Acta Benedicti Pp. XVI 563

God as love!".15 It is a beautiful explanation: God shares himself as love in the

Holy Spirit. What further understanding might we gain from this insight?

Love is the sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit! Ideas or voices which lack

love - even if they seem sophisticated or knowledgeable - cannot be "of the

Spirit". Furthermore, love has a particular trait: far from being indulgent or

fickle, it has a task or purpose to fulfil: to abide. By its nature love is

enduring. Again, dear friends, we catch a further glimpse of how much the

Holy Spirit offers our world: love which dispels uncertainty; love which over-

comes the fear of betrayal; love which carries eternity within; the true love

which draws us into a unity that abides!

The third insight - the Holy Spirit as gift - Augustine derived from

meditating on a Gospel passage we all know and love: Christ's conversation

with the Samaritan woman at the well. Here Jesus reveals himself as the

giver of the living water 16 which later is explained as the Holy Spirit.17 The

Spirit is "God's gift" 18 - the internal spring,19 who truly satisfies our deepest

thirst and leads us to the Father. From this observation Augustine concludes

that God sharing himself with us as gift is the Holy Spirit.20 Friends, again we

catch a glimpse of the Trinity at work: the Holy Spirit is God eternally giving

himself; like a never-ending spring he pours forth nothing less than himself.

In view of this ceaseless gift, we come to see the limitations of all that

perishes, the folly of the consumerist mindset. We begin to understand

why the quest for novelty leaves us unsatisfied and wanting. Are we not

looking for an eternal gift? The spring that will never run dry? With the

Samaritan woman, let us exclaim: give me this water that I may thirst no

more! 21

Dear young people, we have seen that it is the Holy Spirit who brings

about the wonderful communion of believers in Jesus Christ. True to his

nature as giver and gift alike, he is even now working through you. Inspired

by the insights of Saint Augustine: let unifying love be your measure; abiding

love your challenge; self-giving love your mission!

15 De Trinitate, 15, 17, 31. 16 Cfr Jn 4:10. 17 Cfr Jn 7:39; 1 Cor 12:13. 18 Jn 4:10. 19 Cfr Jn 4:14. 20 Cfr De Trinitate, 15, 18, 32. 21 Cfr Jn 4:15.