The fruit of the Spirit helps the Christian lead a life which is both interior and transcendent, says the Pope in his weekly catechesis

During the weekly audience of 19 April the Holy Father resumed his catechesis on the work of the Holy Spirit. The theme was the Holy Spirit as the source of the interior life.

1. In the preceding catechesis St Paul spoke to us about "the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus" (Rom 8:2): a law according to which we must live, if we wish "to follow the Spirit" (Gal 5:25), accomplishing the works of the Spirit and not those of the "flesh".

The Apostle highlights the opposition between "flesh" and "Spirit", and between the two types of works, thoughts, and life which result from them: "For those who live according to the flesh are concerned with the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit with the things of the Spirit. The concern of the flesh is death, but the concern of the Spirit is life and peace" (Rom 8:5-6).

It is distressing to see the "works of the flesh" and the conditions of spiritual and cultural decadence the homo animalis reaches. But this should not make us forget the very different reality of life "according to the Spirit", which is also present in the world and opposed to the spread of the forces of evil. St Paul speaks of this in the Letter to the Galatians where, in opposition to the "works of the flesh" which exclude one from the "kingdom of God", he highlights the "fruit of the Spirit" which is "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (cf. 5:19-22). These things, according to St Paul, are suggested to the believer from within, i.e., from the "law of the Spirit" (Rom 8:2), which is in him and which guides him in the interior life (cf. Gal 5:18, 25).

2. At issue is a principle of the spiritual life and of Christian conduct which is interior and at the same time transcendent, as can be deduced already from the words of Jesus to the disciples: "The Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it... will be in you" (Jn 14:17). The Holy Spirit comes from on high, but penetrates and resides in us to animate our interior life. Jesus does not only say: "He remains with you", which might suggest the idea of a presence which is merely close, but adds that it is a presence within us (Jn 14:17). St Paul in turn wishes the Ephesians that the Father grant them "to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self" (Eph 3:16): for the human person what counts is not the external life, often superficial, but the intention of living in the "depths of God", scrutinized by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2:10).

St Paul's distinction between the "psychic" man and the "spiritual" man (cf. 1 Cor 2:13-14) helps us to understand the difference and the distance between the natural maturing of the human soul's capacities and the properly Christian maturing which entails the development of the life of the Spirit, a maturing in faith, hope, and love. Knowledge of this divine Source of the spiritual life, which spreads from within the soul into all areas of life, even those exterior and social, is a fundamental and sublime aspect of Christian anthropology. The basis of this knowledge is the truth of faith by which I believe that the Holy Spirit dwells in me (1 Cor 3:16), prays in me (Rom 8:26; Gal 4:6), guides me (Rom 8:14), and has Christ live in me (Gal 2:20).

3. Even the simile Jesus used in his conversation with the Samaritan woman at 'Jacob's well' about the living water which he would give to those who believe, water which "will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (Jn 4:14), means the interior spring of the spiritual life. Jesus himself clarifies this on the occasion of the "feast of Tabernacles" (cf. Jn 7:2), when he "stood up and exclaimed, 'Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture says (cf. Is 55:1): rivers of living water will flow from within him’". John the evangelist comments, "He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive" (Jn 7:37-39).

In the believer, the Holy Spirit develops the entire dynamism of the grace which gives new life and of the virtues which translate this vitality into fruits of goodness. From "within" the believer the Holy Spirit is also at work like a fire, according to another simile used by John the Baptist regarding baptism: "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Mt 3:11); and one used by Jesus himself regarding his messianic mission: "I have come to set the earth on fire" (Lk 12:49). The Spirit, therefore, stirs up a life with that fervour which St Paul recommends in his letter to the Romans: "Be fervent in the Spirit" (12:11). This is the "living flame of love" which purifies, enlightens, burns, and consumes, as St John of the Cross has explained so well.

4. Under the action of the Holy Spirit in the believer an original sanctity is so developed that it assumes, elevates, and brings the personality of each one to perfection without destroying it. Thus, every saint has his own physiognomy. Stella differt a stella, St Paul can say: "Star differs from star in brightness" (1 Cor 15:41); not only in the "future resurrection" to which Paul refers but also in the present condition of the person who is no longer merely psychic (endowed with natural life), but spiritual (enlivened by the Holy Spirit) (cf. 1 Cor 15:44ff).

Holiness consists in the perfection of love. Nevertheless, it varies according to the different aspects which love assumes in the various conditions of personal life. Under the action of the Holy Spirit, each person conquers with love the instinct of egoism, and develops the best forces in his own original way of self-giving. When the expressive and expansive force of his originality is particularly strong, the Holy Spirit causes groups of disciples and followers to form around these people (even if they sometimes remain hidden). In this way, currents of spiritual life, schools of spirituality, and religious institutes are born, whose variety is thus the effect of that divine intervention. It is the Holy Spirit who puts to use the capacities of all in persons and groups, in communities and institutions, among priests and lay people.

5. The new value of liberty which characterizes the Christian life derives from this interior source. As St Paul says: "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Cor 3:17). The Apostle is referring directly to the freedom acquired by the followers of Christ in regard to the Jewish law, in harmony with the teaching and attitude of Jesus himself. But the principle which he states has a general value. In fact, he often talks about freedom as the vocation of the Christian: "You were called for freedom, brothers" (Gal 5:13). And he gives a good explanation of what he means. According to the Apostle, whoever "lives by the Spirit" (Gal 5:16) lives in freedom, because he is no longer under the oppressive yoke of the flesh: "Live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh" (Gal 5:16). "The concern of the flesh is death, but the concern of the Spirit is life and peace" (Rom 8:6).

The "works of the flesh" from which the Christian faithful to the Spirit has been freed are those of egoism and the passions, which prevent entrance into the kingdom of God. The works of the Spirit, however, are those of love: "Against such there is no law" (Gal 5:23).

According to the Apostle, the result of this is that "if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law" (Gal 5:18). Writing to Timothy, he does not hesitate to say: "The law is not meant for a righteous person" (1 Tm 1:9). And St Thomas explains: "The law does not have coercive power over the just, as it does for the wicked" (I-II, q. 96, a. 5, ad 1), because the just do nothing contrary to the law. Rather, guided by the Holy Spirit, they freely do everything which the law enjoins (cf. Rom 8:4; Gal 5:13-16).

6. This is the wondrous harmonization of freedom and law which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit's work in the just, as Jeremiah and Ezekiel foretold, announcing the interiorization of the law of the New Covenant (cf. Jer 31:31-34; Ez 36:26-27).

"I will put my Spirit within you" (Ez 36:27). This prophecy was realized and continues to be active among the faithful and in the community of the Church. It is the Spirit who makes it possible to be not a mere observer of the Law, but one who freely, fervently, and faithfully accomplishes God's plan. They do all that the Apostle says: "Those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, Abba, 'Father!’" (Rom 8:14-15). It is the freedom of children which was proclaimed by Jesus as the true freedom (cf. Jn 8:36). It is a fundamental, interior freedom, but one which is always oriented toward the love which makes access to the Father in the one Spirit possible and almost spontaneous (Eph 2:18). It is the guided freedom which shines in the life of the saints.