In his weekly catechesis the Pope speaks of the Spirit’s role in promoting Christian charity, the ‘form’ of all virtues

At the General Audience of 22 May the Holy Father resumed his weekly catechesis. He is continuing to give instruction on the theme of the Holy Spirit's role in the spiritual life of the Christian. Today's topic is the Holy Spirit as the vital principle of Christian love.

1. In the Christian's soul there is a new love by which he shares in God's own love: "The love of God", says St Paul, "has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us" (Rom 5:5). This love is divine in nature, and so is higher than the con-natural abilities of the human soul. In theological terminology it is called charity. This supernatural love plays a fundamental role in Christian life, as St Thomas shows when he clearly emphasizes that charity is not only "the noblest of all the virtues" (excellentissima omnium virtutum), but is also "the form of all the virtues, because through charity their acts are ordered to their right and ultimate end" (II-II, q.23, aa. 6 and 8).

Charity, therefore, is the central value of the new person, "created in God's way in righteousness and holiness of truth" (Eph 4:24; cf. Gal 3:27; Rom 13:14). If the Christian life is compared to a building under construction, it is easy to see that faith is the foundation of all the virtues that comprise it. The Council of Trent teaches that "faith is the beginning of human salvation, the foundation and source of all justification" (cf. DS 2532). But union with God through faith has as its goal union with him in the love of charity, a divine love in which the human soul shares as an active and unifying force.

2. In communicating this vital energy to the soul, the Holy Spirit makes it capable, in virtue of supernatural charity, of observing the twofold commandment of love, given by Jesus Christ: love for God and for one's neighbour.

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart ..." (Mk 12:30; cf. Dt 6:4-5). The Holy Spirit enables the soul to share in Jesus' filial love for the Father, so that, as St Paul says: "Those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God" (Rom 8:14). He enables the Father to be loved as the Son has loved him, i.e., with a filial love which is shown in the cry of "Abba" (Gal 4:6; Rom 8:15), but it pervades the entire activity of those who, in the Spirit, are children of God. Under the Spirit's influence their whole life becomes an offering to the Father, filled with reverence and filial love.

3. The capacity to observe the other commandment, love of neighbour, comes from the Holy Spirit, too. "Love one another as I have loved you", Jesus commands his apostles and all his followers. With these words: "As I have loved you", the new value of supernatural love is present, which is a sharing in Christ's love for human beings, and therefore, is a sharing in the eternal Charity which is the very beginning of the virtue of charity. As St Thomas writes, "the divine essence in itself is love, as it is wisdom and goodness. Therefore, just as one can say that we are good because of the goodness which is God, and wise because of the wisdom which is God, because the goodness which makes us formally good is the goodness of God, and the wisdom which makes us formally wise is a participation in the divine wisdom; so the charity by which we formally love our neighbour is a participation in divine charity" (II-II, q. 23, a. 2, ad 1). This participation is activated by the Holy Spirit who thus makes us able to love not only God, but also our neighbour, as Jesus Christ loved him. Yes, even our neighbour because, given that the love of God has been poured into our hearts, with that love we can love other persons and even in some way, irrational creatures (cf. Summa II-II, q. 25, a. 3) as God loves them.

4. Historical experience tells us how difficult the concrete practice of this precept is. Nevertheless, it is at the centre of Christian ethics, as a gift which comes from the Spirit and for which we must ask him. St Paul confirms this in the Letter to the Galatians in which he exhorts them to live in the freedom they have received by the new law of love: "But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love" (Gal 5:13). "For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely, 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself'" (Gal 5:14). After he recommends: "I say, then: live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh" (Gal 5:16), he identifies the love of charity (ag« pe) as the first "fruit of the Holy Spirit" (Gal 5:22). Thus, it is the Holy Spirit who enables us to walk in love and to overcome all obstacles to charity.

5. In the First Letter to the Corinthians St Paul purposely seems to linger over the list and description of the characteristics of charity for one's neighbour. Indeed, after recommending that one aspire to the "greatest spiritual gifts" (1 Cor 12:31), he praises charity as a good higher than all the extraordinary gifts which the Holy Spirit can give and as something more basic to the Christian life. The hymn to charity springs from his speech and his soul and can be considered a hymn to the influence of the Holy Spirit on human behaviour. In this context charity assumes an ethical dimension with practical application: "Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (l Cor 13:4-7).

In listing the "fruits of the Spirit" (Gal 5:22), it could be said that St Paul, in a parallel with the hymn, wishes to indicate some essential attitudes belonging to charity. Among these are:

1) Patience, first of all (cf. hymn: "Love is patient": 1 Cor 13:4). One could remark that the Spirit himself gives the example of patience toward sinners and their wrongful conduct, as we read in the Gospels about Jesus, who was called "a friend of tax collectors and sinners" (Mt 11:19; Lk 7:34). It is a reflection of the very love of God, St Thomas observes, "who shows mercy with love, because he loves us as something belonging to himself'' (II-II, q. 30, a. 2, ad 1).

2) Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit (cf. hymn: "Love is kind": 1 Cor 13:4). It is also a reflection of the divine kindness toward others, regarded and treated with sympathy and understanding.

3) There is also goodness (cf. hymn: "It does not seek its own interests" 1 Cor 13:5). This love is ready to give generously, as the love of the Holy Spirit increases his gifts and shares the Father's love with believers.

4) Finally, there is gentleness (cf. hymn: "It is not quick-tempered": 1 Cor 13:5). The Holy Spirit helps Christians to reproduce in themselves Christ's "meek and humble heart" and to practice the beatitude of meekness which he preached (cf. Mt 5:5).

6. In enumerating the "works of the flesh" (cf. Gal 5:19-21), St Paul clarifies the demands of charity, from which flow concrete duties, in opposition to the tendencies of the homo animalis, i.e., the victim of his passions. In particular: to avoid jealousies and rivalries, wanting one's neighbour's good; avoiding enmities, dissension, divisions, quarrels, promoting everything which brings unity. There is an allusion to this in the verse of the Pauline hymn which says that charity "does not brood over injuries" (1 Cor 13:5). The Holy Spirit inspires generous forgiveness for injuries received and losses suffered and, as Spirit of light and love, enables the faithful to do this as he reveals to them the unlimited demands of charity.

7. History confirms the truth of what we have just explained. Charity shines in the lives of the saints and the Church, from the day of Pentecost to today. All the saints and every age of the Church's history bear the marks of charity and the Holy Spirit. It could be said that in some historical periods, under the inspiration and guidance of the Spirit, charity assumed forms especially characterized by activity which organized help and support for those suffering hunger, illness and epidemics both ancient and new. Thus, there were many "saints of charity", as they were especially called in the 1800's and in our own century. They are bishops, priests, men and women religious, lay Christians: all of them "servants" of charity. Many have been glorified by the Church; many others by biographers and historians who are able to see with their eyes or discover in documents the true greatness of those followers of Christ and servants of God. Nevertheless, the majority remain anonymous in that charity which continuously and effectively fills the world with good. Glory be to these unknown soldiers, to these silent witnesses of charity! God knows them, God truly glorifies them! We must be grateful to them because they are the historical proof of the "love of God poured out into human hearts" by the Holy Spirit, the first craftsman and vital principle of Christian love.