Pope Francis on May 26, 2019, recalled the promise of Jesus to the Apostles during the last supper that they would not be alone. As described in the Gospel of John: “The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26)
The Holy Father’s comments came before praying the midday Regina Coeli with the large crowds of pilgrims in a rain-soaked St. Peter’s Square.
“As the moment of the cross draws near, Jesus reassures the Apostles that they will not remain alone: the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, will always be with them, who will sustain them in the mission to take the Gospel to the whole world,” the Pope said. “In the course of His earthly life, Jesus transmitted all that He wished to entrust to the Apostles: He brought the divine Revelation to fulfillment, namely, all that the Father willed to say to humanity with the Incarnation of the Son. The task of the Holy Spirit is to make one remember, namely, to understand fully and to induce one to carry out concretely Jesus’ teachings.”
The Holy Father continued by stressing the role of the Holy Spirit in the mission of the Church. The Holy Spirit, he explained, is constantly present to remind Christians of what Jesus taught and to understand His words.
“The task of the Holy Spirit is to make one remember, namely, to understand fully and to induce one to carry out concretely Jesus’ teachings,” Francis said. “And this is, in fact, the mission of the Church, she does so through a precise style of life, characterized by some exigencies: faith in the Lord and observance of His Word; docility to the action of the Holy Spirit, who renders the risen Lord continually alive and present; the reception of His peace and the witness of it in an attitude of openness and of encounter with the other.
“To realize all this, the Church cannot remain static but, with the participation of each of the baptized, she is called to act as a community on the way, encouraged and supported by the light and the strength of the Holy Spirit, who makes all things new. It’s about being freed from worldly ties, represented by our views, by our strategies, by our objectives, which often weigh down the journey of faith, and putting ourselves in docile listening to the Word of the Lord. Thus, it’s the Spirit of God that guides us and guides the Church, so that her authentic, beautiful and luminous face shines, as willed by Christ.”
