DIVINUM ILLUD MUNUS
Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII
“On the Holy Spirit”
I am always amazed that the Church has been given so many profound, intellectual holy men and women who through their lives have blessed, directed and challenged generations of followers of Christ. I have found that Pope Leo XIII is one among these gifts. In his letter on the Holy Spirit he lays out beautifully the mystery and the necessity of the indwelling Spirit of God. On this the eve of Pentecost I would like to share with you an opportunity to reflect on life in the Spirit that we have been given in Baptism and sealed in its fullness in Confirmation.

“That divine office which Jesus Christ received from His Father for the welfare of mankind, and most perfectly fulfilled, had for its final object to put men in possession of the eternal life of glory, and proximately during the course of ages to secure to them the life of divine grace, which is destined eventually to blossom into the life of heaven. Wherefore, our Savior never ceases to invite, with infinite affection, all men, of every race and tongue, into the bosom of His Church...: He did not will to entirely complete and finish this office Himself on earth, but as He had received it from the Father, so He transmitted it for its completion to the Holy Ghost…. He made it clear that the Holy Ghost is equally sent by-and therefore proceeds from-Himself and the Father; that He (Holy Ghost) would complete, in His office of Intercessor, Consoler, and Teacher, the work which Christ Himself had begun in His mortal life. For, in the redemption of the world, the completion of the work was by Divine Providence reserved to the manifold power