The Church has experienced a marvelous “missionary journey” in the Vatican II era. The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), the most significant religious event of the twentieth century, sought the renewal, the aggiornamento, of the Church in all its dimensions. In the “Vatican II era” four Church documents emerge as milestones for appreciating a contemporary view of missionary evangelization: Ad Gentes (Vatican II, 1965), Evangelii Nuntiandi (Paul VI, 1975), Redemptoris Missio (John Paul II, 1990), and Evangelii Gaudium (Pope Francis, 2013).
Ad Gentes is the “mission document” of Vatican II, [AG] (“To the Nations”). One notes that this is the first time in the history of the Church that “the missions” were treated specifically by an Ecumenical Council. Commentators often highlight the breakthrough achieved by the Council on foundational doctrinal principles of the Church’s mission. Ad Gentes asserts that the mission of the Church is modeled on the Missio Dei, the divine missions of our Trinitarian God. “The pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature” (2).
Mission is not something that the Church “does”; mission fundamentally is what the Church “is”; mission is the core identity of the Church. Ad Gentes further asserts: “This decree flows from the “fount-like love” or charity of God…” (2). God is described in the original Latin text as fontalis amor (fountain-like love or fountain of love). Mission is thus an epiphany of our God; whose very identity is love. Ad Gentes asserts that the task of mission is shared by all the baptized: priests, deacons, religious, and laity—each “according to their own state” (26).
Evangelii Nuntiandi was authored by Pope Paul VI (1963-1978) who was canonized on October 14, 2018. He will always be remembered as a modern missionary pope; he made missionary journeys to all continents. Evangelii Nuntiandi is the most quoted document in Pope Francis’ 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium. Saint Paul VI notes that his words are designed to be a “meditation on evangelization” (5); the theme of meditation appears often throughout EN (cf. 40, 76).
Another pivotal theme centers on fidelity, a double fidelity—to God’s message and to people (cf. 4, 39, 63). This fidelity is “the central axis of evangelization” (4). The understanding of the term “evangelization” found in EN reflects a comprehensive and inclusive view, often termed integral evangelization. Paul VI speaks: “evangelizing means bringing the Good News into all the strata of humanity” (18); he is the first pope to call Mary, the “Star of Evangelization” (82).
Redemptoris Missio by Saint John Paul II was issued on December 7, 1990 (the 25th anniversary of Vatican II’s Ad Gentes). John Paul II begins by stating his conviction about “the urgency of missionary activity, a subject to which I am devoting the present Encyclical” (1). The focus of John Paul II is direct and clear: “I wish to invite the Church to renew her missionary commitment” (2). All are invited to participate: “Peoples everywhere, open the doors to Christ!” (3).
Mission is “the greatest and holiest duty of the Church” (63). Missionary dynamism should become contagious! Local Churches are the central actors in mission today—no longer the duty of missionary societies. Significant and surprising is the fact that one unique quote appears verbatim no less than three times in the text (6, 10, 28). “We are obliged to hold that the Holy Spirit offers everyone the possibility of sharing in the Paschal Mystery in a manner known to God.” God’s loving plan of salvation includes each and every person! “Modern people listen more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if they do listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses” (EN 41; RM 42).
Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel) is Pope Francis’ first apostolic exhortation (2013). Francis is proposing a profound missionary renewal of the entire Church. Francis asserts that we need an “evangelizing Church that comes out of herself,” not a Church that is “self-referential” and “lives within herself, of herself, for herself.” “I dream of a ‘missionary option,’ that is, a missionary impulse capable of transforming everything…. All renewal in the Church must have mission as its goal if it is not to fall prey to a kind of ecclesial introversion” (27).
“Missionary outreach is paradigmatic for all the Church’s activity… (15). Let us be ‘permanently in a state of mission’” (25). Pope Francis’ convictions come from his deep personal relationship with Christ. “I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ…. I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day” (3). A pivotal insight of Pope Francis is that “we are all missionary disciples” (119); through baptism, “all … have become missionary disciples” (120). “We no longer say that we are ‘disciples’ and ‘missionaries,’ but rather that we are always ‘missionary disciples’” (120).
