Pope resumes Wednesday general audience, discusses Holy Spirit’s role in Redemption

August 07, 2024

Resuming his Wednesday general audiences following the traditional July hiatus, Pope Francis on August 7 reflected on the Holy Spirit’s role in Redemption, in the fifth talk in a series devoted to the theme of “The Spirit and the Bride: The Holy Spirit guides the people of God towards Jesus our hope.”

During the audience, entitled “Incarnate by the work of the Holy Spirit, from the Virgin Mary: How to conceive and bear Jesus,” Pope Francis said that “with today’s catechesis, we begin our reflections on the Holy Spirit’s role in our Redemption,” according to the Vatican’s summary of his remarks.

“The early Ecumenical Councils that gave us the Nicene Creed affirmed both the divinity of the Holy Spirit and his work in the Incarnation,” the summary continued, adding:

While all Christians profess this creed, Catholic devotion further expresses its faith in a favorite prayer, the Angelus. Mary is understood to be the Bride of the Spirit and so, prefigures the Church, a teaching has maintained from the past to the present.

By receiving and sharing the Word of God, every Christian, regardless of life’s challenges, can experience, like her, what the Spirit does for the whole Church, for as the angel said to Mary, “Nothing is impossible for God.”

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Previous audiences in series:

• The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters (May 29, 2024)
• “The wind blows where it wishes”: Where there is the Spirit of God, there is freedom (June 5, 2024)
• “All Scripture is inspired by God”: Knowing God’s love through God’s words (June 12, 2024)
• The Spirit teaches the Bride to pray: The Psalms, symphony of prayer in the Bible (June 19, 2024)

 

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Further information:

• General audience (August 7, 2024)