The Holy Spirit, Sin and God’s Will for us

by asiel · December 16, 2016

Every time Jesus acted, the Gospels tell us, he always confronted moral questions by condemning the sin and welcoming the sinner, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, papal preacher to Pope Francis and top Vatican officials.

“He condemns adultery, even that of the heart, but he forgives the adulteress and gives hope back to her; he reaffirms the indissolubility of marriage, but he engages in conversation with the Samaritan woman” and even reveals to her what he had so far not told anyone so explicitly – that he was the Messiah.

Sin is the work of the devil, not God, but the sinner is and will always be God’s creature, made in his image and always possessing dignity, he said.

To understand how discernment in one’s own life works, the papal preacher said, “through the gift, or charism, of counsel, the Holy Spirit helps us to evaluate situations and to orient our choices based not only on human wisdom and prudence but also in the light of the supernatural principles of faith.”

The danger with personal discernment, he said, is forgetting the primary role of the Holy Spirit and putting too much emphasis on “psychological aspects.”

“Discernment, in its essence, is not an art or a technique but a charism, a gift of the Spirit!” he said. “Its psychological aspects are of great importance, but they always come second.”

Father Cantalamessa cited a number of ways the saints taught and guided their own process of discernment, like St. Ignatius of Loyola, who said an “experience of interior peace” was an essential aspect.

It entails presenting questions to God and waiting in prayer for his response as well as living with “a deep-seated habitual disposition to do God’s will in every situation,” he said.

Reading and contemplating sacred Scripture help the Holy Spirit shed his light in a person’s soul, he said, diminishing the power of “the dark and hateful temptations that come from demons.”

An examination of conscience, too, requires the same bold willingness to let God inside and “search our innermost being.”

If it is not done or done superficially, the examination “easily becomes just a list of imperfections that we confess so that we can feel better without the attitude of real repentance,” he said.

The papal preacher said he hoped his reflection would lead to “a renewed decision to entrust ourselves completely and for everything to the inner guidance of the Holy Spirit as a kind of ‘spiritual direction.'” By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service