237 part i: sunday meditations for the entire year received the Spirit of the Lord, who will be accompanied by incredible consolations. 2. “they began to speak in other tongues” (Acts 2:4). Consider that the knowledge of tongues, the explanation of the Scriptures, the capacity for understanding the mysteries of faith and the knowledge of future things are the signs, consequences, and gifts of the Holy Spirit. But they would vanish quickly, or they would be of little use for our salvation, unless strengthened by our gratitude, guarded by humility, directed by right intention, and sustained by proper use. For the Apostle speaks thus about them: “Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away” (1 Cor 13:8). He says so not because he makes little account of God’s gifts, but because love is to be recognized as the foundation of them; love is the foundation of all virtues, of gratitude, of humility, and of many other things. [f.57v] 3. “and make [O]ur home with him” (Jn 14:23). Consider the explanation given by St. Gregory about this abode of the Holy Spirit: “The Holy Spirit,” he says, “comes to the hearts of certain people, and does not make there [H]is abode.” Why? “Because,” he says, “through repentance they gain God’s respect indeed, but at the time of temptation they forget exactly what they had repented of; and thus they go back to committing sins, as if they did not bewail them at all.”98 If, therefore, you do not have the intention, nor feel any desire to mend your ways, if you do not prefer to die rather than to fall again, believe that the Holy Spirit does not abide in you. Strive, therefore, to correct your defects, so that you would be considered as not only having received the Holy Spirit internally, but that you would also show it externally; henceforth avoiding all kinds of imperfections and making the greatest efforts in the zealous exercise of all virtues. 98 Gregorius Magnus, XL Homiliarum in Evangelia: Liber II — Homilia XXX (Joan. XIV, 23-31), in: PL, vol. 76, Ateliers catholiques du Petit-Montrouge, Paris 1857, p. 1221 (n. 1576). Cf. GFGH, p. 237 (Homily 30, § 4).
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