Pope Francis concluded the series of catechesis on The Holy Spirit and the Bride at the General Audience this Wednesday, in which he reflected on hope as a certainty based on God’s fidelity to his promises.
Below is Pope Francis’ complete catechesis:
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
We have reached the end of our catecheses on the Holy Spirit and the Church. We dedicate this final reflection to the title we have given to the entire cycle, namely: “ The Spirit and the Bride”. The Holy Spirit leads the People of God to Jesus, our Hope ”. This title refers to one of the last verses of the Bible, in the Book of Revelation, which says: “The Spirit and the Bride say: ‘Come! ’” ( Rev 22:17). To whom is this invocation addressed? To the risen Christ. In fact, both St. Paul (cf. 1 Cor 16:22) and the Didache , a writing from the apostolic age, attest that in the liturgical meetings of the first Christians the cry “ Maràna tha! ” resounded in Aramaic , which meant precisely “Come, Lord!” – the prayer to Christ that he might come.
In that earlier phase, the invocation had a background that today we would call eschatological. It expressed, in fact, the ardent expectation of the Lord’s glorious return. This cry and the expectation it expresses have never faded in the Church. Even today, in the Mass, immediately after the consecration, the Church proclaims the death and resurrection of Christ ” in expectation of his coming .” The Church is awaiting the coming of the Lord.
But this expectation of Christ’s final coming has not remained alone and unique. It has also been joined by the expectation of his continual coming in the present and pilgrim situation of the Church. And it is of this coming that the Church thinks above all when, animated by the Holy Spirit, she cries out to Jesus: “Come!”
A significant change – or rather a development – has taken place with regard to the cry “Come, come Lord!” on the lips of the Church. It is not usually addressed only to Christ, but also to the Holy Spirit himself! The one who cries is now also the one to whom we cry. “Come!” is the invocation with which almost all the hymns and prayers of the Church addressed to the Holy Spirit begin: “Come, O Creator Spirit,” we say in Veni Creator , and “Come, Holy Spirit,” “ Veni Sancte Spiritus ,” in the Pentecost sequence; and so on in many other prayers. And it is right that it should be so, because, after the Resurrection, the Holy Spirit is the true “ alter ego” of Christ, the One who takes his place, who makes him present and active in the Church. It is He who “will announce what is to come” (cf. Jn 16:13) and makes us desire and hope. This is why Christ and the Spirit are inseparable, also in the economy of salvation.
The Holy Spirit is the ever-flowing source of Christian hope. St. Paul left us these precious words: “May the God of hope fill you, believers, with all joy and peace, so that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit” ( Rom 15:13). If the Church is a boat, the Holy Spirit is the sail that propels her and makes her advance on the sea of history, today as yesterday.
Hope is not an empty word, nor our vague desire for things to go well: it is a certainty, because it is based on God’s faithfulness to his promises. That is why it is called a theological virtue: because it is infused by God and has God as its guarantor. It is not a passive virtue, which limits itself to waiting for things to happen. It is a supremely active virtue that helps things to happen. Someone who fought for the liberation of the poor wrote these words: “The Holy Spirit is at the origin of the cry of the poor. He is the strength that is given to those who have no strength. He leads the struggle for the emancipation and full realization of the oppressed people.”
Christians cannot be content with having hope; they must also radiate hope, be a sower of hope. This is the most beautiful gift that the Church can give to all humanity, especially at times when everything seems to be lowering its sails.
The apostle Peter exhorted the first Christians with these words: “Worship the Lord Christ in your hearts, always being ready to give an account to everyone who asks you for the reason for the hope that is in you.” But he added a recommendation: “But do it with gentleness and respect.” ( 1 Pet 3:15-16) Yes, because it is not so much the force of the arguments that will convince people, but the love that we know how to put into them. This is the first and most effective form of evangelization. And it is open to all. Dear brothers and sisters, may the Spirit always help us, always, to “abound in hope through the Holy Spirit.” Thank you.