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By Jack Flanagan

Cyril of Jerusalem had many wonderful things to tell the early Church about the Holy Spirit.  Here is a sampling:

• The Spirit comes gently and makes himself known by his fragrance.  He is not felt as a burden for he is light, very light.
• The Spirit comes with the tenderness of a true friend and protector to save, to heal, to teach, to counsel, to strengthen, to console.
• The Spirit comes to enlighten the mind first of the one who receives Him and then, through Him, the minds of others as well.
• The Spirit comes to make one man a teacher of divine truth, inspire another to prophesy, give another the power to cast out devils, enable another to interpret the Holy Scriptures.
• The Spirit comes to strengthen one man’s self-control, show another how to help the poor, teach another to fast and to lead a life of asceticism, make another oblivious to the needs of the body, train another for martyrdom. His action is different in different people, but the Spirit himself is always the same.
• The Spirit comes, according to St. Cyril, as a light that “floods the soul of the man counted worthy of receiving the Holy Spirit and enables him to see things beyond the range of human vision, things hitherto undreamed of.”

Thanks be to God for the marvelous gift of the Holy Spirit! I share these words that we might deeply desire more of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Let’s humbly ask for more of the Spirit’s transforming action  Let’s begin now, inviting the Spirit to flood our hearts and minds, the Church and the whole world, so that all may be made new in God’s life and love.