For Pope Francis, salvation history is a “great stream of joy” (5) which we must also enter. Unfortunately, “there are Christians whose lives seem like Lent without Easter” (6). “An evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral” (10). We must not become “querulous and disillusioned pessimists, ‘sourpusses’” (85). “Challenges exist to be overcome! Let us be realists, but without losing our joy, our boldness and our hope-filled commitment. Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of missionary vigor” (109).
Holy Spirit and Missionary Activity
One could easily present an extensive panorama covering the growing awareness of the action of the Holy Spirit in the Church’s mission in the Vatican II era; however, our journey will only make two brief stops at significant moments and then proceed to explore the insights of Pope Francis at greater length.
Evangelii Nuntiandi (EN) emerged from the 1974 world-wide synod on evangelization. Paul VI was designated to compose the final document from the synod. It is dated December 8, 1975, the tenth anniversary of the close of Vatican Council II. Section 75, entitled “Under the Action of the Holy Spirit,” has seven full paragraphs devoted to the Spirit. A few significant direct quotes are given here. “Evangelization will never be possible without the action of the Holy Spirit.” “It is the Holy Spirit who, today just as at the beginning of the Church, acts in every evangelizer who allows oneself to be possessed and led by him.”
“Techniques of evangelization are good, but even the most advanced ones could not replace the gentle action of the Spirit.” “We live in the Church at a privileged moment of the Spirit.” “It must be said that the Holy Spirit is the principal agent of evangelization.” “Through the Holy Spirit the Gospel penetrates to the heart of the world, for it is he who causes people to discern the signs of the times—signs willed by God—which evangelization reveals and puts to use within history.”
Redemptoris Missio (RM) devotes an entire chapter to the Holy Spirit; chapter three bears the title: “The Holy Spirit, the Principal Agent of Mission.” “The Holy Spirit is indeed the principal agent of the whole of the Church’s mission. His action is preeminent in the mission ad gentes” (RM 21). “The mission of the Church, like that of Jesus, is God’s work or, as Luke often puts it, the work of the Spirit…. The coming of the Holy Spirit makes them [apostles] witnesses and prophets…. The Spirit gives them the ability to bear witness to Jesus with ‘boldness’” (RM 24).
“Even before activity, mission means witness and a way of life that shines out to others” (RM 26). “We are obliged to hold that the Holy Spirit offers everyone the possibility of sharing in the Paschal Mystery in a manner known to God…. The Spirit’s presence and activity affect not only individuals but also society and history, peoples, cultures and religions” (RM 28). “Whatever the Spirit brings about in human hearts and in the history of peoples, in cultures and religions serves as a preparation for the Gospel” (RM 29). “Today all Christians … are called to have the same courage that inspired the missionaries of the past, and the same readiness to listen to the voice of the Spirit” (RM 30).
Pope Francis has spoken frequently on the role of the Holy Spirit in the missionary Church (Pentecost Sunday homilies, audiences, ordinations, confirmations, etc.). Early in his ministry (April-June 2014) he presented a seven-part catechesis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit; this panorama provides a convenient structure to present Francis’ rich insights. In addition, one notes that concrete mission experience continually relies on these seven Spirit-inspired gifts for a fruitful ministry. In short, this presentation seeks to fashion the numerous insights of Francis’ decade-long ministry (2013-2023) into a holistic “missionary pneumatology.”
Beginning his catechesis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit (4-9-14), Francis notes: “You know that the Holy Spirit constitutes the soul, the life-blood of the Church and of every individual Christian: He is the Love of God who makes of our hearts his dwelling place and enters into communion with us. The Holy Spirit abides with us always, he is always within us, in our hearts. The Spirit himself is ‘the gift of God’ par excellence (cf. Jn 4:10), he is a gift of God, and he in turn communicates various spiritual gifts to those who receive him…. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord.”
One may look to various scripture passages to find material about various spiritual gifts. In Isaiah 11:1-2 one reads: “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.” In First Corinthians 12:8-10, Paul lists various gifts of the Spirit that are given diversely to different people. In Ephesians 4:7-13 numerous gifts are mentioned; specifically, “the gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ” (4:11-12). These various gifts been abundantly verified in our missionary communities!
