The Holy Spirit, Fire of Divine Love

by Wilfrid Stinissen

  This confessional attitude does not necessarily imply personal sins. It is rather a transparency that goes straight through to the bottom, a complete exposition of oneself, a Yes that places everything at God’s disposal. This transparency (Durchlichtetsein) is required of all Christians. Without it, there is no love, for love demands light, transparency, and clarity.

  Adrienne also speaks of Jesus’ confessional attitude. He bears the sins of the whole world. It begins at the Jordan when he is baptized by John. When he hangs upon the Cross, he makes the confession of all mankind. He hangs there naked before his Father with mankind’s burden of sin upon him. In this tremendous, cosmic confession, all sins are forgiven. At Easter, a cosmic absolution is given. And every time an individual goes to confession, he enters into that original confession that Jesus enacted once and for all.

  Mary’s unreserved Yes and the transparency of a confessional attitude are two sides of the same coin. The Yes expresses that one is ready to do what is entrusted to him. The confessional attitude emphasizes that one is ready to be what one is in all honesty. It both presupposes and brings about a total acceptance of oneself on a deeper level than that which the psychotherapist can reach.

  Discerning the Spirits

  Even if the basic condition is there and you try to be detached, open, and transparent before God, you cannot be completely certain that he always speaks “through you”. Your self is perhaps not yet in complete harmony with him. However much you strive to be honest and attentive to the very deepest part of you, where you are united with him, it is not certain that you will reach that level. You can be mistaken and imagine that you have arrived at your center, while in reality you find yourself on a more peripheral plane. You cannot even know with absolute certainty if you are totally honest in your search for God’s will. Deep psychology, and perhaps also your own experience, have taught you that man is a master at deceiving himself.

  How shall you be able to know that what you are thinking are God’s thoughts, that what you decide is God’s will?

  We need some additional aids to distinguish the wheat from the darnel. Not so much to pull up the darnel—Jesus says explicitly that we must not do that (Mt 13:29)—but in order purposely to direct all our attention and care to the wheat. We need help to “discern the spirits”.

  When Saint Paul lists the different gifts of grace (charismata), he names the ability to discern between different spirits (1 Cor 12:10). This gift of discernment of spirits has to do with distinguishing between genuine and false charisms, that is, between those who, when they prophesy, truly speak God’s word and others who come with their own invention.

  Even in the First Letter of John, we find the exhortation to spiritual discernment: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 Jn 4:1).

  The expression “discernment of spirits” has received a wider meaning over time, however. It is no longer just a question of discerning between different people and “diagnosing” if they are led by the Spirit of God or the spirit of Satan. We have realized that it is more complicated than that, so that one and the same person can be influenced both by the Spirit of God and by an evil spirit. To discern the spirits now means to be able to decide for oneself or for another what must be attributed to the Holy Spirit and what comes from one’s own imagination or from an evil spirit.

  Already at the time of the Desert Fathers, certain rules were applied to simplify the discernment process. It was above all Ignatius of Loyola who, in the sixteenth century, systematized and completed this old tradition.

  In his book Gottes Willen tun, the Austrian theologian Gisbert Greshake reduces the many rules offered by the Christian tradition down to seven.3 He points out that it is not enough with one or two rules. Only when all the rules, or nearly all, point to the same goal can one be certain that the inner impulse one thinks he perceives is from the Holy Spirit.

  The following are the most important of these rules. The comments are partly mine and partly Greshake’s.

  The First Rule: Built on the Foundation of the Gospels

  Only the inspiration that is in accord with the Gospel or the life of Jesus can come from the Holy Spirit. It is typical of the Spirit to remind us of all that Jesus has said (Jn 14:26). “He will not speak on his own authority. . . . He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (Jn 16:13–14). An impulse that has no basis in Scripture or in the life of Jesus does not have the Holy Spirit as its source.

  We find this rule already in the writings of Saint Anthony the Great (250–355). “Whatever you do or whatever you say, seek always verification in Holy Scripture.”

  Saint John of the Cross writes in the same style: “First, have a habitual desire to imitate Christ in all your deeds by bringing your life into conformity with His. You must then study His life in order to know how to imitate Him and behave in all events as He would.”4

  Charles de Foucauld (1858–1916) says in our time: “Ask yourself, in all your affairs: What would our Lord have done? And act accordingly.”

  However, we do not always know what Jesus would have done in precisely this situation in which we find ourselves. That is why this rule is not enough. But if we are honest, we can often eliminate many inspirations, because we know very well that Jesus would never have acted in such a way.

  The Gospel is the highest norm. The Gospel is the judge of all. Since the heart of the Gospel is love (God loves you, therefore you should love one another), all that leads to greater love is in accord with the Gospel, and thus we can assume that it is from the Holy Spirit. What, on the contrary, only tends toward satisfying our selfishness cannot have its origin in the Spirit.

