That’s right! If we want to understand Christ’s words properly, let alone, to live by them, we always need the help of the Holy Spirit who actually is constantly intervening in our lives. We just have to train ourselves how to recognize his voice and follow it as promptly as possible.
Christ himself said it very clearly. “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” (Jn 14,26)
We have to understand that the Holy Spirit perpetuates the presence and redemptive action of Christ all throughout time, with all the drama, vagaries, ups and downs that we make in our earthly sojourn.
It has been prophesied that God will pour out his Spirit upon all men. The Holy Spirit is intended for all of us. We are all meant to be filled with the Holy Spirit. But this divine will obviously has to contend with the way we receive and do things, and that is, that we take to this reality in stages involving a whole range of human means of teaching, evangelizing, etc.
We need the Holy Spirit because only in him can we truly recognize Christ. Only in him will we be able to have Christ in our life, to remember all his words and even to develop them to adapt them to our current needs and situations.
Only in him can we see things properly. Especially these days when truth, justice and charity have become very slippery, and people are left confounded and vulnerable to fall into skepticism and cynicism, we need to be in the Holy Spirit to be able to sort things out properly and avoid the mess.
I am amused to note that in today’s political debates, a growing awareness is felt by more and more people that myths and lies, with shreds of truths and facts cleverly inserted, are exchanged. They talk about a surge of fake news. It’s not anymore about what the truth is. It’s more about who is followed more.
This is what happens when we are not in the Holy Spirit and we rely only on our human resources that sooner or later will be twisted and exploited to suit personal or partisan interests, and not anymore the common good.
We need the Holy Spirit to be able to read the signs of the times properly. The world is getting very complicated, and we definitely need the Holy Spirit to guide us. We cannot rely anymore on our politicians and other leaders. We, including politicians and especially them, actually always need the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit acts on each one of us in different ways but always for the common good. St. Cyril has this to say about how the Holy Spirit comes to us:
“The Spirit comes gently and makes himself known by his fragrance. He is not felt as a burden, for he is light, very light. Rays of light and knowledge stream before him as he approaches.
“The Spirit comes with the tenderness of a true friend and protector to save, to heal, to teach, to counsel, to strengthen, to console. The Spirit comes to enlighten the mind first of the one who receives him, and then, through him, the minds of others as well.”