CathInfo.com

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Beloved in Christ the Lord. On this Sunday of Pentecost, together with the Blessed Mother, together with the apostles, we stand in prayer awaiting the coming of the promised Holy Ghost the Comforter. And we cry out Veni Creator Spiritus, O Creator Spirit come. And we seem to hear a noise from heaven as if a violent gale is coming. We seem to see tongues of fire descending upon the apostles.

And when we think, put before our eyes the scene of Pentecost, when we think about the history of the Church, about how great a power this Holy Ghost gave to the apostles, their successors, when we see how great fruits for 2000 years were produced by those who professed the Catholic faith, who were strengthened by the Holy Ghost, we begin to wonder what happened, whether the Holy Ghost is still working in our time, why we so often get the impression that modern Catholics have lost his sevenfold gifts. They do not possess the gifts of wisdom, reason, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety or the fear of God. This question of ours that may arise today is not at all, my dears, so baseless and senseless. Indeed, it is difficult today to see the Holy Ghost working among those who profess to be Catholics. And the reasons are two.

First, my dear ones, we must realize that since, through the sacrament of Confirmation, the Catholic soul, the baptized soul is strengthened with the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, it is strengthened so that, as a knight, it will stand under the banner of Christ the King and fight for the true God. Since we realize that this sacrament is a source of strength, we should immediately realize how much this very sacrament is hated by the eternal enemy of human nature, the devil. The devil, who is well aware, much better than the whole mass of Catholics, of what power divine grace has, what power is granted to us through the holy sacraments. And it should not surprise us that the devil does what he can to abolish the holy sacraments, to bring them into doubt, to make them invalid.

And this is what happened after the Vatican Council — the rites of the sacrament of Confirmation were devastated. And when we make an analysis, I have already presented it to you more than once, we see that for all four elements necessary for the validity of the sacrament — matter, form, intention and minister — we have very serious doubts. Doubts even bordering on the conviction that this post-conciliar rite is invalid. And this would explain, my dears, why we do not see in the modern world, among modern supposed Catholics, the work of the Holy Ghost. Why do we not see the fruits of those gifts that are given to the soul through the sacrament of Confirmation? Simply put, Catholics have not received these gifts for several decades. They are disarmed, deprived of the power of the Holy Ghost.

Secondly, my dear ones, we must take account of what St. Thomas Aquinas reminds us, namely that the gifts of the Holy Ghost were given to us as an aid to the virtues. What does this mean? It means that the gifts of the Holy Ghost do not replace the virtues. Virtue — the stable disposition, the inclination of the soul to do good — must be worked out, formed by man. With the help of God's grace, this is what we are called to do in our Catholic life: to form in ourselves the virtues, the inclination to do good. But as St. Thomas Aquinas reminds us, the gifts of the Holy Ghost are given as an aid to the virtues. In other words, where a person makes an effort, cooperates with God's grace, desires to conform to our ideal, which is Christ the Lord and the Blessed Mother — there the Holy Ghost helps him, supports him, completes the work that man begins. But the Lord God will not replace our effort. The Lord God will complete what man has begun, what he desires.

And here, my dears, we realize at this point that the mere fact of receiving the sacrament of Confirmation, or partaking of the other sacraments — Confession, Holy Communion — does not automatically mean that these sacraments will produce an abundant harvest in us. Whether that happens, whether we yield a crop and what that crop is, depends on us. It depends on how zealously we use the grace given to us through the sacrament.

And one must say with dismay, when looking at the entire history of the Church, that a whole lot of Catholics — both lay and clergy — despised God's grace, did not cooperate with God's grace, trampled on the gifts that the Lord God gave. And we must, my dears, first and foremost make an examination of conscience about ourselves. To what extent do I cooperate with God's grace? To what extent do I, a soul strengthened through the sacrament of Confirmation, realize what grace I have received and what burden of responsibility I bear?

