The Holy Spirit, Soul of the Church

For in one Spirit we were all baptised into one body; and we were all given to drink of one Spirit. (1 Cor 12:13)

I am going to start with a story today. I hope you like stories, and I am praying that you won’t have heard this one before. Here we go.

A man was travelling through a strange and remote land when he came across what appeared to be a deserted village. He went into the empty village square and sat down on a wall to ponder what had caused the locals to disappear. As he was musing a young boy came walking across the square carrying a sack over his shoulder. The boy walked slowly towards him. However he did not seem to notice the man and despite his greetings, the boy walked straight passed him down one of the streets leading from the square and was gone. Within seconds a girl, dressed in ragged clothes, appeared from the opposite side of the square and walked determinedly across carrying a pail of water. He called out to her, but it was as if she could not hear him and she walked on by. Perplexed and somewhat annoyed, he wondered what was happening. But his thoughts were disturbed by a third figure walking slowly and steadily towards him. Again he called out to the boy, but as before there was no response so he decided to follow him to see where he was going.

The boy walked with measured steps almost as if he were pacing off the distance. He went down a series of streets and then stopped at a doorway and knocked. In a moment the door opened and without any greeting the boy stepped inside and the door was closed. The man peered in at the window to see what was happening inside. In the gloom he could make out several figures, some sitting, some standing, others moving slowly around the room. All seemed to be young though there were a few older ones. As he watched he could see that they were all busy with one another; some were feeding others, some were washing others’ faces, some combing hair, and others still helping with stretch exercises for damaged arms and legs. All was done in silence, like a serene and peaceful ballet.

The man could stand it no longer. He went to the door and knocked. The door was eventually answered by a young man. He was hunched over and the stranger could not help but notice that he was badly maimed and injured. As he looked up he saw that the young man was handsome and bright-eyed. After a moment the young man asked – ‘what do you want?’ The stranger said, ‘I want to know who you people are and what has happened to your village.’

The young man motioned the stranger to come in. He led him across the room, staggering slightly as he went. As they entered the room the stranger could hear muffled voices. He sat down and the young man began his story. Many years ago there was a terrible war and all the adults were called to go and fight. Many were killed. Some came back weak and sickly, carrying terrible diseases. The sickness spread through the village and it seemed that none would survive. Indeed all the adults did die and many of the children also. Though not all of us children died, all were affected by disease. Most were left blind, many deaf and mute. Some like myself can see and hear but are disabled in other ways and are unable to care for ourselves.

As the sickness passed, it seemed as though we would not be able to care for ourselves, but the children truly loved one another and we gathered together and learned that we could survive and indeed be happy together. The older ones taught the younger ones to walk, and those that could, to talk. We taught those with good limbs to feed and care for those who could not feed themselves. We taught the blind to find their way around village so they could bring water and food. Some serve as hands, others as eyes, some as feet. So, together, we are able to live happily as one. By ourselves none of us could do anything. But together we are able to do everything.

I hope you understand the point of the story. It is expressed succinctly in the last line – By ourselves none of us could do anything. But together we are able to do everything.

I wonder where you all come from. I suspect from all over the place? I don’t just mean today, from which parts of Sydney you have come from? Where do you come from in the world? You must have met so many different people from so many different countries over the last few days. Perhaps some of you are good at languages, so you might have been trying them out speaking to others in their own tongue, helping by interpreting for them. Some of you are perhaps good at singing and dancing and drama. That is obvious from what has been going on. It is so interesting to see how people of different cultures and backgrounds express themselves. Such variety, such richness! And yet, as we said yesterday, we are all drawn here by the same attraction. We believe that it is the Spirit of God who has drawn us together, caused us to move as if we are one people, shown us that we form one body in Christ. Shown us that by ourselves none of us could do anything. But together we are able to do everything.

It is in situations such as these that we can proclaim the scriptures loudly and unambiguously, with genuine zeal and conviction: For in one Spirit we were all baptised into one body; and we were all given to drink of one Spirit. (1 Cor 12:13) Let me just quote something from the Catechism for you:

Believers who respond to God’s word and become members of Christ’s Body, become intimately united with him: “In that body the life of Christ is communicated to those who believe, and who, through the sacraments, are united in a hidden and real way to Christ in his Passion and glorification.” This is especially true of Baptism, which unites us to Christ’s death and Resurrection, and the Eucharist, by which “really sharing in the body of the Lord, . . . we are taken up into communion with him and with one another.”

So we recognise that we are members of Christ Body, his mystical Body, we are the Church, held together in communion with Christ our head and with rest of body by the Spirit living and working within us, first given to us at our baptism. But if we are the body, the Spirit is the soul.

“What the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ, which is the Church.” (St Augustine, Sermo 267) “To this Spirit of Christ, as an invisible principle, is to be ascribed the fact that all the parts of the body are joined one with the other and with their exalted head; for the whole Spirit of Christ is in the head, the whole Spirit is in the body, and the whole Spirit is in each of the members.” (Pius XII Mystici Corporis) The Holy Spirit makes the Church “the temple of the living God”.

Now for a moment let us turn our minds to examine something of the nature of the Church and see where we fit into it all.

Just as each of our bodies has several parts and each part has a separate function, so all of us, in union with Christ, form one body, and as parts of it we belong to each other.

The fact that there is only one loaf means that, though there are many of us, we form a single body because we all have a share in this one loaf.

