Why is Docility to the Holy Spirit necessary for Evangelization?

There is a particular passage in Sacred Scripture that identifies docility to the Holy Spirit as the path toward understanding man’s relationship with Jesus Christ. In his letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul makes the following bold statement: No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.[1] The significance of this statement reflects Paul’s understanding of the Holy Spirit as a real person, the third person of the Blessed Trinity who is of the same nature as the Father and the Son. We encounter this same description in St. Matthew’s Gospel associated with the Great Commission to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.[2] In St. John’s Gospel, we read that Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Truth that dwells within the Apostles.[3] Jesus also reminds the Apostles that the Counselor, the Spirit of Truth, proceeds from the Father and will bear witness to him.[4]

The evidence of the Holy Spirit in Sacred Scripture is unmistakable, however, the direction given by Christ about the Holy Spirit is, I argue, quite clear: the Holy Spirit is God and is to be listened to. Jesus makes this very clear,

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in me; of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.[5]

At the moment, we as children of God receive baptism and enter His Kingdom, we become partakers of God’s Divine nature, and thus have a responsibility to exercise docility to the will of the Father. Sacred Scripture demonstrates a docility to the Holy Spirit when the Archangel Gabriel communicates the Incarnation of Jesus Christ to Mary, humbly accepting the will of the Father.  Jesus’ Resurrection, Ascension, and the actions at Pentecost unveil a docility by the Apostles to these interactions with God through the Holy Spirit. In all these events, the Holy Spirit serves as the Divine distributor of the grace of God.

It is important to understand the nature of the Holy Spirit as paraclete, meaning advocate, helper, or counselor. Why is this important? Because through the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who is the voice and breath of God, we receive the ability to understand His will, and in so doing, freely choose to be in communion with God through the Son under the advocacy of the Holy Spirit. In quoting St. Irenaeus, the Catechism describes his description of the Holy Spirit concerning baptism in the following way,

Baptism gives us the grace of new birth in God the Father, through his Son, in the Holy Spirit. For those who bear God’s Spirit are led to the Word, that is, to the Son, and the Son presents them to the Father, and the Father confers incorruptibility on them. And it is impossible to see God’s Son without the Spirit, and no one can approach the Father without the Son, for the knowledge of the Father is the Son, and the knowledge of God’s Son is obtained through the Holy Spirit.[6]

What does all this mean concerning the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Or, more specifically, the demonstrative delivery of the kerygma, the message of salvation revealed through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ? To know the Father and the Son, we are asked to assent to the Holy Spirit, who serves as the messenger of God. When the proposition to evangelize is brought to our attention under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we must strive to remain under His guidance. Our human tendency is to receive the initial transmission of grace from the Holy Spirit, and for whatever reason, mistranslate or misinterpret the Holy Spirit’s Trinitarian message to suit our own human desires and not the person in spiritual need. A tendency exists to get caught up in our own idealized mission without properly assessing if the person or persons we intend to serve require what we our offering at all.

The Catechism describes the drama between man and the Holy Spirit as follows,

One cannot believe in Jesus Christ without sharing in his Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who reveals to men who Jesus is. For “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit,” who “searches everything, even the depths of God.… No one comprehends the thoughts of God, except the Spirit of God.” Only God knows God completely: we believe in the Holy Spirit because he is God. ^[7]

Any ministerial initiative in the name of Jesus Christ requires a docility of faith under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The initiative I speak of is typically affiliated with the gift of Divine Inspiration, compelling the person to perform the evangelical task in good faith in the name of Jesus Christ and not of oneself. The matter and form of the evangelization process, where the matter is Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word, and the form is the Trinitarian proclamation of the Word of God directed to the person in charity and humility, begs for surrender to the Cross of Christ.

All languages involved in the proclamation of the Gospel require three important criteria: an association with the suffering of Christ on the Cross through spiritual acts of prayer, fasting, abstinence, a daily denial to the temptations of the day, and finally a willingness to prayerfully embrace the suffering Christ received and endured on the Cross.  The Catechism reminds us that the Paschal Mystery of Christ’s Cross and Resurrection stands at the center of the Good News that the apostles, and the Church following them, are to proclaim to the world.[8] Echoing the language of the Catechism, our message is quite clear, our evangelistic is predicated on listening to and acting on the Word of God under the guidance and docility to the Holy Spirit.

In his first Epistle, St. John leaves us with something to consider in our evangelization efforts,

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone our into the world.. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit which does noy confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you heard that it was coming, and now it is in the world already. Little children, you are of God, and have overcome them; for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world; therefore, what they say is of the world, and the world listens to them. We are of God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and he who is not of God does not listen to us. By this, we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.[9]