In one of his homilies, Pope Francis emphasized the leading role of the Holy Spirit. The Eucharist was celebrated on May 28th in the Chapel of the Casa Santa Marta.

“In his farewell discourse to his disciples before ascending to Heaven, Jesus gives us a true catechesis on the Holy Spirit. Jesus explains who He is. The disciples were saddened to hear that Jesus would leave them, and he rebukes them for it,” says Francis. ”No, sadness is not Christian behavior.“ But how can we avoid sadness? ”Against sadness, in prayer, we ask the Lord to keep within us the renewed youthfulness of the spirit.“ Here, the Holy Spirit comes into play because it is He who brings about in us this youthfulness that always renews us.

The Pope quoted a saint who said: “A sad saint is a sorry saint.” “Therefore, a sad Christian is a sorry Christian, and that is not good. Sadness does not enter the heart of a Christian, because he is young,” Francis continued. The Holy Spirit is the one who makes us capable of carrying our crosses. The Pontiff cited the example of Paul and Silas who, in prison, sang hymns to God, as in the first reading, taken from the Book of Acts of the Apostles.

The Holy Spirit renews all things. “The Holy Spirit is the one who accompanies us in life, who sustains us. He is the Paraclete,” the Pope emphasized. “But what a strange name,” said Francis, recalling that at a Mass for children on Pentecost Sunday, he asked if they knew who the Holy Spirit was. And a boy answered him: the paralytic. Many times we think that the Holy Spirit is a paralytic, that he does nothing… On the contrary, He is the One who sustains us. The word Paraclete means “the one who is at my side to support me,” so that I do not fall, so that I go forward, so that I preserve this youthfulness of the Spirit. The Christian is always young. When the heart of the Christian begins to age, his Christian vocation begins to diminish. Either you are young in heart and soul or you are not a Christian.

Even though we are sinners, the Spirit helps us to repent and makes us look forward. “Speak to the Spirit,” the Pope said. “He will support you and give you youth again.” Sin, on the other hand, ages: “It ages the soul, it ages everything.” Francis further emphasized: “Never this pagan sadness.” In life there are difficult moments, but in those moments “we feel that the Spirit helps us to move forward (…) and to overcome difficulties. Even martyrdom.” And the Pope concluded: Let us ask the Lord not to lose this renewed youth, not to be retired Christians who have lost their joy and let themselves be led… A Christian never retires, a Christian lives, lives because he is young, when he is a true Christian.

Source: Vatican News