Tuesday, May 14 : Saint Thomas Aquinas

We should bear in mind that, when it is said that the Holy Spirit is sent, it is not that he changes his location, for he “fills the whole world” as the Book of Wisdom says (cf. Wis 1:7), but that he begins to live in a completely new way, by grace, in those whom he makes God’s temple: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor 3:16). Nor is it a contradiction to say that he is sent and that he comes, for to say of him that he comes manifestly makes us see the greatness of his divinity, he who “proceeds” “as he wishes”, and to say that he is sent shows that he proceeds from another. Indeed, he draws from another, from whom he holds his being, the fact that he sanctifies rational creatures by dwelling within them, just as the Son, too, holds from another everything he does. We should also note that the Holy Spirit’s mission comes from Father and Son together, as the book of Revelation explains: “The angel showed me the river of life-giving water” – namely the Holy Spirit – “flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb” – namely Christ. (Rv 22:1) This is why, regarding the mission of the Holy Spirit, mention is made of Father and Son, through whom he is sent by virtue of one and the same power. In the same way Christ sometimes represents the Father as one who sends and yet not without the Son: “the Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name” (Jn 14:26), and sometimes he represents himself as the one who sends yet not without the Father: “that I will send you from the Father”, because everything the Son does he takes from the Father: “The Son can do nothing of himself.” (Jn 5:19)

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team