Wisdom. This first gift of the Spirit, as noted by Francis (4-9-14), “is not simply human wisdom, which is the fruit of knowledge and experience…. Wisdom is precisely this: it is the grace of being able to see everything with the eyes of God. It is simply this: it is to see the world, to see situations, circumstances, problems, everything through God’s eyes…. Obviously, this comes from intimacy with God…. And when we have this relationship, the Holy Spirit endows us with the gift of wisdom. When we are in communion with the Lord, the Holy Spirit transfigures our heart and enables it to perceive all of his warmth and predilection.”
“The Holy Spirit thus makes the Christian [missionary] ‘wise.’ Not in the sense that he has an answer for everything, that he knows everything, but in the sense that he ‘knows’ about God; he knows how God acts. He knows when something is of God and when it is not of God; he has this wisdom which God places in our hearts. The heart of the wise person in this sense has a taste and savor for God…. And, this is something that we cannot invent, that we cannot obtain by ourselves; it is a gift that God gives to those who make themselves docile to the Holy Spirit.”
In his 2019 Pentecost homily, Francis further emphasizes that the “wise” person in harmony with the Spirit adopts God’s “way of seeing things.” Then, “everything changes: with the Spirit, the Church is the holy People of God, mission is not proselytism but the spread of joy, as others become our brothers and sisters, all loved by the same Father. Without the Spirit, though, the Church becomes an organization, her mission becomes propaganda, her communion an exertion.” Francis quotes Saint Pope Paul VI: “The Spirit is the first and last need of the Church” (11-29-72).
We implore Mary as the “Seat of Wisdom” (Sedes Sapientiae) to intercede for us so that in our mission we can see with God’s eyes, feel with God’s heart, and speak with God’s words.
This is true wisdom. We recall the words of Saint James (3:17): “The wisdom that comes down from above is essentially something pure; it makes for peace, and is kindly and considerate; it is full of compassion and shows itself by doing good; nor is there any trace of partiality or hypocrisy in it.” We all struggle to be “wise” missionaries!
Understanding. Here we are not focusing on human understanding or intellectual prowess (our struggle with diverse languages, cultures, and pastoral situations has shown us our limited human understanding and comprehension). We can never comprehend all things or have full knowledge of God’s designs. Understanding as a gift of the Spirit enables us to understand things as God understands them. At the last supper Jesus promises his disciples the gift of the Spirit of truth (Jn 16:13), so they will be able to “understand” the complete truth. Jesus asks his Father to “Consecrate them [disciples] in the truth; your word is truth” (Jn 17:17). Genuine understanding emerges as we seek intimacy with God and appreciate his loving plan for us.
The gift of understanding is closely connected with faith. Saint Augustine of Hippo in his Confessions has noted: “Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore, seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.” We can also recall that the theological approach fostered by Augustine and Anselm of Canterbury centered on fides quaerens intellectum (faith seeking understanding). Pope Francis writes: “When the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts and enlightens our minds, he makes us grow day by day in the understanding of what the Lord has said and accomplished” (4-30-14).
There is an episode in the Gospel of Luke (24:13-35) that helps us appreciate true understanding. The Emmaus narrative recounts the faith-journey of two disciples. They are totally overwhelmed by the events of Jesus’ death and burial. Common sense tells them to leave Jerusalem and return home to their village. Overcome by sadness and despair, they are joined by Jesus, whom they do not recognize. When this stranger explains the Scripture that the messiah had to suffer and so to rise again, their minds are slowly opened and hope is rekindled in their hearts. Pope Francis notes: “This is what the Holy Spirit does with us: he opens our minds, he opens us to understand better, to understand better the things of God, human things, situations, all things” (4-30-14).
This gift of understanding is important in missionary and pastoral situations and in all of Christian life. How often our “understanding” only comes through years and decades of mission experience! As evangelizers tell their stories (joyful, tragic, humorous, personal, communitarian, successful, disappointing, etc.), understanding grows—all under the inspiration of the Spirit. We sincerely ask “faith-understanding” as a gift from the Spirit, to appreciate all things that happen to us as God understands them! As disciples, we are making our contemporary Emmaus journey.
