venerandae memoriae, die XVmensis Augusti anni MCMLXVII novam Romanae
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ating the things of the spirit from the things of the flesh. Hence he was at first
suspicious of the Christian teaching that God had become man. Yet his
experience of the love of God present in the Church led him to investigate
its source in the life of the Triune God. This led him to three particular
insights about the Holy Spirit as the bond of unity within the Blessed Tri-
nity: unity as communion, unity as abiding love, and unity as giving and gift.
These three insights are not just theoretical. They help explain how the Spirit
works. In a world where both individuals and communities often suffer from
an absence of unity or cohesion, these insights help us remain attuned to the
Spirit and to extend and clarify the scope of our witness.
So, with Augustine's help, let us illustrate something of the Holy Spirit's
work. He noted that the two words "Holy" and "Spirit" refer to what is
divine about God; in other words what is shared by the Father and the
Son - their communion. So, if the distinguishing characteristic of the Holy
Spirit is to be what is shared by the Father and the Son, Augustine concluded
that the Spirit's particular quality is unity. It is a unity of lived communion:
a unity of persons in a relationship of constant giving, the Father and the Son
giving themselves to each other. We begin to glimpse, I think, how illumi-
nating is this understanding of the Holy Spirit as unity, as communion. True
unity could never be founded upon relationships which deny the equal dig-
nity of other persons. Nor is unity simply the sum total of the groups through
which we sometimes attempt to "define" ourselves. In fact, only in the life of
communion is unity sustained and human identity fulfilled: we recognize the
common need for God, we respond to the unifying presence of the Holy
Spirit, and we give ourselves to one another in service.
Augustine's second insight - the Holy Spirit as abiding love - comes
from his study of the First Letter of Saint John. John tells us that "God is
love".13 Augustine suggests that while these words refer to the Trinity as a
whole they express a particular characteristic of the Holy Spirit. Reflecting
on the lasting nature of love - "whoever abides in love remains in God and
God in him" 14 - he wondered: is it love or the Holy Spirit which grants the
abiding? This is the conclusion he reaches: "The Holy Spirit makes us remain
in God and God in us; yet it is love that effects this. The Spirit therefore is
13 1 Jn 4:16. 14 Ibid.