Just as a human body, though it is made up of many parts, is a single unit because all these parts, though many, make one body, so it is with Christ.

There is one Body, one Spirit, just as you were all called into one and the same hope when you were called.

While implying the mystery of God’s working through humanity, these images also convey to us the importance of the Church in God’s plan. For the Church is a sacrament of God’s presence in the world. Now a sacrament is a sign or symbol which communicates the presence and the grace of God to the world. As such, the Church – the Body of Christ – is a tangible sign of Christ’s presence in the world to the end of time.

Some people mistakenly think that Church is an optional part of Christianity. Nothing could be further from the truth – it is essential to God’s plan. God has chosen to work through human instruments, exercising divine authority through the Church.

‘Anyone who listens to you listens to me; anyone who rejects you rejects me, and those who reject me reject the one who sent me.’

It is through the Church that we are joined to Christ and are saved. For in baptism we are not only brought into relationship with God: we are also incorporated into the Body of Christ. It is as members of the Body, as members of the People of God, that we are saved.

God has willed to make men holy and save them ,not as individuals without any bond or link between them, but rather to form them into a people who acknowledge him and serve him in holiness.

It is not possible to live a fully mature life apart from the Church. Individual Christianity is a contradiction in terms. Jesus’ command to “love one another as I have loved you” requires that we be committed to and involved with our brothers and sisters in the Church.

Yes, the Church is a beautiful mystery, yet it is also difficult to understand and accept – “Why would the Almighty, All-perfect God associate with a weak, sinful Church?” Certainly, both the Church as a whole and its individual members have made serious mistakes in the past. From time to time this can lead us to question whether God does in fact work through such an imperfect, “human” Church.

Yet all this is at the very heart of the mystery and the beauty of the Incarnation – “the word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Jesus fully associated himself with our weak, imperfect humanity:

His state was divine, yet he did not cling to his equality with God but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave, and became as men are….

Just as Jesus chooses to fully identify his divinity with our humanity in his physical body, he also chooses to identify with the Church, the Body of Christ, even with its imperfections and sins. Not only does he choose to identify himself with the Church, he loves the Church:

Christ loved the Church and sacrificed himself for her to make her holy….A man never hates his own body, but he feeds it and looks after it; and that is the way Christ treats the Church, because it is his body-and we are its living parts.

If Christ chooses to identify himself with an imperfect Church, having sacrificed himself for it out of love, so we too, should be willing to do the same – recognising the Church’s imperfections, but committing ourselves to her in love.

In many ways our commitment to the Church is a tangible sign of our commitment to Christ himself. So we cannot separate our love for Christ from our love for his Body, the Church. And Jesus makes it very clear that our love for him will manifest itself in the way we love our brothers and sisters in his body.

If you love me you will keep my commandments….This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you. A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends.

We live in an age which has become sceptical of detailed proofs, well crafted treatise and fervent tracts. The authenticity of peoples’ lives carries more weight than lengthy arguments. We are called to be living Gospels for all to hear; we are called to be witnesses to the presence and action of Christ in our lives through the power of the Spirit. We need the zeal, the strength, the wisdom and perseverance of the Holy Spirit. And where do we get this?

It is evident from its celebration that the effect of the sacrament of Confirmation is the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit as once granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost.
From this fact, Confirmation brings an increase and deepening of baptismal grace:
- it roots us more deeply in the divine filiation which makes us cry, “Abba! Father!”;
- it unites us more firmly to Christ;
- it increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us;
- it renders our bond with the Church more perfect;
- it gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross: (Council of Florence and Lumen Gentium, 11)

At your Baptism you were given the gift of the Spirit and on your behalf your Godparents and parents accepted that gift. At your confirmation you reclaimed that gift in your own name in your own right. The gift has been offered. It has been chosen and prepared from all eternity with just you in mind. It was presented to you in the best possible way and offered freely. However, you have to accept it. And when you accept a gift you normally have to open your hands, open your arms. To receive and accept this gift of the Spirit of God’s love, you have to open your hearts, otherwise not even God can force the gift on you. A gift has to be freely given and freely accepted to be a gift at all.

Then having received the gift you have to use it. There is no point in telling people – ‘Oh I have been confirmed in the gift of God’s Holy Spirit’. And when people say, ‘What are you doing with it?’, you respond, ‘I have locked it away, I’m saving for a very special moment’. You have to use it. You have to allow the Spirit to work in your heart, in your life

How do you use the gift of the Spirit? You ask him to guide and direct your actions at the beginning of every day, at the beginning of every venture in your life. You call on him to inspire you, encourage you, to speak to your heart, to live in your spirit.

He will then give you the courage, the words, the opportunities to witness what God is doing in your life. You will know what to say and when to say it if you open yourself to the Spirit of Jesus who has been poured into your heart. You will know what gifts to use and how to use them for the building up of the Christ Body, the Church. You will do all things for the glory of God, for the spread of the Kingdom and for the good of all your brothers and sisters.

Lord Jesus, you sacrificed yourself out of love for your Church. Empower us to follow your example in laying down our lives for your Body as visible proof of our love for you and one another.

Lord God, in your mysterious way, you have given us the gifts of your Holy Spirit as a means of bringing wholeness and strength to the Church. May we use these gifts generously and wisely and find true joy in serving others and in allowing others to use their gifts in serving us.

We pray this in the Name of your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.