My dear ones, unfortunately among Catholics, including Catholics of the tradition, there is no shortage of souls who are outwardly pious, outwardly Catholic. And let me draw your attention to the fact that the Holy Ghost is referred to by the Lord Jesus Himself as the Paraclete — a term that could mean advocate, someone who comes to help, who guides, who supports in a difficult situation, who comforts. The Spirit of consolation. In the Book of Isaiah, the Lord God says: "A bruised reed I will not break." The Holy Ghost comes to lead man to the truth, to lift man up, to strengthen man. This is the work of the Holy Ghost. Consolation and strengthening — not crushing, not humiliation, not trampling down. The Holy Ghost comes to comfort, to uphold man in hardships and doubts.

And now let us look, my dears, at how it is among us — Catholics, laity and clergy alike. Are we truly instruments of the Holy Ghost the Comforter? Do we strive in our lives to heal this bruised reed? Do we strive to advise the doubting well, to comfort the afflicted? Are we, Catholics of the tradition living in the 21st century, comforters — or are we rather malicious persons, oppressors, haters?

Because when one looks at it, my dears, there is no shortage of those who fold their hands piously, who pray before a statue, but who have the devil under their skin. There are many such, my dears, unfortunately among Catholics — those who are quite happy to break that bruised reed completely under the guise of piety. There are many who will say: "I have been in the tradition for many years, I know everything best. I will instruct everyone." There are many, my dears, who are not comforters but destroyers.

Catholicism, my dears, ought to form in us the attitude of the comforter — one who sustains, who guides, who helps the fallen soul to rise. And we must ask ourselves: to what extent is there in me a readiness to be a comforter? Or perhaps I am a person who is simply deeply unhappy, filled with anger, malice, hatred of God and of other people, which I simply hide behind a mask of pseudo-piety, pseudo-Catholicism. Perhaps, my dear ones, this anger and malice overflow from me — perhaps I desire to flood the whole world with this anger and malice — though I do so as one supposedly concerned for souls and for the Church.

There is no shortage, my dear ones, of such unfortunates among today's Catholics — unfortunates who are not comforters, who do not lead the strayed sheep into Christ's fold, but on the contrary become a source of ruin, a source of collapse, a source of loss of faith. And it is necessary for us, my dear ones, to speak about this, especially in these times in which we are called to live. We hear in today's Gospel: "The prince of this world is coming." And in these very times, in difficult times, in times of crisis, it is necessary, my beloved, that there be no shortage in the Church of those who will live truly by the Holy Ghost, who will be comforters.

And this, my dear ones, is what we must fervently ask for today. Recalling the day on which we received the sacrament of Confirmation, recalling the day on which we were strengthened with the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, we must ask that we, my beloved, may become instruments of God's grace toward our neighbors — that we, my dears, may never become the cause of the collapse or ruin of our brothers in the faith, but rather that we sustain those who are weak, who have various doubts, and not crush them with our person, our theories, our hatred.

Dear faithful, as we rejoice today together with the entire Holy Church at the descent of the Holy Ghost, we ought to desire nothing so much as to see as many souls as possible on the road leading to where our Savior is seated at the right hand of the Father. We must pray fervently for all those who are still wandering in the darkness of modern paganism and atheistic materialism, that they may not harden their hearts against the action of the Holy Ghost the Comforter, who does not cease to call every man and draw him toward the true God.

It is necessary for us, my dear ones, to pray fervently also for all those in whose souls the flame of divine life was kindled, who were baptized, who partook of the holy sacraments, but in whose hearts that flame of divine life has been extinguished — who have sunk into godlessness, into sin. We must earnestly beseech that they may not reject the saving inspirations that come from the Holy Ghost, that as swiftly as possible, as prodigal sons, they may return to the Father who is in heaven, and that they may not perish from misery and hunger.

It is necessary for us, my dear ones, to pray fervently for all those who, despite difficulties, persevere under the banner of Christ the King, under the banner of the Cross of Christ — that we may not forget that we are obliged to cooperate with God's grace. With God's grace that has the power to transform us, to sanctify us. Let us make use of those gifts with which the Holy Ghost has blessed us through the sacrament of holy Confirmation, and with courage let us bear witness by our deeds and words to the great works of God.

Come Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of thy faithful and kindle in them the fire of thy love. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. May Jesus Christ be praised.