Homily at Saint Martha's: welcoming the Holy Spirit and rejecting the spirit of the world

Last updated: Thu 31 Mar 2022 PM

On Tuesday, January 7, Pope Francis delivered his first morning homily of the year in the chapel of St. Martha's House. From the reading, taken from the first letter of St. John, he recalled that the Holy Spirit is not only "the dove", but above all the one who allows us to "dwell in God". He also invited the faithful to examine their conscience to perceive what is inspired by the spirit of the world, which leads to the worst of sins: corruption.

The Christian life consists in dwelling in God, letting the Holy Spirit act in oneself and not the spirit of the world. "He who keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him; and this is how we recognize that he abides in us, since he has given us a share in his Spirit," recalls St. John in his first letter (1 Jn 3:24), from which the reading of the day (1 Jn 3:22 - 4:6 this Tuesday 7 January in Italy) was taken.

No longer knowing how to distinguish good from evil

One can "be in the most sinful cities, in the most atheist societies, but if the heart remains in God," the Pope stressed, then one can bring salvation there. And Francis recalled the episode recounted in the Acts of the Apostles where the apostles arrive in a city and meet Christians baptized by John. They asked them: "Have you received the Holy Spirit", but the baptized did not even know that the Holy Spirit existed. How many Christians, the Holy Father lamented, still today associate the Holy Spirit only with the dove, while ignoring that "it is what makes one dwell in the Lord" and gives "the guarantee, the strength" for this.

The Supreme Pontiff then spoke of the spirit of the world, which is contrary to the Holy Spirit. "Jesus, at the Last Supper, does not ask the Father to keep the disciples away from the world, [...] but to protect them from the spirit of the world," which is "even worse than committing a sin. It is an atmosphere that makes you unconscious, that leads you to a point where you do not know how to recognize good from evil", explained Francis.

Asking for the help of the Holy Spirit

In order to abide in God, "we must ask for this gift" of the Holy Spirit through whom "we know that we abide in the Lord". But how can we know whether we are following the Holy Spirit or the spirit of the world? Saint Paul gives a piece of advice, the Pope said: "Do not frustrate the Holy Spirit. When we go towards the spirit of the world, we upset the Holy Spirit and we ignore him, we leave him aside and our life takes a different path".

The spirit of the world also manifests itself through forgetfulness. "Sin does not turn you away from God if you realize it and ask for forgiveness, but the spirit of the world makes you forget what sin is," the Holy Father continued, before referring to a recently watched film in which Christians were celebrating the New Year in a tourist town in a Christian country, "with terrible worldliness, wasting money and many other things. "Is that a sin?" - "No, it's corruption, it's worse than sin," the Pope said. "The Holy Spirit leads you to God, and if you sin, the Holy Spirit protects you and helps you to rise, but the spirit of the world leads you to corruption, to the point that you no longer know what is good and what is bad: everything is the same, everything is the same.

Asking questions about the path followed

But how do I know if "I am on the path of worldliness, of the spirit of the world, or if I am the Spirit of God"? The apostle John gives us a piece of advice: "Beloved, do not trust any inspiration, but examine the spirits to see if they are of God" (1 Jn 4:1). But what does it mean to examine the spirit? According to the Holy Father, "it is simply this: when you feel something, when you feel like doing something, or when you have an idea, a judgment of something, ask yourself: is this what I feel of the Spirit of God or of the spirit of the world?

It's about asking "once, twice a day, or when you feel something that comes to you": what do I feel, what do I want to do, where does it come from? "Is it the spirit of the world or is it the spirit of God? Will it do me any good or will it throw me down the path of worldliness which is unconsciousness".

On the importance of self-examination

Many Christians, the Pope lamented, "live without knowing what is going on in their hearts. That is why St. Paul and St. John recommend not to conform to just any spirit, to what one feels, but to put it to the test. And so "we will know what is going on in our hearts". "Many Christians have the heart as a road and do not know what comes and goes, [...] because they do not know how to examine what is going on inside", warned Francis.

"Therefore," he told the faithful, "I recommend that you take a little time each day before going to bed or at noon - whenever you want - [and ask yourselves]: what has happened in my heart today? What did I want to do, to think? What is the spirit that animated my heart? The Spirit of God, the gift of God, the Holy Spirit who always leads me forward to meet the Lord, or the spirit of the world that leads me away from the Lord slowly, slowly; it is a slow, slow, slow slide".

The Supreme Pontiff concluded with a prayer: to ask for the grace "to dwell in the Lord" and to pray "to the Holy Spirit, so that he may make us dwell in the Lord and give us the grace to distinguish the spirits, that is to say, what is at work in us. May our heart not be a road", but may it be the meeting point between us and God, Francis finally wished.

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Alessandro Di Bussolo - Vatican City

Source: Vatican News