Just before Christmas in 2005, still in the first year of his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI gave an address to the Roman Curia in which he reflected on a variety of topics, including the 40^th anniversary of the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council.  He was not afraid to point out that the implementation of the Council had experienced many challenges, and he asked: “Why has the implementation of the Council, in large parts of the Church, thus far been so difficult?” (Pope Benedict XVI, Address to the Roman Curia Offering them his Christmas Greetings, 22 December 2005) To this question he responded:

Well, it all depends on the correct interpretation of the Council or – as we would say today – on its proper hermeneutics, the correct key to its interpretation and application. The problems in its implementation arose from the fact that two contrary hermeneutics came face to face and quarrelled with each other. One caused confusion, the other, silently but more and more visibly, bore and is bearing fruit. (ibid.)

The hermeneutic that was causing confusion he called “a hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture” which would suggest that what had come before the Council was to be left in the past, and that the Council marked a break from the past, a new springtime in the Church in which all of the old ideas and practices were thrown out and new ideas and practices replaced them.  On the other hand, the hermeneutic that was bearing fruit, helping to advance the true implementation of the Council he described in this way:

On the other, there is the “hermeneutic of reform”, of renewal in the continuity of the one subject-Church which the Lord has given to us. She is a subject which increases in time and develops, yet always remaining the same, the one subject of the journeying People of God. (ibid.)

I think this point is very helpful in understanding a point the Holy Father makes in Spe salvi when he writes the following:

What this means is that every generation has the task of engaging anew in the arduous search for the right way to order human affairs; this task is never simply completed. Yet every generation must also make its own contribution to establishing convincing structures of freedom and of good, which can help the following generation as a guideline for the proper use of human freedom; hence, always within human limits, they provide a certain guarantee also for the future. (SS 25)

The progress of human freedom and development builds upon what has gone before us, not dismissing it as no longer relevant.  But this foundation is not so rigid that it is not open to continued growth, reform and renewal, while always maintaining that continuous connection with Jesus Christ who “is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Heb 13:8) On the topic of Christian hope, the pope notes that there is much room for legitimate development, as he writes:

[W]e must also acknowledge that modern Christianity, faced with the successes of science in progressively structuring the world, has to a large extent restricted its attention to the individual and his salvation. In so doing it has limited the horizon of its hope and has failed to recognize sufficiently the greatness of its task—even if it has continued to achieve great things in the formation of man and in care for the weak and the suffering. (ibid.)

I believe that, with the pontificate of Pope Francis, and now continuing with Pope Leo XIV, we have seen the Church acknowledging the greatness of this task, and has helped the Church to expand her horizons to spread this message of hope to the many challenges being faced in our modern world.

In labore requies, In labor, rest,
in aestu temperies in heat, temperance,
in fletu solatium. in tears, solace.

If anyone thinks that God is only for the elite, the morally perfect, or the “special” humans among us, these three lines remind us that nothing could be further from the truth. God is God for the common man, for the laborer, for the normal, for the weary, for the ordinary. Since the fall of man, the realities of labor, heat, and tears have been a part of human existence. This is our lot. We work, we labor, we sweat and weep and mourn because this life can be tough. 

How many of us, though, when we’re hard at work, whether in the form of manual labor or not, take the time to think of the presence of the Holy Spirit? How often have you paused to consider His presence with you?

He is there. 
He is in you.

When you take the time to recognize that, it changes the work. He may not take away the backbreaking effort of the work, but joy enters in. I’ve experienced this recognition as a “budding forth” of a peaceful happy sense of purpose. The way this stanza of the Sequence describes the action of the Holy Spirit fits with experience.

“In labor, rest.” This labor is the “work” with which humanity was punished after the Fall. This is not simply work, because that is good for us and necessary, but this “labor” is hard work, toiling work. During this labor, the presence of God brings a sense of rest – centeredness – and focus, even when the labor continues. 

