The Lord Jesus has encouraged us, inspired us with His words and awakened a deep desire to receive the Holy Spirit. His gospel makes it possible for us to earnestly ask for the presence of the Holy Spirit after being told what impact it will produce in our lives.
We find ourselves intensifying our prayer in the church, recognizing that we need the Spirit. Therefore we ask the Lord to pay attention to our darkness, so that He may send us light; that he may listen to our lies, and tell us the truth; to look upon weakness, that strength may come to us; Focus on our hatred, so that He may fill us with love through the Holy Spirit.
By opening his heart and speaking to us about the Spirit, the Lord Jesus creates emotion and hope, so that we feel loved and supported by this power that comes from above.
Pope Benedict XVI says that: “The Holy Spirit poured out in an immense way, like a waterfall capable of purifying all hearts, extinguishes the fire of evil and ignites the fire of divine love in the world. “
However, the Holy Spirit is not a momentary feeling or an emotional state. The Holy Spirit is the gift of God that causes change and that gives us a new heart. Therefore, it leaves not a transitory feeling, but a permanent state of renewal and joy in the life of a Christian. “The Holy Spirit gives the faithful a better vision of the world of history and makes them guardians of hope that does not despair” (Benedict XVI).
This is why we need to prepare ourselves to receive the Holy Spirit. You may feel a feeling and a fleeting pleasure, but the soul is not there. If we do the right things of the Spirit, if we live the gospel, if we base our joy on Jesus and if we are truly spiritual, then the Spirit is there.
Among the things that inspire us about Jesus’ preaching about the Holy Spirit, we can mention the way he describes his work on us. Jesus says that the Holy Spirit is the savior. Because even the Bible tells us that there is an accuser. The Holy Spirit is the protector and the impure spirit the accuser, who accuses us day and night before our God (Cf. Ap 12, 10), who convicts us, who reminds us of our sins, who blames us, so we never get our joy back.
There is someone who accuses you and there is someone who defends you. The Holy Spirit lets God see your goodness, your good feelings, your heart. It makes it possible for God to see that you are his son, that you love Jesus, that you love the Virgin Mary, and that you want to return to her. When any accusation or condemnation comes, the soul is the one who defends you.
So, if we have a mentor, we have to emulate him. If you want the Spirit to come into your life, protect others. Never go to prayer accusing others, because you will be acting like a demon who is an accuser. Do not interpret moments of prayer as moments of condemnation.
How do we want those who have hurt us, those who have harmed us, to pay. But if we give in to this temptation, we become a victim of the evil spirit and we become like him an accuser, a slanderer.
If you want to get the soul, defend, don’t accuse; Protect, don’t condemn. Protect and advocate for others as the Spirit does with you. You have made mistakes, you have sins, you have reprehensible deeds in life, but with all this, the Spirit protects you in the presence of God so that love will lead you to a true change in life.
If you have fallen into the temptation to judge and condemn your brothers, defend them now in the presence of God and do not condemn them; pray for them. This does not mean that you are an accomplice of evil and that you perpetrate crimes in the face of apparent injustice. This does not mean that you should become insensitive to the sins of these people. This means that justice is with God. We are very quick to judge and condemn and on the other hand, God sees more than us and takes his time, because he does not lose hope and tries to save everyone.
Those whom you have judged and condemned, now defend them in the presence of God. To defend is not to invent what does not exist; It’s not about inventing virtues that they don’t have. It may be that there are unjust, perverted people out there, but defend them by using the same words we heard from Jesus: “They do not know what they are doing”.
They are not our words, they are the words of God. To me, those people knew how much they had hurt Jesus when they were hurting him, slapping him, humiliating him, crucifying him. To me they were aware, but you said, Lord: “They do not know what they are doing.”
By defending them, you will not be inventing the good and virtues that they do not have. But you can say to Jesus, as he said to his accusers; You don’t know what provoked me, you don’t know how much it hurt and harmed me in life.
Everyone has to face your judgement, Lord. But it should be your justice, not mine; For if I judge, I condemn, and Your justice is deeper and more merciful than I can see of those people.
Follow the Holy Spirit and protect those people. Defend those who have made you cry and hurt you in life; To those who have given you depression and taken away what is yours. Defend them without hiding their sin, but at least say the kind words of Jesus: “They don’t know what they are doing”. Ask God to have mercy on them so that they can discover their wickedness and repent of their evil deeds, so that they mend their ways and stop hurting and harming others.
Protect them, as the Spirit protects you from your wickedness and stupidity. Protect them so that when you receive the Holy Spirit it is not pure feeling and emotion, but a renewal, a new heart that accepts the gift that comes from above.
“The Holy Spirit guides us like a mother … like one who leads a blind man” (Holy Cure d’Arce). The Holy Spirit is what we need in these times of darkness, attack and conflict. So, let us not stop dressing and deceiving ourselves with this promise of Jesus.
“How to wait for the Holy Spirit? As expected for love. As expected for a kiss. Like a thirsty yearning for water. Just like there is an expectation of light when it is night. Those who wait for him like this will welcome him into their souls next Sunday. And they will know, without human words, that God loves them” (Jose F. Rey Ballesteros).
