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Raniero
Cantalamessa and the
Call for a New
Evangelization
Part 3: The Role of the Holy Spirit in Proclaiming
the Gospel Message
By Sue Cummins
Note:
The following article is
adapted from the thesis, Raniero
Cantalamessa and the New
Evangelization: Proclaiming
the
Kerygma in the Power of the Holy
Spirit, which was submitted to the
School of Theology of Sacred Heart Major
Seminary, Detroit, Michigan USA,
December 2014. Sue Cummins works full time for
the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Department of
Evangelization and Catechesis as Regional
Catechetical Coordinator.
In the previous issue (see Part 2)
we examined the content of the
kerygma (Gospel message) and showed
the importance of proclaiming it. In
this issue (Part 3) we will explore
the method of the
proclamation.
The Gospel
needs to be proclaimed in the
power of the Holy Spirit
Cantalamessa
teaches that “The Gospel is the object
to be proclaimed, the Holy Spirit is the
method, that is, ‘the medium’ or the
‘way’ in which to do it.”110
What does he mean by this? He states
repeatedly that the gospel message needs
to be proclaimed in the power of the
Holy Spirit in order for the word of God
to be fully efficacious:
One cannot proclaim Jesus
effectively except with the power of the Holy Spirit. The
apostles are “those who preached the
good news to you through the Holy
Spirit” (1 Pet 1:12). Between
proclaiming Christ simply “in doctrine”
and proclaiming him “in the Holy Spirit”
there is the same difference as between
proclaiming the word “from without,”
standing outside of its sphere of
action, its domination, and its “grip,”
free and neutral before it, and
proclaiming it while standing “within”
the word, in its mysterious grasp, moved
by it, in vital contact with it, getting
from it power and authority. In the
first case there is a transmission of
doctrine, in the second a transmission
of existence.111
In this chapter we will first
examine Cantalamessa’s teaching on the
nature and the role of the Holy Spirit
as articulated in Come, Creator
Spirit: Meditations on the Veni
Creator and Sober Intoxication of the
Spirit, including his treatment of
the sacramental grace and the gifts of
the Holy Spirit. Next we will
consider the exegesis of the New
Testament accounts of the outpouring of
the Holy Spirit that Cantalamessa offers
in The Mystery of Pentecost.
The last section of the chapter will
explore the ways that the Holy Spirit
empowers and anoints a person for
fruitful evangelization and effective
proclamation of the Gospel
message. Cantalamessa has written
and spoken extensively on this theme.
His works Jesus Began to Preach: The
Mystery of God’s Word and The
Holy Spirit in the Life of Jesus
provide an excellent synthesis of his
thought on this topic.
Come Creator Spirit
In Come Creator
Spirit Cantalamessa gives an
overview of the person and the work of
the Holy Spirit using the hymn Veni
Creator Spiritus112 as
a basis for his commentary. The hymn
addresses the Holy Spirit with many
titles: creator, paraclete, gift of God,
living water, fire, anointing for the
soul, and finger of God’s right hand.
The Holy Spirit gives light, peace and
love, heals physical bodies, and drives
the enemy away. The Holy Spirit was
present at creation. In his commentary,
Cantalamessa emphasizes the perfecting
work of the Holy Spirit as the one who
brings order out of chaos:
The
Spirit is always the one that brings
about the change from chaos to cosmos,
from disorder to order, from confusion
to harmony, from deformity to beauty,
from oldness to newness—not in a
mechanical way and all of a sudden,
but in the sense that the Spirit is at
work in all of this kind of change for
the better, guiding its evolving
progress until it reaches its
fulfillment. The Spirit is always the
one at work, ‘creating and renewing
the face of the earth.’113
Along these same lines, St.
Ambrose writes: “Who indeed can doubt
that the Holy Spirit quickens all
things, since he, too, just as the
Father and the Son, is the Creator of
all things, and God, the omnipotent
Father, is understood to have done
nothing without the Holy Spirit; for
even in the beginning of the creation
the Spirit moved over the waters.”114
As the Church prays for renewal she
invokes the help of the Spirit who
brings order out of chaos and puts life
where there is no life.
Cantalamessa draws attention
to the fact that one of the first words
used in Scripture in reference to the
Holy Spirit is the Hebrew word ruah
which means “wind” and “breath.” This
meaning is carried on in the
translations into Greek (pneuma)
and the Latin (spiritus).115
Ezekiel 37:1-4 describes dry bones that
have no life until the prophet calls
forth the wind and invokes the breath of
the Holy Spirit: “So I prophesied as he
commanded me, and the breath came into
them, and they lived, and stood upon
their feet, an exceedingly great host”
(Ezekiel 37:10). Cantalamessa
writes:
“Spirit,
Come!” This is the primordial
epiclesis, the root of all prayers of
invocation. This is where the opening
invocation of our hymn Veni
Creator Spiritus comes from, as
well as the opening line in the
Sequence for Pentecost: Veni,
Sancte Spiritus. It is the only
prayer to the Holy Spirit recorded in
Scripture, and it is the only prayer
to the Holy Spirit that the church has
made its own and continued to pray
through the centuries. It is the Maranatha
of the Spirit, equal to that “Come,
Lord!” that the early Christians used
to cry out to Christ when they
gathered for worship.116
This power that raised the dry
bones to life is still at work today.
The same power that raised Jesus from
the dead is still at work today renewing
and bringing life to the Church.
Chapter 3 of Come, Creator
Spirit provides a commentary on
the line of the hymn that implores:
“Fill with heavenly grace the hearts
that you have made.” Cantalamessa writes
that the word “grace” refers to the Holy
Spirit in person. The hymn connects the
Holy Spirit with grace and therefore
with the work of Christ who is the
author of grace. Reflecting on the
question, “What did the Holy Spirit
bring at Pentecost that was new?”
Cantalamessa points out that the Creator
Spirit and the Spirit of redemption are
the same Holy Spirit. The Holy
Spirit, the principle of our creation,
is also at work to sanctify us.117
There are not two different
Spirits with separate realms of
operation. The Holy Spirit, third person
of the Trinity, has always existed with
the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit
who was present at creation is the same
Holy Spirit who anointed the prophets
and kings of Old Testament times. This
same Holy Spirit rested on Jesus at his
baptism in the Jordan and fell on the
disciples in the Upper Room on the day
of Pentecost. The same Holy Spirit is
present today; since the passion of
Christ, the Holy Spirit is present in a
fuller way to those who believe in
Christ.
