It is a joy for the three persons of the Holy Trinity to be with us, to dwell in us and to enlighten us with their divine light. This is also true of the Holy Spirit, who gives us His seven gifts to guide us on the path of holiness.
If we follow His guidance, the fruits of the Holy Spirit will grow in our lives and our Father will be very pleased with them. We only have to imagine how wonderful it is for us to meet someone in whom the fruits of the Holy Spirit have matured. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5:22-23).
This is how God wants our lives to be, for then His image is restored in us in all its beauty and dignity, and we become like Him.
The Holy Spirit does not rest and does everything possible to bring about this transformation in all people. To this end He guides and strengthens the Apostles to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. This task is still necessary today, because the hour of grace in which as many people as possible are to find their way back to the Father’s house has not yet ended.
But the Holy Spirit not only ensures that the message of the Gospel reaches people, but also guides them along the inner path so that they grow and mature spiritually, because our Heavenly Father has a plan of salvation for each individual person. The Paraclete wants this plan to be realised in us, because He, like Jesus, glorifies the Father who sent Him with the Son.
In this way the Holy Spirit reveals Himself to be the divine friend of all humanity and the personal friend of each soul. He is always with us, pouring His light into our hearts, lifting us up and strengthening us, as we have seen in the meditations of the Pentecost Sequence.
No one can want the best for us more than He, who not only accompanies us as a faithful friend on the way to our eternal goal, but who Himself works so that, clothed in the wedding garment, we may be considered worthy to enter God’s eternal banquet.
The Holy Spirit offers us His divine friendship. We do not have to be saints to begin to live in an intimate relationship with Him. If we open our hearts to Him and show our good will, He, moved by love, will purify us tirelessly and with great care, always reminding us of what is essential.
Even on the human level it is a great treasure to find a friend we can trust (within the limits of human fallibility). But how much greater is the gift of having a Divine Friend who always has time for us and is unfailing!
If a good human friend can make us see our faults without withdrawing his love, this is even more true of our Divine Friend. With gentleness He points out to us what is still preventing us from growing spiritually. His voice of warning is always present. Above all, He shows us the inner barriers that prevent us from growing in love. Love is His great theme because He is the love between the Father and the Son and He wants to awaken this love in all His friends.
Our Divine Friend is a priceless treasure who knows us in our depths, even in our subconscious. We human beings are easily deceived and often unaware of our deepest motivations. A human friend, however good, is not able to penetrate the depths of our heart and his capacity for understanding is limited.
Our Divine Friend, on the other hand, ‘goes into the depths of the soul’. If we invite Him and ask for His help, He will not hesitate to show us where there are still barriers in our depths, where we still need healing. Since He is love Himself, His very presence heals us and His power is able to break down the barriers.
We can never praise enough the beauty and goodness of our Divine Friend! Our hearts will understand more and more how much He loves us. And it is an immense joy for Him to see that we wholeheartedly desire to glorify God and serve mankind.
Our Divine Friend will rejoice when we follow His motions and praise the Heavenly Father with us. In our earthly life, this is the deepest union we can achieve with our Divine Friend, and we will always be attentive to Him, lest we lose His friendship. When we reach eternity and see all that He has done for us so that we may return safely to the Father’s house, we will never tire of thanking Him.