Counsel. Another generous gift of the Spirit is counsel. Psalm 16:7 notes: “I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also, my heart instructs me.” This gift makes us sensitive to the Spirit’s voice, guiding our thoughts, our feelings, and our intentions according to the heart of God. Counsel nurtures our interior sensitivity to our conscience; in addition, it aids us in taking the correct action with the right intention. Francis notes that this Spirit-given gift “leads us more and more to turn our interior gaze to Jesus as the model of our way of acting and relating to God the Father and with our brethren”; in short, we seek to make choices in our mission “according to the logic of Jesus and his Gospel” (5-7-14).
Pope Francis asserts that “the essential condition for preserving this gift is prayer.” Our prayer can be simple: “Lord, help me, give me counsel, what must I do now?” Personally, I have prayed thousands of times in diverse situations: “Come, Holy Spirit.” What is happening here? Simply, we are making room so that the Spirit may come and help us in the present moment. In seeking the Spirit’s gift of counsel, little by little we are putting aside our own way of thinking, our own ambitions, even our own prejudices. We are humbly asking: “Lord, what is your desire, your will, your pleasure?” “How can I best serve the persons in this current situation”?
We can take consolation from Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:19-20: “Do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but the spirit of your Father speaking through you.” Certainly, this is true; yet, we remind ourselves that we need to make room for the Spirit to counsel us through silence, prayer, meditation, the Eucharist, scripture-reading.
Yes, the Spirit does speak through us in our mission work. All of us have heard someone say: “Father, your words were so helpful to me; heartfelt thanks”! “Your homily last Sunday really touched my heart”! And, we are left wondering: “What did I say or do”? Such situations confirm Jesus’ words that it really is the Spirit of our Father speaking at that moment. Also, we do well to occasionally recall the narrative of Balaam and his donkey (Numbers 22:21-39)!
Fortitude. Having reflected on the Spirit’s gifts of wisdom, understanding, and counsel, we now consider what the Lord does for us to sustain us in our weakness; he gives us his gift of fortitude. This gift is manifested continuously throughout life—both in ordinary and extraordinary circumstances. We are meant to be strong every day of our lives, as parents, teachers, laborers, health-care workers, technicians, etc. We seek to carry forward faithfully with our lives in our humdrum—even monotonous—daily routine. We appreciate Saint Paul’s words: “I can do all things in him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13). If we are tempted to lose heart, to question if our efforts are worthwhile, to give in to laziness or discouragement, we can invoke the Holy Spirit to make us strong in following Jesus with renewed strength and enthusiasm.
Inevitably, difficult moments and extreme situations arise; here the gift of fortitude can manifest itself in an extraordinary, exemplary way. As Francis notes, we think of “those who are facing particularly harsh and painful situations that disrupt their lives and those of their loved ones…. The Church shines with the testimony of so many brothers and sisters who have not hesitated to give their very lives in order to remain faithful to the Lord and his Gospel. Even today there is no shortage of Christians who in many parts of the world continue to celebrate and bear witness to their faith with deep conviction and serenity, and persist even when they know that this may involve them paying a higher price” (5-14-14).
Francis continues: “We too, all of us, know people who have experienced difficult situations and great suffering. Let us think of those men and women who have a difficult life, who fight to feed their family, to educate their children; they do all of this because the spirit of fortitude is helping them…. These brothers and sisters of ours are saints, everyday saints, hidden saints among us; the gift of fortitude is what enables them to carry on with their duties as individuals, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, citizens…. It will benefit us to think about these people; if they do all of this, if they can do it, why can’t I? And, it will also do us good to ask the Lord to give us the gift of fortitude” (5-14-14).
