On this glorious day of Pentecost we celebrate the coming of the great Holy Spirit. On this tremendous day, the object of the first novena in Church history, we consider the Third Person of the Trinity. There is so much truth given to us about the Holy Spirit in our faith. I am going to be selective and write about the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
Fruits of the Holy Spirit
Our traditional list of the fruits of the Holy Spirit comes from Paul’s letter to the Galatians (5:22-23). He extols love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control. The Vulgate and Vulgate-based translations add endurance, modesty and chastity, which I won’t discuss here.
Traditionally we understand the distinction between the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the fruits of the Holy Spirit by saying that the gifts are virtues, while the fruits are good and pleasant results of the life of the Spirit. In the material world a fruit is the enjoyable and nourishing result of the planting and cultivation of a certain tree or plant. Or it is possibly something we just pluck off and enjoy without having put any effort into it.
Peace and Joy
In the spiritual life the fruits of peace and joy maybe correspond most closely to this. When a person devotes himself over a long period of time to the life of prayer and penance, peace and joy are fruits, results of this way of life. Sometimes they can come without any effort on our part. Just as sometimes we pluck fruit off a tree that has grown without work on our part, the Holy Spirit grants us peace and joy seemingly out of the blue.
Fruits and Virtues
The other fruits are also virtues. Thomas Aquinas explains that they are fruits in the sense that the Holy Spirit makes it a pleasure for us to practice these virtues.
In the beginning of the spiritual journey, they can be hard to incorporate into our way of life, but with time, practice and the Holy Spirit, they can become a source of joy.
We can see this clearly in the case of generosity. I think most people have experienced the joy of giving. It is a genuine pleasure when we give something to someone we love, and we see the joy and happiness our gift brings to the person.
It is maybe not so clear how something like patience can be a joy. We exercise patience precisely when we are undergoing something we do not like. When our neighbors are making a lot of noise, or one of our loved ones is exhibiting really bad behavior, we might be showing patience, but we are probably not enjoying it. Yet picture a mother staying up late with a very sick child. It is depriving her of sleep, it is taxing her patience—but her love for her child, together with the Holy Spirit, can make this a joy.
Self-control, too, is something that can be a joy. At first it is hard resisting temptation, but with time—and the Holy Spirit—it, too, can become pleasing. The former alcoholic can experience happiness in turning away opportunities to drink, occasions which, in the past, might have brought him discomfort or anguish.
There is truly so much more to say about the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps I can continue on this beautiful topic at a future date.
Ad ultra!
Wee await further revelations!