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Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - In the Acts of the Apostles "we see the Spirit work for unity in two ways": He teaches her to expand in universality, and consolidate in unity. Universal and one: this is the mystery of the Church.
During the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis continues the cycle of catechesis dedicated to the Holy Spirit and his role in the Church, reflecting on the role played by the Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles.
With the account of Pentecost, the Pontiff notes, the author "wished to highlight the universal mission of the Church, as a sign of a new unity between all peoples". In the following (chapters 10 and 15) we see that the Spirit works for unity in two ways. On the one hand, He drives the Church outwards, so that she can welcome an ever-greater number of people and peoples; on the other hand, she gathers them within to consolidate the unity achieved.
The first of the two movements - universality - can be seen in action in the episode of the conversion of Cornelius, "to induce the Apostles to expand their horizon and break down the last barrier, the one between Jews and pagans". "To this ethnical expansion is added the geographical expansion", said the Bishop of Rome, who recalls that Paul "wanted to proclaim the Gospel in a new region of Asia Minor; but it is written that they had been “forbidden by the Holy Spirit”; he attempted to enter Bithyn’ia, “but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them”. We immediately discover the reason for these surprising prohibitions of the Spirit: the following night the Apostle received in a dream the order to pass into Macedonia. The Gospel thus left its native Asia and entered into Europe", said the Pope.
The second movement of the Holy Spirit - that which creates unity - can be seen "in the proceedings of the so-called Council of Jerusalem. The problem is how to ensure that the universality achieved does not compromise the unity of the Church". The Holy Spirit, Francis points out, " does not always create unity suddenly, with miraculous and decisive actions, as at Pentecost. He also does so – and in the majority of cases – with discreet work, respecting human time and differences, passing through people and institutions, prayer and confrontation. In, we would say today, a synodal manner". In this context, the Pope quotes Saint Augustine, who explains the unity brought about by the Holy Spirit with a classic image: " How the soul is of the body of man is the holy Spirit of the body of Christ, which is the Church". This "image helps us to understand something important. The Holy Spirit does not create the unity of the Church from the outside; He does not limit Himself to commanding us to be united. He Himself is the “bond of unity”. It is He who creates the unity of the Church".
"The unity of the Church is the unity between people - Pope Francis continued - and is not achieved on the drawing board, but in life. Even "Christian unity is built in this way too: not waiting for others to reach us where we are, but moving together towards Christ".
At the end of the Audience, the Pope again turned his thoughts to the peoples of the world affected by the ravages of war. And he invites everyone to pray for peace: "May the month of October, dedicated to the Holy Rosary, be a precious opportunity to cultivate this traditional Marian prayer. I urge you all to pray the Rosary every day, placing yourselves trustingly in the hands of Mary. To her, the caring Mother, we entrust the suffering and the desire for peace of the peoples who suffer the madness of war, especially the tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Myanmar, Sudan". (F.B.) (Agenzia Fides, 9/10/2024)
