The Holy Spirit Teaches (John 14/21-27)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.”
Certainly, as Catholics, we have the immense consolation of the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the teaching authority of the Church, which we call the Sacred Magisterium. Magisterium comes from the Latin magister, a master, and signifies the authority to teach. The apostles of Christ were given this authority directly from Christ and it was confirmed at Pentecost by the Holy Spirit. Now, in the body of the Church, a living Pentecost exist, the Sacred Magisterium has four manifestations: 1) the pope has the unique charism of teaching infallibly on matters of faith and morals, 2) the pope and his delegates (the Roman curia) can teach and guide on many modern moral dilemmas, 3) the pope with the bishops (teaching through synods and councils) 4) and the laity which forms a part of the Magisterium through what is called ‘the sense of the faith’ which is characterized by the laity’s instinctive sense of what is Catholic. The Magisterium than is a work of the Holy Spirit which has a complimentary and harmonious expression. In this regard, we have the great help of the Catechism of the Catholic Church published by St. John Paul II in 1993. I encourage you, during your summer holidays to spend some time reading the Catechism so as remain up to date in the many pressing moral question that we face.
Our faith is not just an emotional experience, a religious feeling or simply a cultural decoration. The Catholic faith has a robust content that nourishes the mind because it is logical and coherent. If we do not give our young people the security of the reasonableness of our faith, by imparting to them the content of our faith, if we do not make an effort to guide them to know how to react to temptations, to make good and correct decisions, it should not surprise us if our young people choose to abandon the Church and indulge in the esoteric spiritualities.
The Maronite Church calls the period after Pentecost, the Sundays after Pentecost. Let us take advantage of this beautiful description by getting to know the Holy Spirit, by yielding to His voice through the reading and studying of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
† Selim Sfeir
Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus