A very useful meditation on the Holy Spirit

Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-21290?l=english

Preacher Sees Holy Spirit as Therapy

Calls Him a Specialist in Healing Sicknesses of Marriage and Family

ROME, DEC. 14, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The preacher of the Pontifical Household says the Holy Spirit is an "infallible aroma therapy" with no negative side effects.

Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa affirmed this today when he delivered his second Advent meditation in the presence of Benedict XVI and members of the Roman Curia.

snip

The Pontifical Household preacher proposed that the comparison between John the Baptist and Jesus crystallizes in the comparison of the baptisms they imparted: of water, and of the Holy Spirit.

"What does it mean to say that Jesus is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit? The expression serves not only to distinguish Jesus' baptism from John's baptism; it serves to distinguish the entire person and work of Christ from that of the precursor. In other words, in all of his work Jesus is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit," he said.

Father Cantalamessa added: "The Risen Jesus baptizes in the Spirit not only in the sacrament of baptism, but, in a different way, also in other moments: in the Eucharist, in listening to the Word and, in general, through all the channels of grace.

snip

Father Cantalamessa turned his attention to the phenomenon of "baptism in the Spirit," calling it a "renewal and an activation, not only of baptism and confirmation, but of all the events of grace of one's state in life: priestly ordination, religious profession, marriage. The most common effect of this grace is that the Holy Spirit, passes from being a more or less abstract object of faith, to being a fact of experience."

The preacher said the Spirit is what the Church most needs today. Alluding to the popular practice of "aroma therapy," Father Cantalamessa said "there is a sure, infallible aroma therapy that does not provoke counter indications: that one made up of a special aroma, the 'sacred chrism of the soul' that is the Holy Spirit!"

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Please do read the whole meditation, it's great. Father Cantalamessa is a blessing for sure.

I'd add another thought. This meditation helps in understanding the Catholic view of baptism. Some fundamentalists object to Catholic baptism of babies. They reference back to John the Baptist as their reasoning for "authentic" baptism being of adults.

However, as Father Cantalamessa notes, John the Baptist was the precursor to Christ, not Christ himself. So everything changes with Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ "sent" the first baptism, which was of the Spirit, to the Apostles, the disciples, and Mary after Jesus ascended.

Therefore one needs to understand that Catholic baptism at birth is the passing on, the equivalency of the charism of Spirit that brings each newborn baby into the Catholic Church. John the Baptist is not the model; the resurrected and ascended Jesus Christ is.