“In heat, temperance.” The word used for “heat” here is aestu, literally, “a raging heat of fire.” I wonder if this not only refers to actual heat like from the blazing sun, but also the raging fires of the passions in the soul. The attraction to earthly or sinful things has often been likened to fire. In either case, the Holy Spirit brings temperance – not the virtue of temperance, but a “lessening” or “tempering” of the heat. He lowers it so that we can bear it. In the case of the literal heat, he can help us bear it and offer it to God, and in the case of the heat of the passions, he can help us fight to remain virtuous and strong. 

“In tears, solace.” Again, this is the lot of fallen humanity. Because of sin, we experience grief, sadness, death, rejection, loss, and betrayal. The Holy Spirit, in his role as comforter, comes to bring us divine refreshment. This solace is as simple as His personal presence. We are not alone because he brings God to us. Where he is, the Father and Son are also. When the Holy Spirit is within, we are never alone. 

In a way, we see that the Holy Spirit is God’s answer to the fall of Adam and Eve. What they lost through the Fall, the Holy Spirit reverses. We still labor in heat and tears, but the Holy Spirit grants rest and solace in the midst of it. 

May the Holy Spirit fill us with his personal presence and bring us rest, temperance, and solace. Come Holy Spirit, set us on fire with your love! 

After spending the past several weeks considering Christian hope and the influence of modern thinkers on this important concept, we move to the next section of Spe salvi which has the section title: “The True Shape of Christian Hope.”  The Holy Father picks up on the theme of human freedom in these next few paragraphs, having begun his reflection on this important topic in the previous section.

In many ways, the timing of this topic is perfect as we come to the conclusion of the Religious Freedom Week in the Church in the United States.  This week began last Sunday, June 22 (normally the Memorial of Ss. John Fisher and Thomas More) and concludes on June 29 with the Solemnity of Ss. Peter and Paul.  This has replaced the Fortnight for Freedom which extended another week, ending on July 4, our nation’s Independence Day.  Though the Holy Father’s treatment of human freedom in these paragraphs of Spe salvi are not specifically about religious freedom per se, they are helpful for any discussion about the freedom that we as human beings have been gifted by God.

The pope makes the point that for man, “freedom is always new and he must always make his decisions anew.” (SS 24) This is not to say that we are free to choose what we want to be true, and in the name of freedom, can justify any decision that we want.  Rather, we can draw upon the “moral treasury” of humanity that has gone before us to help us in knowing what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil, but each generation is called upon to use their freedom in choosing that good, not just having those decisions made for us.  To do so would not be freedom.

On this point some might object to what the Holy Father is saying, claiming that the Church, in all of her teachings and rules, has defined what is acceptable and what is not, and that we are placed in a position that we must follow those guidelines.  True, the Church gives us clear guidance on a whole host of things, but our freedom remains, and we have the ability to accept or reject those teachings.  But there are consequences when we use our freedom to reject the good, which we call sin.  The Church does not define actions as sinful in the hopes of limiting our freedom, rather, she does so as a loving Mother to protect us, so that, in freedom, we can choose what is right and good, and so experience the fullness of life that the Gospel promises, and not fall into the slavery that sin inevitably leads to.  

Pope Benedict writes about the important role that structures play in promoting true freedom, such as various government structures.  He says the following:

The right state of human affairs, the moral well-being of the world can never be guaranteed simply through structures alone, however good they are. Such structures are not only important, but necessary; yet they cannot and must not marginalize human freedom. Even the best structures function only when the community is animated by convictions capable of motivating people to assent freely to the social order. Freedom requires conviction; conviction does not exist on its own, but must always be gained anew by the community. (ibid.)

We have seen this play out in a variety of ways throughout the history of our country, on topics such as political freedom and independence at the beginning of our country, abolition of slavery and civil rights, women’s rights, labor rights, freedom of speech, immigration and refugee rights, and religious freedom, just to name a few.  Our history as a nation demonstrates how freedom is always something that is in need of reflection and renewal.  Though the Church is not directly involved in the creation and enforcement of civil laws, she provides a needed voice in these conversations to ensure that true freedom, according to the author of all good, namely God, is never ignored or rejected.

