Word of Life

June 2006

The Holy Spirit comes into us and transforms us. He writes love, the law of God, in our hearts, our actions, all we do. How we should call upon him!

"Live by the Spirit… But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law” (Gal 5:16,18).

“For you were called to freedom.” This is the message that Paul of Tarsus proclaimed to Christians in the various communities of Galatia. This message is an echo of Jesus’ words when he told them he would make them “free indeed.”

Free from what? The Christians in Galatia had been set free from the legal precepts of the Mosaic law, a freedom extended to all Christians. But more than that we have been set free from sin and its consequences: our fears, the frenzied pursuit of our own interests, cultural conditioning, social conventions…. For this reason we are free when we follow Christian standards in social and religious conduct, because we do not feel them as obligations imposed on us from the outside.

For us there is a new law, the “law of Christ,” as Paul calls it. This law is written on our hearts, blossoming within us, and in every person made new by the love of Christ. It is a “law of liberty.” It is a law that itself gives the strength needed to live it out.

We are free because we are guided by the Spirit of Jesus who lives in us. Hence the invitation:

“Live by the Spirit… But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law” (Gal 5:16,18).

At this time of Pentecost, let us relive the descent of the Holy Spirit on Mary and the disciples gathered in the Upper Room. With tongues of fire, he poured the love of God into their hearts. This is the “new law”: it is love.

The Holy Spirit is the Love of God that comes into us and transforms our hearts. He puts his own love in us and teaches us to act in love and for love.

Love guides our actions and suggests how to respond to situations and to the choices we are asked to make. Love teaches us how to distinguish and say: this is a good thing, I will do it, or this is a bad thing, I will not do it. And love urges us to seek what is best for others.

We are not directed by external forces, but by the principle of new life the Spirit has placed in our hearts. Our strength, our heart, our mind, all our faculties can “live by the Spirit” because they have been unified by love and are made completely available to God’s plans for us and for society.

We are free to love.

“Live by the Spirit… But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law” (Gal 5:16,18).

“If you are led.…” There is always the danger that something may prevent the Spirit from taking full possession of our minds and hearts. We can resist his voice and his guidance to the point of grieving him, even “quenching” his presence in us. Many times we prefer to follow our own desires rather than his, our own will rather than his.

So how can we let ourselves be guided by that voice which speaks within? Where is it leading us? Paul himself tells us a few verses shortly before the text of this Word of Life. All the new law of freedom is summed up in one precept, love for our neighbour. In practice what Paul says is that to be free means to be slaves of others, to be at the service of one another. That voice within, the voice of love, urges us to be aware of the person next to us, to listen, to give.

It may seem strange but in the end every Word of Life leads us to love. This is not contrived, it is simply the logic of the Gospel.

We are genuine Christians only if we love.

“Live by the Spirit… But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law” (Gal 5:16,18).

Let us leave the Spirit free to lead us on the way of love. We could pray to him like this:

You are light, joy, beauty.

You attract souls, you set hearts ablaze and give rise to deep and decisive thoughts of holiness so that people make unexpected commitments.

You sanctify. Above all, Holy Spirit, you who are so discreet, even though forceful and overwhelming while blowing like a gentle breeze that few know how to hear and to feel, look upon our roughness and our coarseness and shape us into your followers. May no day pass by without our having called upon you, thanked you, adored you, loved you, lived as your faithful disciples.

We ask you for this grace.

Chiara Lubich

Gal 5:13
Jn 8:36
Gal 6:2
Jas 2:12
Cf Rom 5:5
Eph. 4:30
1 Thess 5:19
Cf Gal 5:13-14