Fr. Redemptus Maria Valabek O.Carm., Rome
(Part 1)
The role of the Holy Spirit in the life of prayer has usually been overshadowed in Christian writings, just as other aspects of the Spirit's action in authentic Christian life have been overshadowed. Although the writers of spiritual literature paid scant attention to the overly obvious cry of St. Paul: “For we do not know what we ought to pray for. But the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans” (Romans 8:26), the life-giving relationship between the Holy Spirit and prayer was emphasized only later. The credit for this primarily goes to biblical studies, as well as a renewed interest in patristic thought. The modern charismatic (Pentecostal) movement has emphasized the role of the Holy Spirit, especially through regular prayer gatherings aimed at leading to the “baptism of the Holy Spirit,” which is described as “a decisive experience in which the Holy Spirit takes possession of a person; an event that fills a person with power, transforms their life, and gives them a new perception of the entire reality of the Christian mystery.”1 The lack of attention given to this fundamental element can only be explained by the widespread pneumatic poverty of Western Catholic theology.
The Spirit and Prayer in Scripture
In the Synoptic Gospels
A clear albeit fragmented and disorganized view on this issue can be found in Scripture. Due to the diversity of the Holy Spirit and the density of the reality of prayer, it is necessary to study the action of the Holy Spirit from a somewhat broader perspective.
The Gospel of St. Mark only rarely mentions the Holy Spirit.2 This gospel surprises in that it does not provide the teaching on prayer, which is an essential element of the spirituality that Christ gives.3 Mark, known for making a certain selection in his thematic material, primarily aimed to confront his readers with Jesus, to show them Jesus – without a multitude of references to his teachings, to the spirituality he left behind. Mark's goal is to present a living and unsettling personality who speaks as no other teacher spoke and acts in a special way. He wishes to draw the reader's attention to the Only One to whom one must fully give oneself personally.
St. Matthew strives to clarify and indeed brings deeper reflections on the work of the Holy Spirit that St. Mark, a disciple of St. Peter, has presented. Here, the Spirit is always seen not as a divine person or power in itself, but always in relation to Christ; St. Matthew never sees the Holy Spirit as a gift meant for the disciples. The evangelist tries to trace the mystery of Christ's person: the power of his words, the effect of his actions, the mysterious fascination that surrounds this whole person. The answer is that there is something superhuman in Jesus; in Jesus, there was more than just a human presence. To express this divine mystery, hidden and revealed in Jesus, Matthew introduces his teaching about the Holy Spirit. Jesus is mysterious because he was conceived in Mary's womb by the Holy Spirit (Mt 1:18,20); his ministry is a mystery since he was introduced to it not by water baptism, but by the Holy Spirit (cf. Mt 3:16; 3:11). Jesus’ teaching is full of power and life and touches human hearts because when he speaks, the Holy Spirit descends upon him: in the desert (Mt 4:1), as a fulfillment of the prophet's words (Mt 12:17–21). And the wonders that he performs far exceed those of the ones who performed miracles in the Old Testament because he acts with the power of the Spirit (Mt 12:28; 31–32). This sanctifying and saving power is then offered to all people through the baptism which the apostles are commissioned to dispense in the name of the three persons of the Trinity (Mt 28:19). Thus, to express the divine in Jesus, St. Matthew refers to the work of the Holy Spirit.
St. Luke continues in the line of thought of St. Matthew, indeed with an even greater number of references to the Holy Spirit.5 He follows his own particular perspective: Christ's relationship to the Holy Spirit is no longer conceived as something bound to the person of Christ, but is viewed from a spiritual and soteriological perspective – which notes that the Holy Spirit is also given to the disciples. Luke's view directs deeper attention to themes already discussed by St. Mark and St. Matthew. St. Luke, a disciple of St. Paul, mirrors a somewhat later thought world of Christians and is immersed in contemplating what happens with a person who meets Christ and receives him. Luke sees that Jesus's mystery is transmitted and continues in the disciple, and in this passing on, the disciple is also conveyed what is characteristic of the divine in Christ: the Holy Spirit. Luke understands that when a share of Jesus's mystery is given to the disciple, the Holy Spirit himself is poured into his heart. Thus, for Luke, the central event of Pentecost is of paramount importance, and he will follow his account of the life of Christ with the account of the life of the emerging church – in the Acts of the Apostles. The dynamic presence of Christ working for the liberation and salvation of people now continues in the hearts of people – by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is a faithful reflection of Jesus’s face in the face of the early church.