Consolator optime, Greatest comforter,
dulcis hospes animae, sweet guest of the soul,
dulce refrigerium. sweet consolation.

This stanza is simply three descriptions of the Holy Spirit: comforter, guest, and consolation. There is no verb, so we can read it either as a continuation of the last stanza’s “Come,” or we can read it as praise of the Holy Spirit – a holy statement about the Truth of who He is. We might ask, ‘Why is His light a comfort, a consolation, and a sweet guest?’

Those who are filled with the Holy Spirit have a special way of receiving the challenges in life with grace. They seem to be filled with a sweetness and a supernatural contentment. In his book, “The Holy Spirit, Fire of Divine Love,” Fr. Wilfred Stinissen explains, “[The Holy Spirit] comforts by giving a certain taste for poverty. He teaches you to love your littleness.” The Holy Spirit doesn’t necessarily come and take away the things that cause pain, humiliation, or a sense of weakness. He can, certainly, free us from these pains, but he also has the power to help us bear them for Christ and for his body, with peace. 

It is only the presence of the Holy Spirit that could make the Martyrs happy and joyful in the face of death. It is only the presence of the Holy Spirit that could lead saints to speak about the beauty of the grace that comes through suffering. He conforms our lives to the cross of Jesus Christ, through which comes resurrection!

The Spirit is a guest, not an intruder. Guests come at an invitation – He will never barge in. He desires to enter but waits in reverence like the Lord in the book of Revelation: “I stand at the door and knock.” Plus, as God himself, when he comes into our interior life, he is really also inviting us into his interior life.  The Latin word translated here as “Guest,” hospes,can also mean “a friendly host.” When we invite Him, He enters our soul as a guest and hosts us in the divine life and light. The life of the Trinity is a life of outpouring love between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – it looks a lot like Jesus, crucified for the life of the world.

St. Paul is one of those saints who truly invited the Holy Trinity into his very self and therefore became very much like Jesus. He reveals this in his letter to the Galatians: “I have been crucified with Christ;and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” We see that St. Paul was filled with the consolation of God to the extent that he could rejoice in his imprisonment, his sufferings, his beatings, and his ultimate martyrdom, because in all these ways he gained a deep communion with Jesus. Communion with Jesus is the most consoling thing in the universe, and the Holy Spirit happily brings that communion to life in us. 

Come, Holy Spirit, sweet guest of my soul! Come set me on fire with your love and console me by uniting me with Jesus in his life, his death, and his resurrection.

In the final paragraph of this section in which Pope Benedict explores the effects of modern philosophies on our Christian understanding of faith and hope, he draws a simple yet blunt conclusion: “man needs God, otherwise he remains without hope.” (Spe salvi, 23) The Holy Father agrees with modern thinkers in acknowledging the importance of reason, how it is indeed “God’s great gift to man” and that “the victory of reason over unreason is also a goal of the Christian life.” (ibid.) But the danger is when reason pushes God aside and deems Him irrelevant or even dangerous to the program of progress.  It is from that perspective that the pope concludes that we need God, and that:

There is no doubt, therefore, that a “Kingdom of God” accomplished without God—a kingdom therefore of man alone—inevitably ends up as the “perverse end” of all things as described by Kant: we have seen it, and we see it over and over again. (ibid.)

As Catholics, we know this to be true, how much we need God in our lives.  And thankfully, the Lord has made His presence in our lives something very real and personal.  Jesus has left us the great gift of His presence in the sacraments by which He not only remains with us, but that He actually dwells in us, guiding our lives with His grace through the challenges of this life toward our final destination in Heaven, the final goal of our hope.  As we celebrate Corpus Christi this Sunday, we are especially grateful for the gift of the Eucharist by which Jesus nourishes us, giving us the strength we need to persevere along this path of life.

