Friday, June 17 : Vatican Council II

Through the Spirit of Life, a “fountain of water springing up to life eternal” (Jn 4,14), the Father gives life to men, dead in sin, until, in Christ, he brings to life their mortal bodies.(Rm 8,11) The Spirit dwells in the Church and in the hearts of the faithful, as in a temple (1Cor 3,16). In them he prays on their behalf and bears witness to the fact that they are adopted sons (Gal 4,6). The Church, which the Spirit guides in the way of all truth and which He unified in communion and in works of ministry, he both equips and directs with hierarchical and charismatic gifts and adorns with his fruits. By the power of the Gospel he makes the Church keep the freshness of youth. Uninterruptedly he renews it and leads it to perfect union with its Spouse. The Spirit and the Bride both say to Jesus, the Lord, “Come!”(Rv 22,17)… The entire body of the faithful, anointed as they are by the Holy One, cannot err in matters of belief. They manifest this special property by means of the whole peoples’ supernatural discernment in matters of faith when “from the Bishops down to the last of the lay faithful” (Saint Augustine) they show universal agreement in matters of faith and morals. That discernment in matters of faith is aroused and sustained by the Spirit of truth. It is exercised under the guidance of the sacred teaching authority, in faithful and respectful obedience to which the people of God accepts that which is not just the word of men but truly the word of God.(1Thes 2,13) Through it, the people of God adheres unwaveringly to the faith given once and for all to the saints,(Jude 3) penetrates it more deeply with right thinking, and applies it more fully in its life. It is not only through the sacraments and the ministries of the Church that the Holy Spirit sanctifies and leads the people of God and enriches it with virtues, but, “allotting his gifts to everyone according as he wills,(1Cor 12,11), he distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank. By these gifts he makes them fit and ready to undertake the various tasks and offices which contribute toward the renewal and building up of the Church, according to the words of the Apostle: “The manifestation of the Spirit is given to everyone for the profit of all” (1Cor 12,7).

maronite readings – rosary,team