of weak women, in order to, transform them into ardent apostles. What is the condition that He requires? A total self-surrender, a docility so sensitive, so delicate, that the apostle becomes wholly amenable to His operative presence, to His motions, to His inspirations. To attain this, the apostle must have a true sense of his complete dependence on the divine Paraclete, a sense which must manifest itself practically by diligent care to maintain, even in the midst of activity, a continual contact with Him, always attentive to His inspirations, and quick to follow them. Like the wind “the Spirit breatheth where He will; and thou hearest His voice, but thou knowest not whence He cometh, and whither He goeth” (Jn 3,8). His inspirations may surprise us in the midst of activity no less than in prayer; it is essential, therefore, to learn to speak interiorly with Him even while exteriorly we are occupied with creatures. This attitude is particularly necessary in our direct contact with souls; then, more than ever, the apostle should invoke the Holy Spirit, keep himself under His influence, and allow himself to be directed by Him. Souls belong to God and they should be directed, not according to one’s own spirit, but according to the Spirit of God. Complete submission demands great faith and great confidence in the omnipotent and transforming action of the Holy Spirit. Only in this way will the apostle have the courage to follow His lead in any form of activity, while remaining fully aware of his own insufficiency. Only thus will he have the courage to face any sacrifice with generosity, while feeling all his own weakness. The Holy Spirit has not been given to us in vain; He is within us, and provided we give ourselves wholly to Him, He can transform us into “chosen instruments” for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. ## Colloquy “Pardon me, my Jesus, if I venture to tell You of my longings, my hopes that border on the infinite; and that my soul may be healed, I beseech You to fulfill all its desires. To be Your spouse, O my Jesus...and by my union with You, to be the mother of souls, should not all this content me? Yet other vocations make themselves felt, and I would wield the sword, I would be a priest, an apostle, a martyr, a doctor of the Church.... O Jesus, my Love, my Life, how shall I realize these desires of my poor soul? “You make me understand that all cannot become apostles, prophets, doctors; that the Church is composed of different members; that the eye cannot also be the hand.... You teach me that all the better gifts are nothing without love, and that charity is the most excellent way of going in safety to You. “At last I have found rest.... Charity gives me the key to my vocation. I understand that since the Church is a body composed of different members, she could not lack the most necessary and most nobly endowed of all the bodily organs. I understand, therefore, that the Church has a heart—and a heart on fire with love. “I see too, that love alone imparts life to all the members, so that should love ever fail, apostles would no longer preach the Gospel and martyrs would refuse to shed their blood. And I realize that love includes every vocation, that love is all things, that love is eternal.... O Jesus, my Love! my vocation is found at last—my vocation is love! I have found my place in the bosom of the Church, and this place, O my God, You Yourself have given to me: in the heart of the Church, my Mother, I will be love. Thus shall I be all things and my dream will be fulfilled” (cf. T.C.J. St, 13). # References J.C. - [[john-of-the-cross-saint|Saint John of the Cross]] LF - [[jc-living-flame|Living Flame of Love by Saint John of the Cross]] T.C.J. - [[therese-of-lisieux-saint|Saint Therese of Lisieux]] [[_tcj-soas-ccel|St - Story of a Soul by Saint Thérèse of Lisieux]] --- ![[bibliography#^biblio-di]] > [[343-our-duties|← 343. Our Duties]] | [[-divine-intimacy-toc|TOC]] | [[345-union-with-god|345. Union with God →]]