God Is Not A Gimmick

Reposted from Fr. V:

The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, God Himself, the infinite Love between the Father and the Son and the Sanctifier who dwells in the souls of the baptized. To sin against the Holy Spirit is to offend the very source of grace, mercy, and conversion. These sins are especially grave because they resist the work of the Holy Spirit who draws us toward repentance and salvation. Catholic tradition identifies six sins against the Holy Spirit, drawn from Scripture and explained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The first is despair. Despair refuses to trust in Gods mercy and power to save a soul. It claims that ones sins are too great for God to forgive. This sin rejects the Holy Spirit who is the pledge of our inheritance and who pours Gods love into our hearts. Even the greatest sinner remains within reach of divine mercy as long as life on earth lasts.

The second is presumption. Presumption expects salvation or forgiveness without true conversion or cooperation with grace. It includes the false confidence that one can continue in grave sin and still be saved without repentance or that Gods mercy excuses deliberate persistence in evil. This offends the Holy Spirit by treating His sanctifying work as unnecessary.

The third is resisting the known truth. This is the deliberate rejection of a truth one clearly recognizes as coming from God especially truths of the Catholic faith. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. To resist Him is to harden the heart against the light He offers and to choose darkness instead.

The fourth is envy of the spiritual good of another. This is sadness or resentment at the spiritual blessings virtues or graces God gives to someone else. It opposes the Holy Spirit who distributes His gifts freely as He wills for the good of the Church. Such envy poisons charity and refuses to rejoice in the generosity of the Spirit.

The fifth is obstinacy in sin. Obstinacy is the hardened and persistent attachment to sin despite repeated calls from God to repent. The sinner refuses to change even when the Holy Spirit convicts the conscience. This directly blocks the Spirits work of conversion.

The sixth and gravest is final impenitence. This is dying in deliberate unrepented mortal sin while refusing the grace of repentance until the very end. Final impenitence rejects the Holy Spirits last invitations to conversion. Since the Holy Spirit is the Forgiver of sins to die while rejecting His mercy is to choose eternal separation from God.

These sins against the Holy Spirit are especially dangerous because they close the door to the very mercy the Spirit offers. Sins can be forgiven through sincere contrition and the Sacrament of Penance. Sins against the Holy Spirit however attack the very possibility of forgiveness by refusing the Spirit who applies Christs redemption to our souls. Our Lord Himself warned that whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. The Church understands this as referring especially to final impenitence the deliberate persistent rejection of the Spirits grace until death.

As long as a person lives and remains open to grace even these sins can be forgiven if the heart softens and turns back to God in humility. Every Catholic should therefore invoke the Holy Spirit often, pray for the gift of final perseverance, and make frequent use of the Sacrament of Penance. The sure remedies against these sins are humble trust in God's infinite mercy and a docile heart that listens to the gentle promptings of the Holy Spirit.