  The Second Rule: The Inspirations of the Spirit Are Reasonable

  This may sound shocking, and it also seems to contradict the first rule. The Gospel is not at all “reasonable”. Saint Paul writes that: “It pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe” (1 Cor 1:21).

  But the Gospel is folly for the pagans (ibid., v. 23), not for us. What is foolish for the pagans, for the world, is “the power of God and the wisdom of God” for us (ibid., v. 24).

  That the Holy Spirit’s impulses are “reasonable” means, not that they are in accord with what the world considers reasonable, but that they are in accord with our reason that has been enlightened by faith. The Christian ethic has always counted prudence (prudentia) as one of the four cardinal virtues.

  Saint John of the Cross, whom we certainly cannot suspect of misunderstanding the Gospel, often speaks of the importance of acting reasonably (rationally). The word razón (reason) occurs many times in his writings. He does not consider reason and the Gospel to be irreconcilable. “We should make such use of reason and the law of the Gospel”, he writes, “that, even though—whether we desire it or not—some supernatural truths are told to us, we accept only what is in harmony with reason and the Gospel law. And then we should receive this truth, not because it is privately revealed to us, but because it is reasonable.”5 “God is so content that the rule and direction of man be through other men, and that a person be governed by natural reason”.6 “Be attentive to your reason in order to do what it tells you concerning the way to God.”7 “He who makes use of reason is like one who eats substantial fruit.”8

  God has created the world with wisdom. “O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all” (Ps 104:24). There is a wonderful order in creation. The Holy Spirit was there when the universe was created. He was “moving over the face of the waters” (Gen 1:2). When the Spirit speaks to you, he does not usually contradict the original plan of creation. His impulses harmonize with the laws and structure with which man and things have been endowed by the Creator. “For God is not a God of confusion” (1 Cor 14:33). He is logical! Grace builds on nature and is united to it.

  Saint Paul, who often speaks of love’s folly, does
not reject reason in any way. Just the opposite. He is convinced that we can discover the existence of God and come to the first knowledge of him merely through reason. “For what can be known about God”, he writes, “is plain to them [the pagans], because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse; for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him” (Rom 1:19–21).

  The First Vatican Council (1869–1870) makes its argument based on this text when it explains that in principle it is possible for man to reach a certain knowledge of God the Creator with the help of reason alone.9 Catholic theology is more positive in this respect than Protestant theology. It later stresses that there is no authentic knowledge of God beyond the knowledge and revelation we have received in Christ. Saint Paul’s assertion that the pagans have had knowledge of God can then be interpreted as stating that religiosity is a universal phenomenon that, however, leads only to superstition and credulity, not to the True God.

  The Third Rule: Peace

  In Latin the word for peace is pax, and pax comes from the word pangere, to join. Peace is the condition where everything is in its right place, where harmony reigns. If you have peace, you no longer feel like a collection of scattered pieces. You have become “whole”. Everything is joined together.

  The voice of the Spirit always creates inner harmony. He does not bring about alienation. The one who obeys him feels he has become more himself, that he has received a genuine “identity” and a greater rootedness.

  The entire Gospel gives witness to this. Zachariah prophesies about Jesus that “through the tender mercy of our God. . . the day shall dawn upon us from on high. . . to guide our feet in the way of peace” (Lk 1:78–79). “Peace I leave with you”, says Jesus (Jn 14:27). And he greets with the words: “Peace be with you” (Jn 20:19, 21, 26).

  But it is wise to have a little patience and not draw hasty conclusions. It can happen that the Spirit’s voice creates a holy restlessness at first. For example, it is typical for a religious vocation often to give rise to feelings of resistance. But if the vocation is genuine, it will afterward lead to a deep peace. Throw a magnet into iron filings. The first reaction is a great stir. This is because the small particles are set in motion by the magnet and hurry to take up their new position.

  If you wish to know if it is the Spirit speaking, wait a little while, and see if joy and peace are lasting. This rule can also be formulated in the reverse: If you heeded an impulse that you believed to be from the Holy Spirit but never experienced peace in it, you were mistaken and must admit that this impulse cannot have come from the Holy Spirit.

  The Fourth Rule: No Excessive Demands

  The Holy Spirit does not demand more than you can give him.

  If you perceive an inspiration to live a more radical, evangelical life, but at the same time you experience this as a heavy burden that makes you sad and discouraged, then this impulse does not come from the Holy Spirit.

  It does not necessarily mean that you should dismiss the impulse. It can be that there is something from God in it, that he wants to wake you from sleep, but that you misinterpret his voice and exaggerate his demands, perhaps because you unconsciously long to do something extraordinary.