The prophet Joel predicted a
great outpouring of the Holy Spirit that was not to
be fulfilled until the day of Pentecost:
“And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my spirit on all
flesh; your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy, your old men shall dream
dreams, and your young men shall see
visions. Even upon the menservants and
maidservants in those days, I will pour
out my spirit” (Joel 2: 28-29). The
incarnation of Christ, his death,
resurrection, and ascension into heaven
opened the way for this new presence of
the Holy Spirit. Cantalamessa states
that the Holy Spirit is now “hypostatically
present.” By this he means that the Holy
Spirit is present in
person:
For as
long as the Word had not yet become
“flesh and lived among us” (Jn 1:14),
neither was the Spirit able to dwell
among us. Before the Spirit had
descended on Jesus and rested on him
(Jn 1:33), the Spirit was not able to
descend on us and remain with us.
Consequently we can say, in language
that is somewhat more developed, that
before Pentecost the Spirit was
present in the world through the
Spirit’s gifts and power, but since
the time of Pentecost onward the
Spirit has been hypostatically
present, that is, present in person.118
Cantalamessa makes it clear
that this presence and grace of the Holy
Spirit is not simply a concept or idea.
He states that “grace is an experiential
reality.”119 The Gospel of
Luke says that Jesus “rejoiced in the
Holy Spirit” (Lk 10:21). Paul’s writings
are overflowing with references to the
presence and action of the Holy Spirit;
he and his fellow believers were clearly
motivated by a profound experience of
the love, grace, and power of the Holy
Spirit at work in their lives.
In Cantalamessa’s view, the
Holy Spirit sustains and renews the
people of God in two fundamental ways.
First, the Spirit is poured down “from
above” through the institutions and
hierarchy of the Church:
In His
infinite wisdom God has established
two distinct channels to sanctify the
Church or, one could say, two
different directions from which the
Spirit blows. There is the Spirit who
comes from above, so to speak and who
is transmitted through the pope, the
bishops and the priests. He acts
through the magisterium of the church,
through the hierarchy, through
authority and especially through the
sacraments. It is through these
channels instituted by Christ and
entrusted to the institutional Church,
that the Spirit or grace comes to us.
No one, not even the hierarchy of the
church, can make changes to these
channels.120
Sacramental grace is intended
for all of God’s people. This outpouring
of the Holy Spirit through the
institutional channels of the Church is
a sign of the unity of the Church.
Cantalamessa writes: “The sacraments are
shared in common; there is no objective
distinction among believers who receive
them in the same manner. The only
distinction depends on an individual’s
personal faith and holiness and not on
his or her position in the Church.”121
Sanctifying
grace that brings about transformation
of life is equally available to all.
Cantalamessa points out that Jesus who
died for all is the source of all grace;
Christ established the sacraments from
which we draw the grace that flows from
his sacrifice on the cross.122
The second manner of operation
of the Holy Spirit is the Spirit blowing
“from below,” giving different charisms
to different individuals.
Cantalamessa says that the Spirit is
“truly the wind that Jesus said “blows
where it chooses” (Jn 3:8):
Charisms are the concrete
manifestations of this Spirit who
blows “where he chooses” and whom no
one can foresee or determine ahead of
time. If the sacraments are the
established outlets of grace, the
charisms are the surprise outlets of
grace and of the Holy Spirit.123
Charisms are bestowed on God’s
people for the purpose of service to
others. The charisms are given in order
to equip Christ’s disciples for mission.
The diversity of gifts shows the
diversity of the Church; but it is the
same Holy Spirit at work in and through
the people of God. Cantalamessa writes:
“The charisms, then, are for the Church,
for the enrichment of the Church, for
the vitality and variety of the Church.”124
Both modes of operation of the
Holy Spirit are essential to the health
and growth of the Church.
Unfortunately, there are many
baptized Catholics who do not fully
understand the nature of the grace that
is given through baptism and the other
sacraments they receive. They have
received a gift, but they have failed to
unwrap it. Cantalamessa points to the
Catholic understanding of “opus
operatum” and “opus operantis”
as a way of understanding how a
sacrament can be valid and objectively
accomplish the work of the sacrament and
yet, at the same time, not be fully
released in the life of an individual
who is consciously or unconsciously
failing to cooperate with the grace of
the sacrament:
Everything that depends on
divine grace and the will of Christ in
a sacrament is called opus
operatum, which can be
translated as “the work already
accomplished, the objective and
certain fruit of a sacrament when it
is administered validly.” On the other
hand, everything that depends on the
liberty and disposition of the person
is called opus operantis; this
is the work yet to be accomplished by
the individual, his or her
affirmation.
The opus
operatum of baptism, the part
done by God and grace, is diverse and
very rich: remission of sins; the gift
of the theological virtues of faith,
hope and charity (given in seed form);
and divine sonship. All of this is
mediated through the efficacious
action of the Holy Spirit. . . Baptism
is truly a rich collection of gifts
that we received at the moment of our
birth in God. But it is a collection
that is still sealed up. We are rich
because we possess these gifts (and
therefore we can accomplish all the
actions necessary for Christian life),
but we do not know what we possess.125
In the early Church
adults who had been evangelized and
catechized received baptism with an
active and full consent of faith. They
were instructed on the goods of the
sacraments they received. At present
most Catholics are baptized as infants
when they are not yet able to make a
conscious assent of faith; reception of
other sacraments often takes place
without conversion or adequate teaching.
The statistics cited in the first
chapter of this thesis point to the fact
that many baptized Catholics do not
regularly receive the sacraments of
Reconciliation and the Eucharist; many
couples fail to seal their union with
the sacrament of marriage. Numerous
individuals who consider themselves
Catholic are not benefitting from the
grace and power that is available to
them in the sacraments.
Sacramental
grace is available to all and all are
called to serve God, the Church, and
society at large.
Christifideles Laici states that
clergy, religious, and laity are all
called to serve the same mission and
that all possess charisms and ministries
that are “diverse yet complementary”
(CF, 55). The call to proclaim the good
news is extended to all believers;
preaching is not reserved to those who
have received the sacrament of Holy
Orders. The New Commentary on the
Code of Canon Law states:
The
reality is that everyone in the Church
has the radical duty and right to
participate in the ministry of the
divine word by virtue of their
initiation (baptism, confirmation,
Eucharist), communion, and possession
of the Spirit of Christ (LG
11-14). Some have further rights
and responsibilities in regard to this
ministry by virtue of their share in
the sacrament of orders and their
ecclesiastical office. All must
be able and qualified in order to
exercise the ministry in the name of
the Church.126
The proclamation of the Gospel
is part of the mission of every disciple
of Christ.However, bishops, priests, and
deacons have particular responsibilities
and authority given to them as ministers
of God’s word; they have access to
sacramental grace that flows from their
ordination for the purpose of equipping
them for those responsibilities.
