From Servant of God, Father Isaac Thomas Hecker from his Notes on the Holy Spirit:

There is no antagonism between the promise of Our Lord that the gates of Hell, that no error, shall prevail against his Church and the promise that He would send the Paraclete who would lead the soul into all truth. The work of the Holy Spirit is one, whether in the Church or the soul, though not the same in its form of action. In the Church it acts as a criterion. In the soul it is the directed means of salvation and sanctification. Though one in spirit these two diverse modes of action must not be confounded. Each is equal and necessary to the other; but they cannot and must not be confounded or separated. The one in the soul is the source of divine life, the one in the Church is the teacher of truth and the guardian of divine life. 

God would lead each individual soul immediately and with certitude and without any exterior aid, to its salvation and sanctification were it not for the weaknesses and passions of men and the deception of Satan. The principal of life is within. You can make children and soldiers by external authority and outward restraint. Christians are made only by the interior work of the Holy Spirit. The Kingdom of heaven is within you, consisting of peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 

Commentary by Father Paul Robichaud, CSP

Since the coming of the first Pentecost and the beginnings of the Church God the Holy Spirit has been the principle person of the Trinity that we relate to. The Father and the Son have sent the Holy Spirit and the Spirit takes the Christian to the Son who presents him to the Father. Servant of God Isaac Hecker talks about the way in which the Spirit connects the individual soul with the Church. The Spirit in the soul and the Spirit in the Church for Hecker are the same Spirit with different functions. He writes: “One in the soul is the source of divine life, one in the Church is the teacher of truth and the guardian of divine life.”

Reflection questions

• How do you experience the Holy Spirit, in the Church and within your soul? Does Hecker’s description of the action of the Holy Spirit describe your experience?

• Recently Pope Francis issued his encyclical, Laudato Si. How is the Holy Spirit as teacher and guardian active in the pope’s letter?

About this series

Father Paul Robichaud, CSP, is the historian of the Paulist Fathers and postulator of the Cause of Father Hecker. His office is located at the Hecker Center in Washington, D.C.

If you have asked Father Hecker to pray for you or another person who is ill and you believe something miraculous has happened, please phone Father Robichaud at 202-269-2519 or write to [email protected] and tell him your story.