May 21, 2013      Martin Mallon  (Ireland)      Martin's previous articles                        

THE HOLY SPIRIT AND PRAYER

Only in Luke’s Gospel do we read that "an angel from heaven appeared to give him strength" (Lk 22:43) when Jesus was suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. Why was an angel sent to Jesus and what did the angel do?

According to the Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition "We must understand that, at that moment, God gave Jesus supernatural help without which his human strength would have failed him."

However, Jesus was without sin so why would his human strength have failed him? Perhaps we should believe the other three Gospels which do not mention this episode with the angel? No, the message being delivered in Luke’s Gospel is that prayer is always answered. In verse 42, just before verse 43 about the angel, Jesus prayed "Father, if it is your will, remove this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done" and his Father answered this prayer for help, even though Jesus had just agreed to do God’s will without any help: "yet not my will but yours be done." This demonstrates that God wants to help us all the time, that He will answer our prayers even if we can do without the help He sends and that we only have to ask for God to send us strengthening grace to aid us in doing the right thing, to follow His will and to accept difficult and painful situations in unity with Jesus.

In Romans 8:26 we read that "we do not know how to pray as we ought" and it is the Holy Spirit who helps us to overcome this problem. It is the Holy Spirit who guides us as we turn our hearts to God. St Paul also writes "Now we have received .... the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths in spiritual terms." (1 Cor 2:12-13)

Pentecost Sunday has just passed when we all received a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit as promised by Jesus. In the quote above Paul tells us that we have received the Holy Spirit who will help us to understand the gifts, or charisms, that God has given us. In addition, Paul tells us that "We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him..." (Rom 8:28) informing us that while the charisms we receive are for the good of the Church they also work for our own good.

The Holy Spirit directs us to Jesus, so Paul writes that "it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us" (Gals 2:20) and instructs us that "no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit." (1 Cor 12:3)

What happens when we do permit the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, to guide us and to dwell inside us? We are made free! We are able to dump every form of fear and slavery we are experiencing and, hence, we experience the true freedom of being Children of God. This means that the Holy Spirit helps us to realise who we truly are, the Children of God made in the image of God. As we pray and allow the Holy Spirit into the centre of our lives He gives us the grace, the strength and the will to abandon habits and conditions which had left us enslaved.

Many of us live in fear; fear of losing our jobs, fear of death, fear of pain and suffering and many other fears. The Holy Spirit does not always remove the thing we fear, but, if not, He gives us the grace, or strength, and understanding to accept it, unite it with the suffering of Jesus and realise that, no matter how awful it is, that it is nothing compared to spending eternity with Jesus in Heaven. In truth, the fear is greatly diminished our removed even if the underlying circumstances do not change.

The phrase above, "it is nothing compared to spending eternity with Jesus in Heaven", is used so often that it can sound superficial, but it is reality and it is only with the assistance of the Holy Spirit that we can realise how wonderful and glorious this reality is; yes, even if we are suffering greatly now. Obviously, the time to impart this type of information to someone is not when they are in the middle of their pain and suffering as this would come across as superficial, even meaningless, unless the person suffering was strong in the faith. Compassion is essential and is usually more useful than explanations and theology to someone in the middle of a crisis.

Thank you, Lord, for your Resurrection which has resulted in the continuous outpouring of your Spirit to dwell in and with us, to strengthen us and to guide us to you. In particular, we thank you for this new outpouring of your Holy Spirit and His gifts, or charisms, to enflame and assist your Church this Pentecost. We ask you, Holy Spirit, to help us all to appreciate the charisms you have given each of us and to assist us in using them for the good of your Church, the People of God.

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