Jean Galot describes the
sacramental character imparted to
priests at their ordination as an
active, dynamic power that equips them
to carry out their duties of preaching
and teaching: “The character provides
the foundation for the empowerment to
speak in the name of Christ, to proclaim
the word of God, and to expound with
authority the gospel message.”127
Galot says that this sacramental
character is given for the sake of
transformation into the likeness of
Christ and for the sake of the mission
of Christ:
True, we
may be tempted to equate the “mark”
with a static reality, or to imagine
that it encourages
self-absorption. It is not
so. We should see in that
mark an energy meant to explode, the
energy of Christ the Shepherd that
seizes one’s entire being in order to
get hold of one’s activity and confer
upon it the much wider dimensions of
Christ’s own mission. Truly, priestly
power engages all the vital powers of
a human being in order to raise them
to a higher level.128
Of course the
development of human capacities and
openness to exercising the grace of the
sacrament are essential to the full
fruition of the sacramental power
available through the reception of Holy
Orders. It seems that very few
clerics have plumbed the depths of the
sacramental grace available to them as
ministers of God’s word.
The other mode of operation of
the Holy Spirit that Cantalamessa writes
about is that of distributor of the
charisms to God’s people.
These gifts of the Spirit are to be used
for the sake of others and for the up
building of the Church. Many Catholics
misunderstand or do not appreciate the
importance of the charisms. At times
some demonstrate outright resistance to
asking for and using the gifts of the
Holy Spirit. Many Catholics are simply
not acquainted with the teaching of the
Church on charisms. In his commentary on
First Corinthians 12, George Montague
writes about a time when he was unaware
of the importance of the charisms for
today:
I must
confess that when I wrote my first
textbook on Paul, subtitled, An
Intensive Study of Key Texts, I
skipped chapters 12 to 14 of 1
Corinthians (even would you believe it
Chapter 13!) because I thought the
gifts as described by Paul would be
irrelevant to today’s audience. . .
But there is so much evidence of the
importance of the spontaneous movement
of the Holy Spirit in the New
Testament (Rom 12:3-8; Eph 4:7-16; I
Pet 4:10; the Acts of the apostles
throughout), reinforced by the Second
Vatican Council. . . that this vital
element cannot be ignored. . . . Paul
was not suggesting that the gifts are
for the few. What he says to the
Corinthians is addressed to Christians
of all times: strive eagerly for
the spiritual gifts.129
Montague’s development
in his understanding of the importance
of charisms reflects a positive change
that took place in the climate of the
church after Vatican II.
The Fathers of the Second
Vatican Council taught about the need
for a renewed appreciation of the role
of the charisms in the Church.130
Since then a fresh outpouring of the
Holy Spirit has led to what is commonly
known as the “charismatic renewal.” Some
progress has been made, but the exercise
of charisms is still not a part of the
mainstream existence of the Church as is
was in the time of the apostles.
Cantalamessa writes: “This does not mean
that in our situation today normal
Christian life cannot exist or that
there is no holiness or no charisms that
accompany holiness. Rather, it means
that instead of being the norm, it has
become more and more of an exception.”131
Understanding the person and the
importance of the work of the Holy
Spirit is clearly a key to the new
evangelization and the effective
proclamation of the kerygma. In the next
section we will look at Cantalamessa’s
exegesis of the New Testament accounts
of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and
the insights they give into two distinct
modes of operation of the Holy Spirit.
The
Outpouring of the Holy Spirit
In this section we will look
at Cantalamessa’s exegesis of Luke’s
account of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-4 as
contrasted to the account of Jesus’
meeting with his disciples on the
evening of the first Easter found in
John 20:19-23. Cantalamessa shows
that the two different but compatible
approaches to the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit are both reflected in the Paul’s
epistles. He writes that both
events took place in the same location,
but at different times:
There is a
Lukan Pentecost, the one described in
the Acts of the Apostles, and there is
a Johannine Pentecost, described in
John 20:22, when Jesus breathed on his
disciples and said, “Receive the Holy
Spirit.” This Johannine Pentecost
takes place in the same location as
Luke’s account, in the Cenaculum, the
Upper Room, but not at the same time.
In fact it happens on the very evening
of Easter and not fifty days after it.132
In his exegesis of the
two accounts, Cantalamessa presents a
theology of the Holy Spirit using the
Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the
Apostles to represent the view of the
Synoptics. He contrasts the focus
of the Synoptics with the approach taken
in the Gospel of John and the Epistles
of John; he then analyzes Paul’s
approach as it reflects a synthesis of
the approaches taken by Luke and
John.
Luke focuses on the Holy
Spirit being given for mission and the
up building of the Church. Before he
ascends into heaven, Jesus tells his
disciples, “you shall receive power when
the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and
you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem
and in all Judea and Samaria and to the
end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The Holy
Spirit descends on the apostles and
disciples—men and women—as they are
praying together on the day of Pentecost
(Acts 1:14; 2:1-4). As recounted in the
Acts of the Apostles, this event ends
with Peter’s preaching and the
conversion of three thousand (Acts 2).
The Holy Spirit is given from above. The
Holy Spirit is the distributer of the
charisms. This is very much in line with
the view of the Holy Spirit given in the
Old Testament and in the other Synoptic
Gospels. What is unique to Luke,
according to Cantalamessa, is Luke’s
emphasis on the Holy Spirit as the
Spirit of prophecy:
The
novelty of Luke is that, of the
various marvels and supernatural
actions of the Spirit, he privileges
one in the sharpest way: prophecy. The
Spirit is the Spirit of prophecy; it
is the power that makes possible
speaking in the name of God and with
the authority of God. In the life of
Jesus, this is clear from the
beginning. In the baptism at the
Jordan, the Spirit came upon Jesus of
Nazareth and “anointed him,” above
all, for one thing: “to bring glad
tidings to the poor,” in other words,
to evangelize (Lk 4:14-18).133
In the Gospels the
baptism of Jesus launches his active
ministry; in the Acts of the Apostles
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the
disciples on the feast of Pentecost
marks the beginning of the active
ministry of the first believers. In
Cantalamessa’s view, Luke presents the
Holy Spirit as the “gift of the risen
one to the Church so that it may be
capable of bringing the good news to the
world.”134 The
function of the Holy Spirit is to
proclaim the Word.135
As predicted in the prophecy of Joel 2:
28-29, the Spirit falls on the young and
the old, on men and women, even on
servants and slaves.
