Pope at Audience: May the Spirit help us ‘abound in hope’

By Christopher Wells

Pope Francis dedicated his reflection at the General Audience to the theme of “The Holy Spirit and the Bride: the Holy Spirit guides the People of God towards Jesus our hope”, the title of the cycle of catechesis that concluded on Wednesday.

The Holy Father looked to the Book of Revelation, with the eschatological invocation, "Come," addressed to the risen Christ by “the Spirit and the Bride." noting that our hope for the final coming of Jesus is always present in the Church.

At the same time, the Pope said, the Church also expects the continuous coming of Christ “in the present and pilgrim situation.”

Pope Francis delivers his catechesis at the General Audience

Addressed to Christ and to the Spirit

Pope Francis noted that the Church’s understanding of the invocation “Come” has developed: where once it was “habitually” addressed only to Christ, now the Church uses it to invoke the Holy Spirit as well, as in the familiar hymns, Veni Creator Spiritus and Veni Sancte Spiritus.

“It is right that it should be so,” the Pope explained, “because after the Resurrection, the Holy Spirit is Christ’s true alter ego, He who takes His place, who makes Him present and operative in the Church." That, he continued, “is why Christ and the Spirit are inseparable, also in the economy of salvation.”

The source of Christian hope

The Holy Spirit, moreover, “is the ever-gushing source of Christian hope," the Holy Father continued, calling Him the “sail” that propels the Church along the sea of history.

Pope Francis insisted that hope is not an “empty word or a vague desire," but a certainty based on God’s fidelity and therefore a theological virtue.

However, he continued, “Christians cannot be satisfied with having hope" but must also “radiate hope.” Hope, he said, “is the most beautiful gift that the Church can give to all of humanity.”

Wednesday's General Audience in the Paul VI Hall

Ready to give a reason for hope

Finally, Pope Francis recalled the words of St. Peter, who encouraged the first Christians to always be ready to give a reason for their hope, adding that they should do so “with gentleness and reverence.”

This, he said, is because people are convinced not so much by the strength of an argument as by the love with which they are made. “This is the most effective form of evangelization," he said, calling it a method that is “open to everyone.”

Pope Francis concluded his catechesis with the prayer that the Holy Spirit might help us always "abound in hope."