St. Luke intuitively recognizes that already the prophets announced the Spirit as a characteristic sign of the future Messiah (cf. Is 11:2), as a certain sign of messianic times, intended for all people (cf. Is 32:16; Ez 36:27; 35:29; Jl 3:1–5). Luke understands the role of the Holy Spirit to transform people into a new creation, which precedes their later definitive settling in the (new) world of God. Jesus himself, in his glorified, resurrected body, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of his Father. The gift of the Spirit unites Christians with their glorified Lord and Savior and allows them to share in the messianic joy, which is so characteristic of the view of St. Luke. The Spirit enables Christians to be transformed by divine life; mysteriously, they are already now on earth true inhabitants of the heavenly home of definitive salvation. Their new life, just like that of Christ, has its origin in the Holy Spirit. Just like Christ, they are sanctified by the Holy Spirit as members of this new people. The Spirit inspires them, and their deeds and words reveal their heavenly origin if they choose to adhere to the sovereignty of the Spirit. Just like Christ, Christians, filled with the Spirit, are capable of performing mighty deeds that would defeat the dominion of the Evil One. All this is possible because they too are filled with the transforming Spirit and are immersed in the same divine reality that so powerfully manifested itself in Christ Jesus. Such is the character of St. Luke's writings regarding the expression ‘Spirit’.
Life “in the atmosphere of God” has various forms for St. Luke, but none is as essential as prayer. In this context: while Matthew speaks of the Father in heaven, who “gives good gifts to those who ask him!” (Mt 7:11), Luke’s view shifts the emphasis: he presents the same saying of Jesus, but its conclusion differs surprisingly from that of Matthew: “How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Lk 11:13). Matthew sees prayer as a longing for eschatological gifts; Luke, on the other hand, tends to see prayer as a longing for the Holy Spirit. Luke also recognizes the eschatological dimension and considers the Holy Spirit as the eschatological gift par excellence. However, he never fails to be aware that the eschatological dimension is present here and now in the form of the Holy Spirit. The believer receives the Holy Spirit, and thus is immersed in the good of the messianic times which will be definitively given only when God's kingdom is fully established. Prayer is a privileged moment within how this future kingdom is already (now) realized, before it comes in all its glorious fullness.6
In prayer, Jesus's disciple is immersed, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the world of salvation that he asks for, but also already enjoys. And to such an extent that, in the supreme moment of truth, when the disciple must bear witness to this divine world before the rulers of this world, he is able to do so in the power of the Spirit: “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers, and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say” (Lk 12:11–12; cf. Mk 13:11; Mt 10:20). According to the whole Gospel, the disciple's task remains twofold: the Holy Spirit makes the believer one who receives salvation (prays) and one who spreads salvation (apostolate, witness).
In depicting Jesus’s childhood, St. Luke presents a number of figures of humble, gentle, (unknown to the world) people. In these individuals – Elizabeth, Zechariah, Simeon, Anna, and especially in Mary – Luke sees presented models characteristic of following Christ: eagerly and “prayerfully”7 waiting for Christ, desiring to welcome him. What characterizes these “prayerful” people is the presence of the Spirit within them. Even St. John the Baptist, the great herald of the eschatological kingdom, “will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born” (Lk 1:15). The Mother of God herself receives assurance: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you” (Lk 1:35). When Elizabeth hurries to welcome the Mother of her Lord, “she was filled with the Holy Spirit” (Lk 1:41). Her husband Zechariah was finally convinced of the imminent coming of the kingdom; his tongue was loosened and he “was filled with the Holy Spirit” (Lk 1:67), when he sang his prophetic hymn. Simeon, a classically beautiful image of one who, despite his advanced age – against all hope – hopes that the Lord will fulfill his promises, could not be described more impressively: “Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required” (Lk 2:25–27).