The Holy Spirit as the spirit
of prophecy is needed for the new
evangelization. The Spirit motivated the
early Christians to preach and proclaim
the good news. The same Spirit
empowers God’s messengers today.
Priests, religious, teachers, preachers,
catechists, parents—all Christians—are
called to proclaim the good news of
salvation. Evangelii Nuntiandi
makes the point that those who are truly
evangelized become evangelizers: “Here
lies the test of truth, the touchstone
of evangelization: it is unthinkable
that a person should accept the Word and
give himself to the kingdom without
becoming a person who bears witness to
it and proclaims it in his turn” (EN
24). The Spirit witnesses to Christ and
empowers each person who is baptized
into Christ to be a herald (keryx)
of the Gospel message (kerygma).
According
to Cantalamessa, Luke’s account of
Pentecost points to two important
truths. First, the “primary activity of
the Church is the proclamation of the
dead and risen Christ.”136
The Church’s main task is to proclaim
the kerygma. Second, the kerygma must be
proclaimed in the power of the Holy
Spirit. All of the efforts for the new
evangelization to involve laity, to form
priests, and to find new methods of
communication will be fruitless if the
work is not done in the power of the
Holy Spirit.137
There are similarities between
the writings of John and those of Luke
in regard to the Holy Spirit, but there
are some marked differences as well.
John portrays the Holy Spirit as the
source of new life: the Holy Spirit is
the new life that is given to those who
believe in Christ. The Spirit wells up
from within the hearts of men and women:
“If any one thirst let him come to me
and drink. To He who believes in me, as
the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his
heart shall flow rivers of living
water’” (Jn 7:37-38).138
The
Spirit is the one who gives life as He
comes to dwell within the hearts of
believers. In his book Deification and
Grace, Daniel Keating writes that the
“theme of the coming gift of the
indwelling Spirit” is “one of the
central themes of the Fourth Gospel.”139
John emphasizes the transforming work of
the Holy Spirit in the hearts and the
lives of those who are open to
receive. The presence of the Holy
Spirit within transforms a person and
that transformation is part of the
witness of a Christian.
Cantalamessa uses the example
of St. Francis of Assisi as an
illustration of what happens when a
person falls in love with Christ and
opens up to the transforming work of the
Holy Spirit. As a youth Francis had an
encounter with Christ that moved him to
make a decision to leave his wealth and
position in order to respond to God’s
call to live according to the Gospel.
Francis did not fall in love with Lady
Poverty, he fell in love with Christ.140
Francis’ life of simplicity and
service and his insistent preaching of
the Gospel message flowed out of his
deep life of prayer and union with
Christ. Francis of Assisi
exemplifies the powerful witness of a
life radically conformed to the life of
Christ. He embraced poverty, he reached
out to the poor and he tirelessly called
men and women to repentance.
Cantalamessa writes: “Francis did
nothing other than re-launch the great
appeal to conversion with which Jesus’
preaching opens in the Gospel, and that
of the Apostles on the day of Pentecost.
He did not need to explain what he meant
by conversion: his whole life showed
it.”141 The Holy
Spirit who dwells within and transforms
from within does not remain closed
inside a believer. The
transformation that the Spirit works
from within a believer bursts forth into
fruitful witness.
The Gospel of John contains
many allusions to the anticipated coming
of the Spirit.142 The
Johannine account of the last supper
discourse includes Jesus’ promise to ask
the Father to send the Holy Spirit (Jn
14:15-26).143 Jesus
says that after he leaves the earth, he
will ask the Father to send a Counselor
to remain forever with his disciples.
Cantalamessa contends that the account
from John 20:19-22144
shows that John writes about the
importance of the role of the Holy
Spirit as the life-giving presence
within; John also recognizes the Holy
Spirit as the one who empowers the
disciples for mission:
Nevertheless,
it
is not quite right to say that there
is no point of contact between John’s
vision of the Spirit and Luke’s. John
deepens the vision of the Synoptics,
but he does not deny it. A clear point
of contact exists between the two in
John 20:22 which we have called the
Johannine Pentecost. The Holy Spirit
that Jesus here gives to the apostles
is clearly for the sake of their
mission: “As the Father has sent me,
so I send you.” After saying this, he
breathed on them and said, “Receive
the Holy Spirit.” The gesture of
breathing recalls Gen 2:7 and Ezek
37:9 and thus represents the Spirit as
giver of life and principle of the new
creation, but the words that accompany
the gesture represent the same Spirit
as the force that will enable the
apostles to carry out their mission
and will confer upon them the power to
take away sins. They represent it, in
other words, as a prophetic and
ministerial Spirit.145
It is one Spirit at
work with a variety of modes of
expression. To proclaim God’s Word
effectively an individual needs the help
of the sanctifying Spirit working from
within and that person needs the gifts
of the Spirit who anoints for the sake
of ministry.
Cantalamessa describes the
approach that the Apostle Paul takes
toward the outpouring of the Holy Spirit
as a combination of the approaches of
Luke and John. Paul describes the Holy
Spirit as the source of new life and as
the distributer of charisms: “In
St. Paul we find the synthesis of these
two lines of thought, not in the sense
that he reunites elements that existed
separately before him—in fact, he writes
before Luke and John—but in the sense
that in him both of the perspectives are
represented and anticipated.”146
Paul’s epistles make frequent reference
to the Holy Spirit as the one who
confers gifts on God’s people (1Cor
12-14; Rom 12:6-8; Eph 4:11-12).147
Paul
speaks of many charisms148
that are given for the up building of
the body of Christ: “To one is given
through the Spirit the utterance of
wisdom, and to another the utterance of
knowledge according to the same Spirit,
to another faith by the same Spirit, to
another the working of miracles, to
another prophecy, to another the ability
to distinguish between spirits, to
another various kinds of tongues, to
another the interpretation of tongues”
(1 Cor 12: 8-10). There are particular
charisms related to speech that are
given to those who are called to witness
to Christ through teaching, preaching,
and one-on-one evangelization.
