Sunday, June 2, 2019

SUNDAY AFTER THE ASCENSION: Homily of St. Cyril of Jerusalem The witness of the Holy Spirit



The Holy Spirit is called Paraclete, which means comforter in Greek, because he consoles us and encourages us and succors our weakness by his aid. As St. Paul says: When we do not know what prayer to offer, to pray as we ought, the Spirit himself intercedes for us, with groans beyond all utterance, obviously to the Father. How many times have we seen a man suffer violence for the cause of Christ, and undergo outrageous indignities; torments besieging him, fire, sword, wild beasts, the deep pit. But the Holy Spirit is in him whispering to him: Be strong, be valiant of heart, and await the Lord! What is now befalling you is a small matter, that which is promised you is immense; your suffering will be brief and you will enjoy for all eternity the society of the angels. The sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us. The Holy Spirit puts before man the kingdom of heaven; he gives him a glimpse of the delight of paradise; and the martyrs whose bodies are of necessity under the eyes of their judges, but who in spirit are already in heaven, trample underfoot the torments which appear so terrible.

Do you want a proof that it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that the martyrs bear their witness? Our Lord gives it himself, when he says to his disciples: When they bring you to trial before synagogues, and magistrates, and officers, do not consider anxiously what you are to say, what defense to make or how to make it; the Holy Spirit will instruct you when the time comes, what words to use. Then it is impossible to testify to Christ, except by the Holy Spirit. If it is only through the Holy Spirit that anyone can say, Jesus is the Lord, how could one give his life for Jesus Christ, but by the Holy Spirit?

Such is the grandeur, the omnipotence, the wonderful efficacy of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Consider how many of you are here present; in each one he acts at the right moment. And yet that is little: turn your mind, in the light he gives you, to your district and all its inhabitants; think of all those in the whole province; go still further: look at all countries, the entire universe. Each nation has its bishops, priests, deacons, monks, virgins and crowds of laypeople: the Holy Spirit is the protector of all, he dispenses all their gifts. But do not tarry on earth, rise higher, ascend in imagination to the highest heaven, and behold the myriads of angels that are there. Rise up, if you can, still higher, see the archangels, the spirits, the virtues, the principalities, the powers, the thrones, the dominations: it is the Paraclete who rules them all, on God's behalf, who teaches and sanctifies them.

It was he who by the Prophets foretold Christ. It was he who was active in the Apostles. It is he who, to-day, imprints his seal on the souls of the baptized. The Father gives to the Son, the Son gives to the Holy Spirit. Jesus himself tells us so when he says: My Father has entrusted everything into my hands,3 and with respect to the Holy Spirit: When the truth-giving Spirit, who proceeds from the Father, has come to befriend you, he will bring honor to me, because it is from me that he will derive what he makes plain to you.

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