We are also grateful for the gift of His presence with us in the Church, whose birth we celebrated two weeks ago on Pentecost.  In particular, we are grateful that He, the Good Shepherd, has arranged that His flock be continually cared for by the shepherds He has appointed, namely the Apostles and their successors, the bishops.  In the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium) from the Second Vatican Council, the bishop is described as follows:

Bishops, as vicars and ambassadors of Christ, govern the particular churches entrusted to them by their counsel, exhortations, example, and even by their authority and sacred power, which indeed they use only for the edification of their flock in truth and holiness, remembering that he who is greater should become as the lesser and he who is the chief become as the servant. (Lumen Gentium, 27)

Today, we celebrate with great joy our local shepherd, Bishop Thomas John Paprocki, who, as of today, June 22, has been with us as our bishop for the 15 years.  The entire diocese has been blessed by his leadership, and we at the Cathedral have had the benefit of his regular presence among us, especially in so many of our liturgical celebrations.  

I am most grateful to God for the gift that Bishop Paprocki has been to our diocese, to our parish, and to me personally.  As he mentioned at this year’s priesthood ordination, he has now ordained 40 men to the priesthood for our diocese over his 15 years here.  I am humbled to have been the first of that group back in 2011.  Having lived and worked with him for most of my priesthood, I can confidently say that much of who I am as a priest is thanks to his example, his fatherly leadership, and his friendship.

Please join me in thanking God this day for Bishop Paprocki on his anniversary of his installation as our bishop, and that the Lord will bless him abundantly in the years ahead.

Veni, pater pauperum, Come, father of the poor,
veni, dator munerum come, giver of gifts,
veni, lumen cordium. come, light of the heart.

The early Church Fathers loved to wonder at the greatness of God and his Transcendence – a not-so-often used word that refers to God’s unspeakable and indescribable perfection. He is majestic. He is truly “other.” He is God and we are not. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving, and everywhere – and yet outside of space and time! He is perfect, one, good, true, beautiful, etc. But even these high words used to describe him fall short because we human beings cannot imagine the intensity of perfection, oneness, goodness, truth, and beauty that is “God.” With the revelation of the Trinity of persons, we may have a sense that we “understand” more about Him, but in all reality, it only deepens the mystery. He is Love… and again, the. word. falls. short.

A theological phrase used in the Middle Ages reads, bonum diffusivum sui, “Goodness pours itself out.” God has, in a way, built his “way of existing” into reality – he is a God who pours himself out, and this action we call goodness. In a way, He can’t help Himself, because it is who He is, and He does so in pure freedom, without coercion or force.

He made us.

We exist in the position of one who has received a great gift and can in no way repay it. We exist. We didn’t have to, but we do. He wanted us to exist, and we therefore read, “you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made, for you would not fashion what you hate… O Ruler and Lover of souls” (Wisdom 11:24-26). And with the Psalmist, we cry out, “What return can I make to the Lord for all the goodness he has shown to me?” (Psalm 116:12)

Thankfully, he does not expect a “repayment” for that gift. Instead, he only expects us to follow him so that he can give us even more. The sheer goodness of this God is unimaginable. 

And in this beautiful stanza of the Pentecost sequence, the Holy Spirit in particular is praised for his goodness. We ask him to come to us, he who is THE GIFT from the Father and the Son. The greatest gift given by God to us is God himself, the Holy Spirit, who comes only to lavish more and more gifts of grace on us. 

In Psalm 145, God is described as a very happy giver of gifts. We read, “The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand, you satisfy the desire of every living thing.” The Holy Spirit is truly the fulfillment of every desire of every living thing. We want life – He is life itself. We want happiness – He is the cause of all joy, and the source of Jesus’ own joy. We want peace – He is the peace of God’s inner life. We want rest – He is where the Father and Son go to rest. We want light – He is light, understanding, wisdom, and knowledge. 

May the Holy Spirit fill our hearts with His generosity. Come Holy Spirit, set us on fire with your Love!