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Many people have asked from our Catechesis how to get a copy of the bishops talks. Well Bishop Portous from Syndey has sent me his today. It was awesome to hear him speak and he was very engagaing with the youth. He stood outside and welcomed them as they came in and even sang & danced with them.  He got to ride on the boat with the Pope. We are jealous but would love to know what they chatted about.

         Below is his Catechesis from Thursday at the Parish of Sacred Heart

2. The Holy Spirit, Soul of the Church

We continue today our reflection on the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the Church. Today’s theme is – “the Holy Spirit, soul of the Church”.

When we think of the Holy Spirit what image comes to mind? How do we see the Holy Spirit in our lives?

One image of the Holy Spirit is that of wind. It is interesting to note that at Pentecost as the Holy Spirit came there was the sound of a rush of wind. Wind accompanied the coming of the Spirit.

When Jesus imparted the Spirit on his disciples to give them the power to forgive sins, St John tells us that Jesus “breathed on them”. Jesus breathed on them – again the idea of wind is referred to.

The word for wind in Hebrew is ruah. It is also the word for breath.

Let us for a moment consider this image of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit as wind

We cannot see the wind. It is invisible. Yet the wind is real. We can tell that the wind is blowing by the effects that it has.

So too the Spirit. We cannot see the Holy Spirit, yet the Spirit is real. The way we can tell that the Spirit is active is by the effects that the Spirit has. We notice the profound effects of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost on the disciples.  They were extraordinarily changed. They were filled with new courage and confidence.

The Scriptures talk of the gifts – the seven gifts we speak about at Confirmation - and fruits of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and so on. A person who opens their life to the Spirit can experience real ways in which the Spirit works within them.

When we think about the wind we can note that it can be either strong or gentle. So the Spirit can work in powerful and evident ways, or the Spirit can be subtle and unnoticeable in its influence. It is true that we often do not realise that the Spirit is at work, but it is!

Jesus taught that the Spirit blows where he wills. This is another aspect of the wonderful mystery of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives and the life of the Church. We never know what the Spirit will do next!

We hear people speak about the “surprises of the Spirit”. The Lord speaks about God acting at a time we do not expect!

Spirit as breath

Without breath we have no life! Every moment of our lives we are breathing in and out. It goes on so consistently that we do not notice, except when we run or exert ourselves and are gasping for breath. So the Spirit of God breathes in us. The Spirit is active but we are not conscious of his activity. It is steady and life-giving. For instance, St Paul teaches that we could not have faith but that the Spirit moves in us! We are sustained in our inner spiritual life by the presence of the Holy Spirit.

We can speak of the Holy Spirit as the essence of our inner spiritual life. We can know God because the Holy Spirit is at work in us. We pray because the Holy Spirit moves us to pray. Again, St Paul speaks about the notion of the Holy Spirit coming to help us when we do not know how to pray.

When we read the Scriptures we do not just read with our minds – in the process of understanding from a human point of view. We are listening for the Word of God speaking to our hearts. We can hear the Word of God speaking to us in Scripture because the Holy Spirit gives us the capacity to hear in the depths of our soul.

In short the Holy Spirit enables us to live at a spiritual level. The Holy Spirit breathes life into our soul.

Soul of the Church

Have you ever considered how it is that the Catholic Church has continued to exist and grow for over 2000 years? Many great empires have come and gone over this time, yet the Church has persisted. Not only has it survived and it seems that in every age there is a new freshness and life. The Church is not old and decrepit, but always has a new vitality for every age and every new challenge.

The Church is not just a human institution. The Church cannot be explained as a cleverly run organisation with really smart people able to make it continually relevant and successful.

The Church is what it is because of the fresh life of the Spirit at work in its midst. This is what gives the Church an amazing youthfulness and vigour, particularly at times when one would think that it could not survive.

The Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church. The Spirit is at work in every age in wonderful and unexpected ways. The history of the Church reveals extraordinary manifestations of the Spirit.

The Church began because of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples at Pentecost. Despite being with Jesus for three years and even witnessing him risen from the dead it is evident that the disciples lacked the confidence to carry out the great commission of the Lord to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. They needed the Spirit. They needed to be clothed with power from on high!

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses” – our theme for this WYD – has been realised in the Church at Pentecost and continues to be realised throughout the long history of the Church.

I believe it is true that without Pentecost there would be no Church. It is equally true that without the action of the Holy Spirit today in the Church we would be unable to carry out our mission in the world.

Signs of the Spirit

How can we recognise the presence and activity of the Spirit in the Church?

One of the fascinating aspects of the history of the Church is the periodic emergence of movements of renewal.

As the age of martyrs was coming to a close, the spirit moved in the hearts of thousands of Catholics to withdraw into the desert. Firstly in Egypt and the Middle East and later in Europe, an extraordinary movement of monasticism was born. This movement preserved the Church during the dark ages that followed.

When the Church seemed to have lost its way in the middle ages, the spirit moved in the life of young Francis of Assisi and an extraordinary movement founded in poverty and preaching emerged.

In the difficult times of the reformation, we see the Spirit inspiring Teresa of Avila to seek the heights of contemplative life, and a new spiritual vitality came to the Church. The Spirit raised up young Ignatius of Loyola to found a new order – the Jesuits – who spearheaded a renewed Catholic life.

In our own times, we are seeing the emergence of many new movements principally attracting young people to a deeply committed Christian life. The WYD is itself a wonderful manifestation of the Holy Spirit at work in the Church.

The Spirit is the soul of the Church and the source of its ever youthfulness and vigour. In times of special need the Spirit comes to the aid of the Church.

Life in the Spirit

To be a Catholic is not just to belong to an organisation or to have some sort of tribal loyalty to the Church. To be a Catholic is to live a life in the Holy Spirit.

We receive the Holy Spirit through the sacraments, especially we identify the key role of the Holy Spirit in Baptism and Confirmation. It is as though God has lit a small fire within us. This is the fire of faith. It is the fire of love.

You know that a fire to grow strong needs to be fanned. St Paul used this image in speaking to Timothy when he told him to “fan into a flame” the gift God gave him when he was baptised.

So too for us. We need to fan this fire of the Holy Spirit into a bright and burning flame. We need to let the Spirit become a strong and driving force within us.

The Church needs men and women alive in the Holy Spirit. God wants to do great things in his Church today. He will endow those who seek to serve his mission with the outpouring of the grace of the Holy Spirit.

My brothers and sisters – you will receive power from the Holy Spirit and you will be witnesses to Christ in the world.

**** By the way we are still working on getting up more video from the catechesis and a awesome powerpoint of pictures. Stay tuned!:)