Presence of God

O Holy Spirit, inspire my actions, direct my activity.

Meditation

I. An interior soul gradually arrives at the point where its whole life—prayer as well as activities—is under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Himself has told us that He would teach us all things and bring all things to our minds (cf. Jo. 14, 26). Let us first consider the activity which is so closely connected with the spiritual life and which consists in trying to carry out, in the course of the day, the prayerful resolutions made daily and also during our annual retreats, our monthly days of recollection, and our weekly confessions. Sometimes we make this an almost exclusively moral work, and not sufficiently a theological one; that is, we try to correct our faults and practice the virtues with the intention of pleasing God, while remaining, as it were, aloof from Him. We labor alone, almost forgetting that there is Someone within us who cannot only help us, but can do the work better than we can. Our activity resembles that of a sailor who is so busy rowing that he pays no attention to the direction of the wind, and thus receives no help from it. Certainly personal efforts are not to be neglected, but they should be expended in a more interior manner, that is, in a theological way, depending more upon God and the action of the Holy Spirit. Rather than aim directly at correcting a fault or acquiring a virtue, it would be much more prof itable for us to maintain a continual dependence on the interior Teacher, and to act only after listening to His intimate, silent voice. In short, it is a question of acting always in conformity with the interior movement of grace, with the inspirations of the Holy Spirit; thus we transfer the reins of our interior life from our hands to His, entrusting it completely to His direction.

II. In our relations with others, in the performance of our daily duties, in our professional activity, as well as in our apostolic work, we should let ourselves be guided by the Holy Spirit. He should direct all our actions. In order that He may do so, we must first of all maintain a continual contact with Him, even in the midst of activity. It will help us to pause for a few moments, from time to time, to strengthen this contact, or to re-establish it, when excessive activity or the movements of our passions have interrupted it in one way or another. I do nothing of Myself, Jesus said, but as the Father hath taught Me, these things I speak (Jn 8,28). This was the norm of the conduct of Jesus, and it should also be ours : to act with continual dependence on God, who will suggest to us, through His Spirit, everything we should do. In this respect, however, it is very necessary to know how to distinguish the inspirations of the Holy Spirit from the movements of nature and the suggestions of the evil spirit. Without this prudent discretion, we may easily expose ourselves to illusions and errors, taking for divine inspiration what is, on the contrary, the result of the more or less unconscious impulses of our defective nature, of our passions.

A practical, easy way to recognize true inspirations of the Holy Spirit is to see if they maintain us, or rather, make us enter ever more fully into the plan of God’s will, in accordance with the commands of our superiors, the rules to which we are subject, and the duties of our state in life; or if, on the contrary, they make us leave, or even only sidestep this course. In the latter case, there would be reason to fear, for the Holy Spirit can urge us only to the accomplishment of God’s will. Anything contrary to obedience and our duties cannot be inspired by Him. In doubtful cases, we should seek the advice of an enlightened, prudent person and then, if we are really being led by the Holy Spirit, we will follow that person’s opinion with docility, even if it is contrary to our own.

The Holy Spirit, said Jesus, shall abide with you and shall be in you (Jo. 14, 17); what unpardonable folly it would be to act independently of Him who has been given us to be our guide, our sanctifier!

Colloquy

O Holy Spirit, You are the dispenser of the treasures contained in the Father’s bosom; You are the treasurer of the counsels of the Father and the Word. You show us what we should do in order to please the Trinity : You teach us in the intimacy of our hearts by Your inspirations, and exteriorly in our lives by the preaching and advice of Your ministers. The gates of heaven are always open so that grace may come down to us, but we do not open our hearts to receive it. Oh! send down this grace, O eternal Father, send it down, O most pure Word, since You deign to send Your loving Spirit, the Spirit of goodness. O Holy Spirit, how generous You are to us and blessed are they who welcome You! You bring us the Father’s power, the ardent love of the Word! (cf. St. Mary Magdalen dei Pazzi).

O Lord, show me the path I must follow to reach You, teach me to do Your will, and let Your Spirit guide me on the right path. Create in me, O God, a clean heart, and infuse into me Your Spirit, the Spirit of uprightness and of truth. O my God, let me not depart from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me, for without Him I should be deprived of life and grace. Sustain me, O God, by Your magnanimous Spirit, without whom I can do nothing (cf. Ps. 142, 50).

O Holy Spirit, Spirit of truth, You who speak to souls and instruct them interiorly, make me attentive to Your teaching and docile to Your inspiration.