The same perspective permeates the whole Acts of the Apostles. The “gift of the Holy Spirit” was given to distinguish those who believed in Jesus: the listeners of Peter’s speech at Pentecost (Acts 2:38), Saul (9:17), Cornelius (10:44) and his household, in the church in Antioch (13:52), in Ephesus (19:2–6). Thus, the disciple is immersed in the realm of God; he is given a share in the unique testimony and life of Christ Jesus. From Acts, it is clear that prayer is one of the privileged expressions of this position. After the ascension of Jesus, his followers “all joined together constantly in prayer, along with … Mary the mother of Jesus … When the day of Pentecost came … they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:14; 2:1,4). “After they had prayed … they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly” (Acts 4:31). Prayer not only transports the believer into the sphere of God; it also prepares him for a deeper receptiveness and participation in the Spirit, which enables the work of the apostolate.
Luke designated Christ as being filled with the Spirit when Jesus proclaimed what is probably the best example of a Jewish berakoth (thanksgiving and acknowledgment of the wonderful deeds performed by God for his people). This was Jewish prayer in its most common, spontaneous, and heartfelt form. “At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said: ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to little children’” (Lk 10:21). Joy is the soul of every berakhah, every acknowledgment (proclamation) of God’s goodness shown to his people. This joy is the result of a new, deeper approach that embraces anything, as it arises from the knowledge of God who knows and loves us first. Jesus's exultation is unique because Jesus “knows not only that God knows him but that he is, in some way, a unique object of this knowledge from God's side.”8
Jesus gives thanks for the wonders of God's work and acknowledges them. This is what the Spirit urges in the depths of Jesus' being to have this ceaseless “eucharist” (thanksgiving) and its spontaneous communication to others. The recipients are the insignificant people, who in their poverty and humility have nothing but faith, which wholly submits to this Spirit. Thus, Jesus is the perfect eucharist, the perfect prayer of grateful acknowledgment of the marvelous deeds of God that have been realized and fulfilled in the life and work of Christ himself.
The emphasis that St. Luke and St. Matthew place on the Spirit who filled Christ was not a teaching lacking a foundation in the Old Testament. It traces back to the importance that the Jews attributed to the Lord's ruah, his Spirit or breath of life.9 The Lord's ruah is nothing less than the breath of life that distinguishes the Lord from other gods, whose very existence is tied to the cycle of life and death in nature. Ruah expresses the power of the Lord: until a share in this Spirit was granted to man, the great saving deeds of the Lord remained unfulfilled. Man was body, basar, which means helplessness and createdness; he was confined on all sides, crushed by powers far greater than himself; only the power of God could save him from destruction. “The Spirit of the Lord, similarly to his word and wisdom, provides the Hebrew theologian with means to describe God's initiative in creation, providential guidance, and the redemption of the world – as a whole and Israel in particular. This Spirit is also a respectful way of expressing the Lord's presence, especially in the Psalms (Ps 51:11; 139:7).”10 This perspective develops from the (original image of) wind, breath, which is a sign of life and potentially the principle of life itself, which is a gift from God: “Lord, in you my heart trusts; may my spirit live” (Is 38:16; in English translation literally: “only yours is the life of my spirit”).
With the passage of time and the constant historical fluctuations (for better and worse), Israel came to believe in one thing: the Spirit of the Lord guided the destinies of Israel. The Spirit was intimately linked with prophecy (cf. Num 11:25), often bringing unexpected and mysterious turns that were completely beyond pure human comprehension. When unauthorized individuals began to prophesy and Moses was asked to forbid them, his wisdom shows in his reply: “I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets! I wish that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” (Num 11:29). Prophesying inherently involved acknowledging the wonderful deeds of the Lord, performed for the people – a pious contemplation of the Lord's faithful kindly goodness, so different from the hesitant or even rebellious behavior of humans. “The heroes of the time of the judges do not accomplish marvelous liberating deeds through their own abilities: entirely unexpectedly, they are transformed by the Spirit.”11 Among the prophets, especially Ezekiel was often mentioned as a prophet lifted up, carried away by the Spirit (Ezek 2:2; 3:12, 14; 8:3; 11:1): strengthened by the Spirit of the Lord, he was able to bring hope to a people demoralized by defeat and exile.
In the wisdom books, just as the Lord pours out his spirit, personified Wisdom (Prov 1:23).12 That spirit can be shared with others because (the teaching itself) preceded a lot of pious (“prayer-filled”) pondering and in it the teaching crystallized.
Taken from the revue Carmelus (Vol. 22, 1975, pp. 194n.)
Translated by Dr. Věra Vodičková