We can recall some examples of fortitude from Scripture; Francis cites: “Noah, mocked by all, builds an ark and is saved; Abram leaves his land with only a promise in hand; Moses stands up to the might of Pharaoh and leads his people to freedom; the apostles, huddled fearfully in the upper room, go forth with courage to proclaim the Gospel” (5-19-13). “This gift [fortitude] must constitute the tenor of our Christian life, in the ordinary daily routine…. We need to be strong every day of our lives…. When we face daily life, when difficulties arise, let us remember this: ‘I can do all things in him who strengthens me’ [Phil 4:13]” (4-14-14).
Knowledge. When we hear the word “knowledge” almost immediately we think about our human capacity to learn about the reality that surrounds us, about the laws that regulate nature and the universe, about the academic information we learn in school or through reading. However, the knowledge that comes from the Holy Spirit is not limited to human knowledge. Rather, as Pope Francis notes, “it is a special gift, which leads us to grasp, through creation, the greatness and love of God and his profound relationship with every creature. When our eyes are illumined by the Spirit, they open to contemplate God, in the beauty of nature and in the grandeur of the cosmos, and they lead us to discover how everything speaks to us about him and his love” (5-21-14).
The first chapter of Genesis emphasizes that God is pleased with his creation; it stresses the beauty and goodness of everything. At the end of each day, God saw that it was good (Gen 1:12, 18, 21, 25). The Spirit’s gift of knowledge allows us to see this beauty, appreciate it, and thank and praise God for it. Then, at the end of creation God fashions humanity, the most beautiful thing; God saw that humans, man and woman, were “very good” (v. 31). This “Spirit-given” treasure of knowledge, Francis notes, “sets us in profound harmony with the Creator and allows us to participate in the clarity of his vision and his judgement…. We accept man and woman as the summit of creation, as the fulfillment of a plan of love that is impressed in each one of us and that allows us to recognize one another as brothers and sisters” (5-21-14).
Francis asserts that this knowledge “is a source of serenity and peace and makes the Christian a joyful witness of God, in the footsteps of Saint Francis of Assisi and so many saints who knew how to praise and laud his love through the contemplation of creation” (5-21-14). Such “contemplative knowledge” helps to avoid thinking that creation is a personal possession or the property of some few individuals. Rather, creation is a gift given by the Lord; it cannot be destroyed or exploited. All creation is a marvelous sign of God’s love!
Knowledge and experience lead to memory, to the “knowledge of the heart, which is a gift of the Spirit. May the Holy Spirit rekindle the Christian memory within all of us.” Mary can validly be called “our Lady of Memory, who from the beginning meditated on all things in her heart” (cf. Lk 2:19, 51). Francis prays: “May she help us on this path of memory” (8-8-14).
Piety. Pope Francis begins his catechesis on piety by noting that this gift of the Spirit “often becomes misconstrued or treated superficially.” This gift “is not to be identified with having compassion for someone, feeling pity on one’s neighbor.” He goes on to assert that as Christians we must avoid “pietism.” Why? “Because some think that to be pious is to close one’s eyes, to pose like a picture, and pretend to be a saint. In Piedmont we say: to play the mugna quacia [literally: the pious or serene nun]. This is not the gift of piety” (6-4-14).
Piety “indicates our belonging to God and our profound relationship with Him, a bond that gives meaning to our life and keeps us sound, in communion with Him, even during the most difficult and tormenting moments…. It is a relationship lived with the heart; it is our friendship with God, granted to us by Jesus, a friendship that changes our life and fills us with passion, with joy…. When the Holy Spirit allows us to perceive the presence of the Lord and all his love for us, it warms the heart and moves us quite naturally to prayer and contemplation. Piety, therefore, is synonymous with the genuine religious spirit, with filial trust in God, with that capacity to pray to him with the love and simplicity that belongs to those who are humble of heart” (6-4-14).
