This is no dream: faced with signs of grace like “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. In these areas, the law does not intervene. “says St Paul (Gal 5:22). Indeed, in such cases, there is no law that holds, for the disciple has then come to term… he lives in union with God, which was the goal of his… creation. ! The law guided his progress, revealing the prohibitions and sin, and opening the way to the call of grace. Called, then received, grace allows us to enter (progressively) into union with God and divine joy. On the other hand, and without being naive, given man’s current situation, we can ask ourselves how far evil will go, and how man can escape from it. Who will put an end to the reign of lies and half-truths? When will the collapse of this pride, so common and so visible in a desire to emancipate the social and human condition, take place? ? Left to his own devices, man can do little except follow his natural inclination as a human being wounded by sin. We can list bitterness, backbiting, etc., and above all pride, which is an idolatry of the ‘self’, and lying, which is as deadly to the conscience as it is to life in society. As long as man remains content with material and earthly pleasures, even with a certain notoriety or recognition from his fellow men, he can only be disappointed! “Wretched are you,” says the Lord[1].

But hope remains Man’s conscience, heart, intellect and reason thirst for much more… they are made for the infinite and for a fulfillment far superior to the answers man can give himself: man is made for God.[2], ”and his heart is restless until he dwells in God” (St Augustine[3] ). The Holy Spirit is the very life of God… God’s gift to man… They seek Him “by groping“, as St Paul said[4]. Those who let Him join them will not be disappointed! So when the Holy Spirit becomes the life of the human soul (just as he is the life of the Church), everything becomes easy: Jesus Christ even becomes his protector[5]….

Yes, the disciple lives a paradox: he bears witness to a reality… that he cannot fully experience while he is still on pilgrimage on this earth and on his way to Heaven. In word and deed, he proclaims an authentic reality that he recognizes as true and vital, and which at the same time he knows he cannot fully or adequately live! It’s a blessed handicap that unashamedly attests to the necessity of salvation for mankind, and much more than that, this paradox attests to the mercy beyond measure of God, who loves man absolutely! God created him when he was under no obligation to do so, He chose to become incarnate in order to freely marry man at the very heart of his ingratitude as a sinner, and He went so far as to give His life to those who despised Him head-on, to the point of deliberately choosing to open the door of the Trinity to them for an eternity of which He alone has the secret!

The Holy Spirit is the wellspring of divine life poured into the human heart. Let’s give thanks to God who loves us up to this point and gives us brothers there!

[1] Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Luke: 4 times in Chap. 11

[2] ” The soul can only be nourished by God! Only God is enough for him! Only God can fill it! Only God can satisfy his hunger”. said the Curé d’Ars, quoted by MONNIN I 196 (in Nodet, 34/139)

[3] St Augustine: “Confessions”, Chap 1,1.

[4] Acts 17:27, St Paul’s speech in Athens

[5] ” We know… the Son begotten by God (the Father) protects those born of God, and the Evil One cannot reach them “^1st letter of St John 5, 18