Spiritus Domini replevit orbem terrarum.
There is no place on earth where the Holy Ghost is not present. There is no place so high that He cannot go there; no place so low that He cannot penetrate it; no place so vast that He cannot fill it:
no place so remote that He is not present there.
Where can I go, then, to take refuge from thy spirit, to hide from thy view? If I should climb up to heaven, thou art there; if I sink down to the world beneath, thou art present still.
If I could wing my way eastwards, or find a dwelling beyond the western sea, still would I find thee beckoning to me, thy right hand upholding me.
Or perhaps I would think to bury myself in darkness; night should surround me, friendlier than day; but no, darkness is no hiding-place from thee, with thee the night shines clear as day itself; light and dark are one. (Psalm 138: 7–12)
Wheresoever the Holy Ghost is present, there He acts:
—holding all things in being;
—hearing every utterance on the planet, every whispered secret, every prayer;
—seeing every tear that falls, and every drop of blood that is shed;
—bringing order out of chaos, communion out of all that is scattered, life out of death;
—shining in the hearts of those whom He visits, dispelling darkness, revealing the splendour of every colour, the music in every sound, the fragrance carried on every breeze, lifting all things into a divine doxology.
The Holy Ghost impels apostles and missionaries in every age;
He is the invincible faith of the martyrs;
the shining light of doctors;
the incandescent purity of virgins;
the joy of monks;
the abiding friend of solitaries;
the consoler of the bereaved.
The Holy Ghost is a father to the destitute;
a storehouse of infinite resources for the penniless;the uncreated Light all ablaze where no created light shines.
The Holy Ghost is the best of consolers;
the most reliable of friends;
the most faithful of advocates.
If you are weary, the Holy Ghost is your refreshment and repose;
if you are wavering, the Holy Ghost is your stability;
if you are fearful, the Holy Ghost is your courage;
if you are vulnerable; the Holy Ghost is your defender and your shield.
If you are empty, the Holy Ghost is your fulness;
if you are thirsty, the Holy Ghost is living water, an inexhaustible stream;
if your are wounded, the Holy Ghost is your healing balm;
if you are guilty, the Holy Ghost is your innocence.
If you are unbending; the Holy Ghost will make you supple;
if you are twisted, the Holy Ghost will straighten all that is crooked in you;
if you are earth–bound, the Holy Ghost will lift your mind and heart to heaven;
if you are cold, the Holy Ghost is your blazing hearth.
If you are ignorant, the Holy Ghost is your wisdom;
if you are complicated, the Holy Ghost is your simplicity;
if you are confused, the Holy Ghost is your clarity;
if you are soiled, the Holy Ghost is your cleanness.
The Holy Ghost is sent to befriend us. He is sent to abide with us, not after the manner of the advocate who merely stands at his client’s side to plead his cause, but in a way more wondrous and more efficacious, by a secret indwelling that only faith perceives.
Call upon the Holy Ghost, and you will never forget Christ.
Call upon the Holy Ghost, and He will fill your eyes with the face of Christ,
and your ears with the sound of His voice.
Call upon the Holy Ghost, and He will touch your palate with the sweetness of Christ.
Call upon the Holy Ghost and He will cause you to inhale the fragrance of Christ and to exhale it in all your comings and goings.
Call upon the Holy Ghost, and He will fill you with the prayer of Christ, beloved Son and Eternal High Priest.
Today is the birthday of the Church;
the Church that, hidden with the Virgin in Nazareth, listened as only one immaculately conceived can listen;
the Church overshadowed by the Holy Ghost;
the Church that, all eyes on Calvary, contemplated the pierced side, and the water and the blood;
the Church crowned with a multitude of dancing flames of fire
and pressed out of the Cenacle as a child from its mother’s womb
to carry her fire to souls of every tongue, and tribe, and people, and nation;
the Church all lost in adoration before the mystery of the Lamb present in the sacrifice of all her altars;
the Church stretching outward and upward in an unspeakable longing for the Bridegroom who is already all hers, and who is to come.
The week that opens before us — the glorious Octave of Pentecost — will be a space of incalculable richness, of mysterious visitations, of grace upon grace, of light within light, of inextinguishable fire. Already, today, all is given. Receive, then. Receive unconditionally. Place no limits on the munificence of God, for the Spirit of the Lord fills the whole world.
Spiritus Domini replevit orbem terrarum.