Cantalamessa points out that among the
charisms that are related to
evangelization, the apostle Paul refers
to wisdom, knowledge, teaching, and
prophecy.149
On the other hand, Paul speaks
often about the Holy Spirit as the giver
of new life in Christ. The Holy Spirit
fills the hearts of God’s people: “God’s
love has been poured into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit who has been
given to us” (Rom 5:5). The Holy Spirit
lives within each believer: “Do you not
know that you are God’s temple and that
God’s Spirit dwells in you (1 Cor
3:16)?” The Church, made up of
many believers, is the dwelling place of
God (Eph 2:19-22). Paul writes about the
transforming power of the Holy Spirit
that brings a believer to full maturity
in Christ: “And we all, with unveiled
face, beholding the glory of the Lord,
are being changed into his likeness from
one degree of glory to another; for this
comes from the Lord who is the Spirit”
(2 Cor 3:3-18). Paul’s description
of the transforming work of the Holy
Spirit is very similar to John’s
descriptions of the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit.
For Paul, the Holy Spirit is
alive, active, and personal. In his
exegesis of 2 Corinthians 3:17-18,
Thomas Stegman points out that all of
the verbs in 2 Corinthians 3:18 are in
the present tense: “Paul is not talking
about a future reality but something
that takes place here and now.”150
The Holy Spirit is the love of God
poured into the hearts of believers, the
grace of God at work through the saving
power of Jesus Christ. Cantalamessa
writes that, according to Paul, the Holy
Spirit works within the believer and the
Holy Spirit reaches out to others
through the believer:
St. Paul
knows, therefore, two fundamental
actions of the Holy Spirit: the
charismatic one that we can define ad
extra, since it exists for the
benefit of everyone and terminates
outside the subject who receives it,
and the interior one that we can
define ad intra, since it
terminates in the subject who receives
it and renews his or her existence.
However, Paul does not stop here but
also poses explicitly the problem of
the mutual relation between these two
different operations of the Spirit.
His position can be summarized as
follows: recognition of the
charisms as the determining
factor for the construction and growth
of the body of Christ but subordination
of
the charisms to charity—that is
subordination of the manifestations of
the Spirit to his permanent interior
dwelling.151
As Cantalamessa points
out, Paul recognizes that the Holy
Spirit is the “interior principle of new
life,” the “principle of new knowledge
of God,” and the “principle of the
resurrection and immortality.”152
Paul instructs his followers to desire
the spiritual gifts (1 Cor 12:31), but
he reminds them that the greatest of
these gifts is love (1 Cor 13:8-13).
Thomas Aquinas presents the
same hierarchy in his Summa
Theologica. He uses the term gratia
gratum faciens for sanctifying
grace (charity) and gratia gratis
data (gratuitous grace) for the
charisms:
And thus
there is a twofold grace—one whereby
man himself is united to God, and this
is called sanctifying grace—the
other is that whereby one man
co-operates with another in leading
him to God, and this gift is called gratuitous
grace, since it is bestowed on a
man beyond the capability of nature,
and beyond the merit of the person.
But whereas it is bestowed on a man,
not to justify him, but rather that he
may co-operate in the justification of
another, it is not called sanctifying
grace. And it is of this that the
Apostle says (1 Cor. 12:7): And the
manifestation of the Spirit is given
to every man unto utility, i.e., of
others.153
Thomas teaches that the
final purpose or end that God intends
for men and women is eternal happiness
in union with God; because of this, the
work of the Holy Spirit to prepare
individuals for union with God takes
precedence over the service they might
offer to others through the use of
charisms. Cantalamessa points out that
“‘Being’ in the Spirit is superior to
‘acting’ (on others) in the Spirit, to
such an extent that without charity the
rest would be good for nothing.”154
The emphasis on charity should not be
used as an excuse for failing to seek
the charisms. Paul instructs his
followers: “Make love your aim, and
earnestly desire the spiritual gifts,
especially that you may prophesy” (1 Cor
14:1).
Before concluding this section
on the New Testament accounts of the
impartation of the Holy Spirit, we will
consider Cantalamessa’s observation that
the distinct approaches of John and Luke
are reflected in the history of the
liturgy of the Church and the
celebration of Pentecost. The tradition
that has been carried on into modern-day
practice is the celebration of the Feast
of Pentecost on the fiftieth day after
the celebration of Easter. Pentecost
concludes the fifty days of celebration
of the resurrection and marks the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit on
Christ’s disciples in the Upper Room on
the feast of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-47). A
more ancient approach to the celebration
of Pentecost was to celebrate Pentecost
throughout the fifty days after Easter.
In the understanding of this mode of
celebration, it was the celebration of
the spiritual presence of Jesus after
the resurrection. This fits with the
Johannine account of Jesus breathing on
the disciples after his resurrection (Jn
20:19-22). Cantalamessa writes:
“According to this conception . . . the
gift of the Holy Spirit inaugurated
Pentecost, whereas according to the
other conception, based on the Lukan
account of Acts, it concluded
it.”155
Commenting on the approach
taken by the Fathers to the two
different Pentecost accounts
Cantalamessa writes: “The Fathers
usually explained this ‘anomaly’ by
saying that the gift of the Spirit
spoken of in John was a partial gift,
restricted either in content or in the
number of those receiving it, a kind of
first fruit with response to the more
complete and universal gift lavished
fifty days later.”156
Most of the Church Fathers agree that
when Jesus breathed on the disciples on
the evening of his resurrection, he did
not bestow on them the fullness of the
Holy Spirit that was poured out at
Pentecost. Some thought it was a
prophetic act and others considered it
to be more than a prophetic act.
Modern scholars are not all in
agreement about the implications of the
two different approaches of Luke and
John. John W. E. Vine contends
that Jesus’ words to his disciples in
the John 20 passage were given as
prophecy or a promise of the coming of
the Spirit. In his commentary on
the Gospel of John, Vine suggests that
when Jesus said, “Receive the Holy
Spirit,” he was speaking about the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit that would
take place on the day of Pentecost.
According to this understanding, Jesus’
breath might be seen as a foreshadowing
of the mighty winds that filled the
upper room:
His word
“Receive ye the Holy Spirit” referred
not merely to His own breath, it was
symbolic of the Holy Spirit as about
to be sent at Pentecost. It was
connected with their being sent out
into the world, and with the effect of
their ministry of the Gospel in the
forgiveness of sins by the Spirit’s
power, or the retention of sins by the
rejection of the message (vv. 23, 24).
