I really needed this week’s second reading right now. The eighth chapter of Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans is one of my favorite chapters in the whole Bible because of how reassuring it is. And we can all use a little reassurance right now.
As we all become hyper-aware of how we are feeling and wonder if a virus might be inside us now, the Holy Spirit just reminded us of something else that is inside us right now: HIM! The Holy Spirit is living inside you right now. The same Spirit who hovered over the waters at creation, the same Spirit who came upon the great personages of the Old Testament, the same Spirit who rose Jesus from the dead lives in us. And as Saint Paul points out, if that same Spirit lives in us, he will also give life to our mortal bodies. Our bodies remain mortal, frail, susceptible to viruses, but they contain the Lord and Giver of Life who promises us everlasting life.
How do we tap into the Holy Spirit living in us? Well first, we have to ensure that he is there. In Baptism, the Trinity comes to live in our souls. We can evict the Trinity through mortal sin when we freely choose to commit a grave sin. If that’s where you are, that’s what the Sacrament of Confession is for.
If you are in a state of grace, meaning you don’t have any not-confessed moral sins on your soul, then the Holy Spirit—along with the Father and the Son—is living in your soul already. We call this grace, God’s own life in us. Saint Peter refers to it as “partaking of the Divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). We can acces grace in a privileged way through the sacraments (Confession, anyone?). But there are other ways of accessing grace, especially when we cannot attend Mass in person and receive Communion.
One great way to receive more grace is by reading the Bible. The Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead is the same Spirit who inspired the biblical authors. It’s the same Spirit who still speaks through the written Word of God. Contrary to popular belief, the Church has been formally encouraging personal Bible reading for well over a hundred years! Thirty minutes of Bible reading has been an indulgenced act for at least twenty years, and the Pope recently reiterated the plenary indulgence attached to it (more on indulgences later).
When I read the Bible—or if you can’t read for any reason, when you listen to someone else read it—I am letting the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead speak to me, live more in me, and transform me into who God made me to be.