  There is a false radicalism that does not take one’s own capabilities into account and that is also unconcerned about examining one’s motives. The whole Christian tradition warns us about an unrealistic radicalism, which is nothing more than a camouflaged pride. This false radicalism often lies in wait as a dangerous temptation, especially for beginners. Novices in a monastery often criticize their older brothers or sisters because they do not live radically enough. Those who are hardest in their criticism do not usually stay in the monastery! There comes a time when they no longer have the energy and enthusiasm to be so holy. Then they throw everything overboard.

  Discretio is an important concept in the tradition of spirituality. Discretio means prudence, the common sense that makes one avoid extremes. The Rule of the Carmelite Order ends with an exhortation to discretio: “Here are the few points I have written down to provide you with a standard of conduct to live up to; but our Lord, at his second coming, will reward anyone who does more than he is obliged to do. See that the bounds of common sense (discretio) are not exceeded, however, for common sense is the guide of the virtues.”

  At times it does happen that the Spirit exhorts a person to do something extreme. The radical conversion of Saint Francis of Assisi (1181–1226) was, without a doubt, a work of the Spirit. As a rule however, the Spirit preferably uses the small steps tactic. He meets us where we are, with our possibilities and limitations, and invites us to take one step forward. One step at a time. He individualizes the Gospel and adjusts its radical demands to the capacities of each person.

  This incredible flexibility is one of the Spirit’s most fascinating qualities.

  The Fifth Rule: The Spirit Speaks Concretely

  What the Spirit says to you usually has to do with your concrete situation. It is here and now that something must change. “Today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” (Heb 3:7–8, Ps 95:8). Or expressed in a negative way: ideas or impulses that make you dream about faraway lands or an unreal future are usually not from God. He wants you to surrender your future to him. You do not need to create some kind of future for yourself in your own imagination. God will do that! And he has a very lively imagination!

  The inspirations of the Spirit most often have to do with the next step. That means your life today. How much is lost by dreaming of life tomorrow instead of living life today!

  This rule becomes particularly appropriate when you wonder if a drastic change is not needed in the external circumstances of your life. Many expect far too much from a change in external circumstances. “In another city or another environment, with another profession, another partner, I would have peace and would be able to serve God better.” It is undoubtedly possible that the Holy Spirit is prompting one to move or uproot. But often it is our own dissatisfaction and restlessness that give rise to these ideas.

  Most often the Spirit prompts us to an inner change, a metanoia, a new attitude toward reality. If you do not find peace in your present environment, it will generally not help to seek another one. The problem often lies, not in the environment, but in the person himself.

  Through the Incarnation, God himself has become concrete. By the fact that he became man, he limited his eternal freedom to an externally limited here and now. I do not think that Jesus daydreamed about his future public life while living in Nazareth or about how difficult or exciting it would be. He was completely present as he did his carpentry work with Saint Joseph.

  This total presence in the now was the best preparation for the outwardly active life to which the Father would call him when the time came. It was this way for him, and it is the same for you. There is no more effective preparation for the future than to carry out as wholeheartedly as possible the task God gives you here and now.

  The Sixth Rule: In the Church

  Just as we read the Bible in the Church and interpret it as the Church does, so we also listen to the Spirit within us in communion with the Church.

  Concretely, this means that we should be prepared, at least when it is a question of important decisions, to let our own interpretation of the Spirit’s action come under the scrutiny of the Church. By the Church is not meant the pope or the bishop, but a spiritual “companion”, a wise person who is himself familiar with the Spirit and has learned to recognize his inspirations.

  The one who is not prepared to ask advice from others but trusts only in his own judgment shows that he, in reality, wishes to follow, not God’s ways, but only his own. By speaking honestly with another person, you have the possibility of coming out of your own little world.

  However, this is true only if you choose so
meone who dares to say what he thinks. A spiritual “companion” who is too kind and who always agrees with you cannot help you. If you choose such a guide, it can be a sign that in reality you do not wish to hear opinions other than your own.

  Can God Be Mute?

  What shall we do when we do not hear the Spirit’s voice, when we get no answer to our prayer, and when God seems silent?10

  After a conversion experience, it can happen that for a longer or shorter period of time, one is tangibly and almost miraculously led by the Holy Spirit. You go to the bookshelf and take a book at random. It is precisely the book you were seeking or needed. You write a letter, and it arrives exactly on your correspondent’s birthday, though you had no idea about the birthday.

  Life is full of small miracles. These are wonderful, and they strengthen our faith, but it would be naïve to believe it will continue to be this way the rest of our life. There will come times when miracles do not occur, when God seems deaf or dumb. What do we do then?

  God is neither deaf nor dumb. He is always speaking. He is the Word. He always has something to say to us. When it seems as though he does not answer, it is because he is saying something we did not expect. We expect an answer on a certain level, but God answers on another, a deeper level. He speaks, but we miss what he is saying to us.

  God wants us to change levels. He wants us to get to know him better. By not answering as we hoped, he shows us that he is completely different from what we thought. He is not a pal or a “fixer”. He is greater and more mysterious than we imagined.