It was a prophetic act as well as
symbolic.157
Cantalamessa points out
that while the Church Fathers generally
took an approach of synthesizing the two
different accounts of the giving of the
Holy Spirit that are found in the
writings of Luke and John, present day
theologians tend to take an analytical
approach that emphasizes the differences
between the two perspectives of Luke and
John. Cantalamessa, on the other hand,
suggests utilizing an overlay approach
where each perspective is taken in its
entirety and put together much as the
overlay sheets that are used to
illustrate the different organ systems
in a body and the way that they all fit
together.158 He
contends that a fully developed theology
of the Holy Spirit must include the
distinct yet complementary perspectives
that are presented in Scripture:
Luke and
John describe—from two different
angles and with two different
theological preoccupations—that same
fundamental event of the history of
salvation: the outpouring of the
Spirit made possible by the paschal
sacrifice of Christ. This outpouring
manifested itself at different moments
and in different ways. Luke, who sees
the Holy Spirit as a gift made to the
Church for its mission, stresses one
of these moments, the one that took
place fifty days after Easter on the
day when the Jews were celebrating the
conclusion of the feast of Pentecost.
John, who sees the Spirit as the
principle of the new life welling up
from the paschal sacrifice of Christ,
stresses the earliest manifestations
of it which happened on the very day
of Easter. In time and in space,
Easter and Pentecost draw near to one
another.159
Both modes of operation
of the Holy Spirit are essential for the
life and the mission of the Church. The
Holy Spirit is present within believers
and acting through believers. Having
presented an overview of Cantalamessa’s
theological observations on the person
and work of the Holy Spirit, the next
section of this chapter will examine the
particular work of the Holy Spirit as
the one who conveys the word of God, and
the one who imparts the gifts and
anointing to proclaim God’s word.
The
Holy Spirit Gives Power to the
Proclamation
As the Church embraces
the call to the new evangelization, the
importance of the help of the Holy
Spirit and the exercise of the charisms
in the proclamation of the good news
cannot be ignored. Cantalamessa
considers the kerygma to be the content
of the evangelistic proclamation, and he
writes that the method, the medium of
preaching the word of God is the Holy
Spirit. He points out that the primary
means of communicating human words is by
the use of the voice which is air,
breath. Writing is a symbol of speech;
speech requires voice or breath to take
the human word which is formed within
and to bring it out to those who listen.
In a similar way, the breath of the Holy
Spirit is the only medium for the word
of God. According to Cantalamessa,
Even the
word of God observes this law. It is
transmitted by means of a breath, by a
sound. What is, or who is, the breath
of God, the Ruah Yahweh, according to
the Bible? We know the answer: it is
the Holy Spirit. Can my breath
transmit your word, or your breath
transmit my word? No, my word can only
be pronounced with my breath and your
word with your breath. Thus, in an
analogous way the word of God can only
be transmitted by the breath of God
which is the Holy Spirit. This is a
very simple and almost obvious truth
but of the utmost importance. It is
the fundamental law of every message
and of all evangelization. . . The
Holy Spirit is the real, essential
means of communication, without whom
only the human content of the message
is perceived. The words of God are
“spirit and life” (Jn. 6:63), and,
therefore, one can only transmit and
receive them “in the Spirit.”160
The words of the Gospel
message spoken without the breath of the
Holy Spirit will not have the power to
pierce human hearts. The Holy Spirit is
the life and the power of the
proclamation that illumines minds and
brings about conversion.
Luke writes that after his
baptism and the temptation in the
wilderness Jesus began to preach in the
power of the Holy Spirit (Lk 4:1;
4:14-19); Jesus later promised his
disciples that they would receive power
from on high to be his witnesses (Acts
1:8). With the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit on Pentecost, God put words on
the lips of Jesus’ disciples and
empowered those words to touch the
hearts of three thousand men and women
(Acts 2). Paul writes to the
Thessalonians: “Our message of the
gospel came to you not in word only, but
also in power and in the Holy Spirit and
with full conviction” (1 Thess
1:5).
In his book Jesus Began to
Preach: The Mystery of God’s Word
Cantalamessa gives an explanation of
what it means to proclaim God’s word in
the power of the Holy Spirit:
What does
“speaking in Christ” mean, or so to
speak “as if with words of God”? It
surely does not mean to repeat,
materially and only, words said by
Christ and God in Scripture. It means
that the basic inspiration, the
thought that “informs” and supports
all the rest, must come from God, not
from man. The preacher must be “moved
by God” and speak as if in his
presence.161
In much the same way
that the Holy Spirit is active and alive
and able to touch the hearts and minds
of those who read Sacred Scripture, a
person who proclaims God’s word in the
power of the Holy Spirit can be a
vehicle of God’s word and a channel of
the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit wants
to use human beings to impart words of
life and truth to others. Cantalamessa
makes this point when he says: “The
Spirit continues to do what he did when
he inspired the Scriptures, though of
course no longer in a normative and
canonical way: ‘When men spoke for God,
it was the Holy Spirit that moved them’
(2 Pet 1:21).”162
In considering the exercise of
charisms, it is important to remember
that God is a God of love who is active
and relational. God desires
communication and relationship; because
of this God is generous in pouring out
the charisms of the Holy Spirit on those
who are open to receive them. There is
real, active, transforming grace
available to those who proclaim God’s
word. God wants to touch the hearts of
his people; because of this he is ready
to pour out the gifts of the Holy Spirit
on those who ask for them for the
purpose of preaching and evangelizing
more effectively. At home, at work, in
ministry, at any time or in any place,
God has a word to speak. God uses
priests and evangelists; he also uses
parents, teachers, catechists, doctors,
and businessmen to speak his word.
Cantalamessa speaks about the importance
of being open to the word that God has
for his people:
We must
start from the certainty of faith
that, in every circumstance, the risen
Lord has in his heart a word that he
wishes to communicate to his people.
The Risen One did not write the seven
letters only to seven Churches of Asia
Minor. He continues to send “letters”
to every Church. That’s what changes
things and what we must discover, and
he does not fail to reveal it to his
minister, if he asks humbly and
persistently.163
The gifts of the Holy
Spirit are not a list to be memorized
before receiving the sacrament of
confirmation and then forgotten; they
are not intended for a few elite
servants of God. The grace and the gifts
of the Holy Spirit are given by God to
the people of God for the sake of the
growth and the maturity of the Church.
