venerandae memoriae, die XVmensis Augusti anni MCMLXVII novam Romanae
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daily grow in his gifts of grace through the Holy Eucharist. At each Mass, in
fact, the Holy Spirit descends anew, invoked by the solemn prayer of the
Church, not only to transform our gifts of bread and wine into the Lord's
body and blood, but also to transform our lives, to make us, in his power,
"one body, one spirit in Christ".
But what is this "power" of the Holy Spirit? It is the power of God's life!
It is the power of the same Spirit who hovered over the waters at the dawn of
creation and who, in the fullness of time, raised Jesus from the dead. It is the
power which points us, and our world, towards the coming of the Kingdom of
God. In today's Gospel, Jesus proclaims that a new age has begun, in which
the Holy Spirit will be poured out upon all humanity.3 He himself, conceived
by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, came among us to bring us
that Spirit. As the source of our new life in Christ, the Holy Spirit is also, in a
very real way, the soul of the Church, the love which binds us to the Lord and
one another, and the light which opens our eyes to see all around us the
wonders of God's grace.
Here in Australia, this "great south land of the Holy Spirit", all of us have
had an unforgettable experience of the Spirit's presence and power in the
beauty of nature. Our eyes have been opened to see the world around us as it
truly is: "charged", as the poet says, "with the grandeur of God", filled with
the glory of his creative love. Here too, in this great assembly of young
Christians from all over the world, we have had a vivid experience of the
Spirit's presence and power in the life of the Church. We have seen the
Church for what she truly is: the Body of Christ, a living community of love,
embracing people of every race, nation and tongue, of every time and place,
in the unity born of our faith in the Risen Lord.
The power of the Spirit never ceases to fill the Church with life! Through
the grace of the Church's sacraments, that power also flows deep within us,
like an underground river which nourishes our spirit and draws us ever nearer
to the source of our true life, which is Christ. Saint Ignatius of Antioch, who
died a martyr in Rome at the beginning of the second century, has left us a
splendid description of the Spirit's power dwelling within us. He spoke of the
3 Cfr Lk 4:21.