VATICAN CITY (CNS): Relying on the power of the Holy Spirit, the Church is called to participate in God’s redemption through the ministry of reconciliation, Pope John Paul II said.
“The presence of the Spirit in the Church is meant for the remission of sins, for the recollection and realisation of the Gospel in (one’s) life, and for an ever greater fulfilment of unity in love,” he said.
Speaking to about 40,000 pilgrims in St Peter’s Square on May 31 during his weekly general audience, the Pope continued a series of talks on the glory of the Trinity by focusing on Pentecost.
Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon Christ’s followers after his ascension into heaven, was the event that “fully revealed” the Trinity, he said, because it involved all three of God’s persons.
God breathed life into humans when he created them and “Christ resurrected communicates another breath of life, the Holy Spirit”, he said.
“Like (Jesus), we must walk according to the Spirit in profound interior liberty: ‘The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control’,” said the Pope, citing St Paul’s letter to the Galatians.