God has a word to impart and the Holy
Spirit will anoint those called to
impart that word. To disregard the
grace, power, and gifts of the Holy
Spirit because of indifference or false
humility will result in fruitless labor.
Cantalamessa writes: “An evangelization
without the quickening breath of the
Holy Spirit is like a sharp sword which
is left aside and never brandished. It
will not ‘cut to the heart.’”164
Openness to the presence and action of
the Holy Spirit is imperative for the
work of the new evangelization.
Commenting on an article by Joseph
Ratzinger, “The Holy Spirit and the
Church,” Joseph Murphy writes:
Rather than allowing
ourselves to be burnt by the fire of
faith, the fire of the Holy Spirit, we
tend to reduce faith to a vision of
the world made to our own measure,
with the intention of inflicting no
damage on our own comfort . . . Only
if we do not fear the flame of fire
and the tempest it brings with it will
the Church truly become the icon of
the Holy Spirit. Only then, Ratzinger
says, will she open the world to the
light of God. The Church began when
the disciples were united in prayer in
the Upper Room, awaiting the descent
of the Holy Spirit. This is how the
Church is constantly renewed, and it
is for this gift that we should
constantly pray when we invoke the
Holy Spirit.165
The exploration of the
charisms of the Holy Spirit that are
related to the proclamation of God’s
word is of interest academically, but
even more importantly, this
investigation has pastoral relevance.
The Holy Spirit is not merely a subject
to be studied; the Holy Spirit is active
and at work within believers to bring
them into new life in Christ. The Holy
Spirit is the source of the grace and
power poured out into the lives of
believers that empowers them in their
mission of helping others come to know
the love of Jesus.
The Holy Spirit is at work
today, just as he was at work in the
early Church. Jesus and the apostles
proclaimed God’s word in the power of
the Holy Spirit and signs and wonders
accompanied that proclamation.
Cantalamessa points out that those signs
and wonders are helpful to unbelievers
and because of that we should pray for
them to be manifest in our day and age
of disbelief. He prays:
Lord turn
your gaze on upon us, today also
extend your hand so that cures,
miracles, and wonders are performed in
the name of Jesus, because we have
become distracted, deaf, and hard of
heart and the words no longer suffice.
Let us have the courage to ask you
again for signs and prodigies not for
us, but for your glory and for the
spread of your kingdom. It is true,
you have told us that such signs are
useful “for unbelievers” (1 Cor
14:22). But our world is again—or has
become once more—in great part
unbelieving. For this reason we need
some of your signs that might convince
the world or at least reclaim its
attentions. You have promised us to
work together with those who preach
and to confirm their words “through
accompanying signs” (Mk 16:20).166
According to
Cantalamessa, the signs and miracles
that sometimes accompany preaching are
directed to the listener, while the
charisms are given directly to the
preacher to help with the task of
proclaiming God’s word. Signs and
wonders are an important component of
the work of the Holy Spirit in
evangelization. Signs and wonders are to
be desired and prayed for as are the
charisms. Clearly it is up to God to
grant signs and wonders and to
distribute the charisms according to his
plan and purpose; the people of God are
called to pray for God to grant them the
gifts and the anointing that they need
to be equipped to do God’s work and to
give witness to the love of Christ. All
of God’s people are called to be open to
receive the charisms, and they have a
responsibility to be willing to exercise
all of the charisms that God grants.
Cantalamessa recognizes that the
exercise of the charisms including
healing and the manifestation of other
signs and wonders are part of God’s plan
for reaching men and women with the love
of Christ.
Throughout the history of
Christendom, God has raised up men and
women anointed by the Holy Spirit to
speak in a significant way to the needs
of the Church and society. There is a
special anointing for those who have
received Holy Orders; some clergy and
laity are given spectacular gifts to
match a unique call to ministry. But the
charisms are not only for the ordained
or for a few who are specially called
and gifted. Through the anointing of
their baptism and confirmation all
disciples of Jesus are called and gifted
to witness to the love of God in Christ
Jesus and to proclaim the good news. The
charisms of the Holy Spirit are
available to all of God’s people.167
The proclamation of the good news
may or may not be accompanied by
dramatic signs of healing and
deliverance. The presence of the
anointing of the Holy Spirit is
evidenced by the piercing of hearts and
minds with the truth of God’s love and
mercy. Preaching in the power of the
Holy Spirit will bring about conversion
whether that preaching is loud and
dramatic or quiet and inconspicuous. The
content of the proclamation and the
manner may vary, but the anointing of
the Holy Spirit is essential. The end,
the goal, is to turn hearts from love of
sin to the love and mercy of God. God
distributes the charisms according to
his plan and purpose, but we should all
“strive for the spiritual gifts” (2 Cor
14:1). In the final chapter we will look
at some of the obstacles that stand in
the way of preaching the kerygma in the
power of the Holy Spirit, and discuss
ways to overcoming those obstacles in
order to be open to the anointing of the
Holy Spirit.
 Sue Cummins is a
member of Word of Life Community
and Bethany Association. She lives
in Detroit, Michigan USA and
teaches as part-time faculty at
Sacred Heart Major Seminary.
Susan has a concentration in
spirituality with a focus on the
work of St. Ignatius and St. John
of the Cross. She worked for
fifteen years as part of an
international mission team giving
retreats, training, and spiritual
direction to leaders of Christian
communities in Central America,
Mexico, Spain, Europe, and the
Middle East. She has over
ten years of experience working
with youth as senior staff with
University Christian Outreach
(UCO) and Youth Works Detroit and
as a high school teacher.
Susan is fluent in Spanish.
She worked as director of a
bi-lingual Religious Education
Program at St. Gabriel Catholic
Church in Southwest Detroit from
2005 to 2012. Sue has
recently been hired to work full
time for the Archdiocese of
Detroit’s Department of
Evangelization and Catechesis as
Regional Catechetical Coordinator.
|
Footnotes
110
Cantalamessa, “Preaching Ministry,” 63.
111 Cantalamessa, The Mystery of Pentecost,
21-22.
112 See Cantalamessa, Come
Creator Spirit, 1. The hymn was most
likely written by German theologian Rabanus
Maurus (780-856). A Latin and English version
of the hymn is included at the end of this
thesis.
113 Ibid., 34-35.
114 Ambrose, The Holy Spirit, in
Saint Ambrose: Theological and Dogmatic
Works, trans. Roy J. Deferrari
(Washington DC: Catholic University of America
Press, 1963), 107.
115 Cantalamessa, Come Creator
Spirit, 7-8.