Once we have an intimate relationship with the Lord, we are able to pass this love on to others, recognizing them as our brothers and sisters. This gift of piety means “to be truly capable of rejoicing with those who rejoice, of weeping with those who weep, of being close to those who are lonely or in anguish, of correcting those in error, of consoling the afflicted, of welcoming and helping those in need. The gift of piety is closely tied to gentleness. The gift of piety which the Holy Spirit gives us makes us gentle, makes us calm, patient, at peace with God, at the service of others with gentleness” (6-4-14). Indeed, Francis’ words are a marvelous character description of an authentic evangelizer! Pope Francis, in his 2017 Pentecost homily, noted that “the Holy Spirit is the fire of love burning in the Church and in our hearts.” He concluded his reflection with a short prayer: “Spirit of God, Lord, who dwell in my heart and in the heart of the Church, guiding and shaping her in diversity, come! Like water, we need you to live. Come down upon us anew, teach us unity, renew our hearts and teach us to love as you love us, to forgive as you forgive us. Amen.”
Fear of the Lord. We come to the seventh gift of the Spirit: Fear of the Lord. Francis explains that this “does not mean being afraid of God;
we know well that God is Father, that he loves us and wants our salvation, and he always forgives, always…. Fear of the Lord, instead, is the gift of the Holy Spirit through whom we are reminded of how small we are before God and of his love and that our good lies in humble, respectful and trusting self-abandonment into his hands…. It is precisely in experiencing our own limitations and our poverty, however, that the Holy Spirit comforts us and lets us perceive that the only important thing is to allow ourselves to be led by Jesus into the Father’s arms” (6-11-14).
Why do we need this gift of the Holy Spirit so much? Francis clarifies: “Fear of the Lord allows us to be aware that everything comes from grace…. This is what the Holy Spirit does through the gift of fear of the Lord: he opens hearts. The heart opens so that forgiveness, mercy, goodness and the caress of the Father may come to us, for as children we are infinitely loved…. Then we are led to follow the Lord with humility, docility and obedience…. Fear of the Lord, therefore, does not make us Christians who are shy and submissive, but stirs in us courage and strength” (6-11-14).
This same fear of the Lord, according to Francis, is an “alarm” against a hard, sinful heart. Francis provides several examples. When one lives “only for money, for vanity, or power, or pride, then the holy fear of God sends us a warning: be careful! With all this power, with all this money, with all your pride, with all your vanity, you will not be happy.” Francis warns people in authority not be become corrupt. He challenges those who “live off human trafficking or slave labor,” asserting that they do not have “love for God in their hearts.” He upbraids “those who manufacture weapons for fomenting wars…. These people manufacture death; they are merchants of death and they make death into a piece of merchandise” (6-11-14). Francis prays for their genuine conversion, that the fear of the Lord will open their hard hearts.
In his 2018 Pentecost homily, Francis notes that “the Spirit frees hearts chained by fear.” What does it mean to change hearts? God does not magically change one’s concrete situation; the weight of life’s problems and challenges remains. What God’s transforming Spirit does is to liberate the heart, so that with inner strength one can realistically face actual difficulties. “Particularly when we are downcast, wearied by life’s burdens, oppressed by our own weakness, at those times when it is hard to keep going and loving seems impossible, in those moments, we need a powerful ‘jolt’ of the Holy Spirit, the power of God…. How good it would be for us each day to feel this jolt of life”! Indeed, authentic fear of the Lord opens us to receive again and again the “jolts” coming from the Holy Spirit!
Conclusion. Our reflection on the gifts of the Spirit and mission cannot be easily summarized! Personally, I appreciate two marvelous poetic descriptions of the Holy Spirit’s action. One is the sequence of Pentecost Sunday; the other is from Patriarch Athenagoras who has given us a marvelously succinct expression to the special role of the Holy Spirit in salvation, spirituality, and missionary evangelization in most felicitous terms:
WITHOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT:
– God is far way,
– Christ stays in the past,
– the Gospel is a dead letter,
– the Church is simply an organization,
– authority a matter of domination,
– mission a matter of propaganda,
– the liturgy no more than an evocation,
– Christian living a slave morality.
BUT IN THE HOLY SPIRIT:
– the cosmos is resurrected and groans with
the birth-pangs of the Kingdom,
– the risen Christ is there,
– the Gospel is the power of life,
– the Church shows forth the life of the Trinity,
– authority is a liberating service,
– mission is a Pentecost,
– the liturgy is both memorial and anticipation,
– human action is deified.
Veni, Sancte Spiritus!
