THE GIFT OF FORTITUDE


TUESDAY, SEVENTH WEEK OF EASTERTIDE   

Acts 19:1-18; Ps 68:2-7; Jn 16:29-33

The Spirit of Fortitude

The love of God the Father makes him give us his Son to save us from sin and evil, and his Holy Spirit to abide with us and bring us into communion with him. These gifts of the divine Persons are gifts beyond our imagination, through which we begin to estimate the love of the Father for us. Jesus especially referred to the Holy Spirit as the Gift from the Father. Cf. Lk 11:13. We have spiritual life when we receive the Holy Spirit, thanks to our Lord’s salvific works. The Holy Spirit, in order to properly strengthen and coordinate our spiritual life, which ought to overflow and oversee our natural life, gives us the seven gifts aiding our sanctification. We reflected on the gift of piety yesterday. Fortitude is the next gift of the Holy Spirit by which he solidifies our spiritual life. Through the gift of fortitude, the Holy Spirit gives us firmness in difficulties and makes us constant in good or spiritual works. The gift of fortitude supports our piety so that it may be constant, not conditional on our feelings.

It is necessary to meditate on the main gifts we have received from God, our Father, for constant meditation on these gifts will deepen our appreciation of them and our love for God. The constant remembrance that the Holy Spirit resides in us keeps us constantly on guard against any snare or impurity that would soil our hearts. It will also promote our communion with him, making us open to receive his promptings at all times. The more we follow his directives and receive the graces needed to carry them out, the more our relationship with the Holy Spirit grows. This is how he gradually builds us up to undertake any spiritual or physical task for the love of God and the salvation of souls. Saint Paul’s life is an excellent example for us. His testimony to the elders of the church in Ephesus confirms this. “You know what my way of life has been ever since the first day I set foot among you in Asia, how I have served the Lord in all humility, with all the sorrows and trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews. I have not hesitated to do anything that would be helpful to you; I have preached to you, and instructed you both in public and in your homes, urging both Jews and Greeks to turn to God and to believe in our Lord Jesus.” This is his constancy in good works supported by the Holy Spirit. His fearlessness in facing danger is extraordinary. “And now you see me a prisoner already in spirit; I am on my way to Jerusalem, but have no idea what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit, in town after town, has made it clear enough that imprisonment and persecution await me.” This is the definition of Christian fortitude.

What encourages Paul to face numerous dangers without a moment of thought is his conviction that he is doing the Lord’s will, which is sacrosanct to him. “But life to me is not a thing to waste words on, provided that when I finish my race, I have carried out the mission the Lord Jesus gave me—and that was to bear witness to the Good News of God’s grace.” It is for this very purpose that the Holy Spirit is with us. The Gift is for a spiritual life and communion with God, but these would not be actualised in us without our total commitment to doing the will of the Father. The Father answers the prayer of the Son of Man by giving us the Holy Spirit to continue the commitment of the Son to establish the kingdom of heaven here on earth by proclaiming the will of the Father to all. “I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, because they belong to you: all I have is yours and all you have is mine, and in them I am glorified. I am not in the world any longer, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.” Thus, the Holy Spirit gives us the fortitude of the Son of Man to face the world, its evil, trials, and persecutions, until death. All is done with the hope of eternal life, which the presence of the Holy Spirit in us guarantees. Through the gift of fortitude, the Holy Spirit helps us to bear our burdens, as the psalmist testifies. “May the Lord be blessed day after day. He bears our burdens, God our saviour. This God of ours is a God who saves. The Lord our God holds the keys of death.”

Let us pray: Grant, we pray, almighty and merciful God, that the Holy Spirit, coming near and dwelling graciously within us, may make of us a perfect temple of his glory. Through our Lord Jesus, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.  

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