116 Ibid., 21.
117 Cantalamessa, Come Creator
Spirit, 45.
118 Ibid., 47.
119 Cantalamessa, Come Creator
Spirit, 50.
120 Cantalamessa, Sober Intoxication
of the Spirit, 60.
121 Ibid.
122 Cantalamessa, Sober
Intoxication of the Spirit, 61.
123 Ibid.
124 Ibid., 66.
125 Cantalamessa, Sober
Intoxication of the Spirit, 43-45.
126 New Commentary on
the Code of Canon Law, John P. Beal,
James A. Coriden, and Thomas J. Green, eds.
(New York: Paulist Press, 2000), 920. For a
full treatment of the canons relating to the
proclamation of the word see New
Commentary, Book III: The Teaching Function
of the Church: Introductory Canons (c
747-755); Title I: The Ministry of the
Divine Word (756-780). See Charles
Davis, “The Theology of Preaching” from
Preaching, Ronan Drury, ed. (New York: Sheed
& Ward, 1962), 7-10 for a description of
the role of bishops and priests as
preachers. See Patricia A. Parachini, Lay
Preaching: State of the Question, American
Essays in Liturgy (Collegeville, MN:
Liturgical Press) for a historical overview of
the approach to laity and preaching in
Scripture and Church tradition.
127 Jean Galot, Theology of the
Priesthood, Roger Balducelli, trans.
(San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1985), 208.
128 Ibid., 210. See 177-215 for
Galot’s full analysis of the sacrament of holy
orders and priestly being.
129 George T. Montague, First
Corinthians, Catholic Commentary on Sacred
Scripture (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker
Academic, 2011), 220. See his entire chapter
“Many Gifts, One Body” for an examination of
Paul’s approach to the charisms as well as
excerpts from the Church Fathers on the topic.
130 See Lumen Gentium 12
and Apostolicam Actuositatem 3.
131 Cantalamessa, Sober Intoxication
of the Spirit, 47.
132 Cantalamessa, Mystery of
Pentecost, 34.
133 Cantalamessa, Mystery of
Pentecost, 20.
134 Ibid., 21. See Acts 4:31.
135 Ibid.
136 Cantalamessa, Mystery of
Pentecost, 26.
137 Ibid., 29-30.
138 See also Jesus and the Samaritan
woman, John 4:1-30: “Everyone who drinks of
this water will thirst again, but whoever
drinks of the water that I shall give him will
never thirst; the water that I shall give him
will become in him a spring of water welling
up to eternal life” (Jn 4:12-14).
139 Daniel Keating, Deification and
Grace (Ave Maria, FL: Sapientia Press,
2007), 51.
140 Cantalamessa, In Love With
Christ: The Secret of Saint Francis of
Assisi (Rome: Zenit, 2014), 16.
141 Ibid., 27.
142 See Jn 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7-15.
143 See “The Spirit of Christ in
the Fullness of Time,” from The Catechism
of the Catholic Church, 717-41.
“Only when the hour has arrived for his
glorification does Jesus promise the coming of
the Holy Spirit, since his Death and
Resurrection will fulfill the promise made to
the fathers. The Spirit of truth, the other
Paraclete, will be given by the Father in
answer to Jesus' prayer; he will be sent by
the Father in Jesus' name; and Jesus will send
him from the Father's side, since he comes
from the Father.” (CCC, 729).
144 “On the evening of that day,
the first day of the week, the doors being
shut where the disciples were, for fear of the
Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said
to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ When he
had said this, he showed them his hands and
his side. Then the disciples were glad when
they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them
again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has
sent me, even so I send you.’ And when
he had said this, he breathed on them, and
said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” (Jn
20:19-23)
145 Cantalamessa, Mystery of
Pentecost, 38.
146 Ibid., 49.
147 Cantalamessa, Mystery of
Pentecost, 48-52. See also CCC,
1830-1832 and 2003. The Catechism
distinguishes between the gifts of the Holy
Spirit (Isaiah 11:1-3); the fruits of the
Spirit (Gal 5:22-23); and a list of the
“graces of state” (Rom 12:6-8).
148 Paul uses the Greek term charisma
that means “favor,” “gratuitous gift,” or
“benefit,” to refer to “special graces” that
are given to God’s people in order that they
can “collaborate in the salvation of others”
(CCC, 2003). See also Lumen Gentium
12: The Holy Spirit “distributes special
graces among the faithful of every rank. By
these gifts He makes them fit and ready to
undertake the various tasks and offices which
contribute toward the renewal and building up
of the Church.”
149 Cantalamessa, Mystery of God’s
Word, 56.
150 Thomas D. Stegman, Second
Corinthians, Catholic Commentary on Sacred
Scripture (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker
Academic, 2009), 96.
151 Cantalamessa, Mystery of
Pentecost, 51.
152 Ibid., 50.
153 Thomas Aquinas, The Summa
Theologica, Vol II, Ia IIae QQ 111 Art
1, Fathers of the English Dominican Province,
trans (Allen, TX: Christian Classics, 1981),
1135-1136.
154 Cantalamessa, Mystery of
Pentecost, 51.
155 Cantalamessa, Mystery of
Pentecost, 35-36.
156 Ibid., 46.
157 W. E. Vine, Vine’s
Expository Commentary on John
(Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997),
208.
158 Cantalamessa, Mystery of
Pentecost, 36-37.
159 Cantalamessa, Mystery of
Pentecost, 35.
160 Cantalamessa, “Preaching
Ministry,” 41. See Cantalamessa, Jesus
Began to Preach, 40-41.
161 Cantalamessa, Jesus Began to
Preach, 60.
162 Cantalamessa, Come Creator
Spirit, 231.
163 Cantalamessa, Jesus Began to
Preach, 60-61.
164 Cantalamessa, Mystery of
God’s Word, 56.
165 Joseph Murphy, Christ Our Joy:
The Theological Vision of Pope Benedict XVI
(San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2008), 157-58.
See Joseph Ratzinger, “The Holy Spirit and the
Church,” in Images of Hope: Meditations on
Major Feasts (San Francisco: Ignatius
Press, 2006), 63-73.
166 Cantalamessa, Mystery of
Pentecost, 32.
167 Sherry Weddell developed the
Called and Gifted Workshop to help Catholic
discern and begin to exercise the charisms
that God has given them. See Catherine
of Siena Institute, www.siena.org, accessed
October 25, 2014,
http://imail.siena.org/Called-Gifted/called-a-gifted.
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