Notes on Dominum et Vivificantem (Part 4)

The Holy Spirit gives strength to the inner man

• The Church gives forever witness to the resurrection. In the resurrection the H.S.  revealed itself as the giver of life. The church witness and help the H.S in this life giving mission.
• The life of man in God is possible through the H.S

Under the influence of the Holy Spirit this inner, "spiritual," man matures and grows strong. Thanks to the divine self- communication, the human spirit which "knows the secrets of man" meets the "Spirit who searches everything, even the depths of God."²⁵² In this Spirit, who is the eternal gift, the Triune God opens himself to man, to the human spirit. The hidden breath of the divine Spirit enables the human spirit to open in its turn before the saving and sanctifying self-opening of God. Through the gift of grace, which comes from the Holy Spirit, man enters a "new life," is brought into the supernatural reality of the divine life itself and becomes a "dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit," a living temple of God.²⁵³ For through the Holy Spirit, the Father and the Son come to him and take up their abode with him.²⁵⁴ In the communion of grace with the Trinity, man's "living area" is broadened and raised up to the supernatural level of divine life. Man lives in God and by God: he lives "according to the Spirit," and "sets his mind on the things of the Spirit."

• This intimate relationship with God in the Spirit helps man to see himself in a new life, to fully realize what it means to be in the image and likeness of God. From Jesus Christ we learn this truth, but it is through the action of the Spirit in our lives that we put it into practice.
• It is in this way that God transforms the world from within, from inside minds and hearts. 

The Holy Spirit-says the great Basil- "while simple in essence and manifold in his virtues...extends himself without undergoing any diminishing, is present in each subject capable of receiving him as if he were the only one, and gives grace which is sufficient for all."

• 2Cor 3:17 "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" The H.S alone can ehlp us to free ourselves from the old and new things that determine our behavior (determinisms) because it guides to the knowledge of the "law of the Spirit" which in turn gives us life in Christ. Through life in Christ man discovers the "full measure of man's true freedom".

Also in the ordinary conditions of society, Christians, as witnesses to man's authentic dignity, by their obedience to the Holy Spirit contribute to the manifold "renewal of the face of the earth," working together with their brothers and sisters in order to achieve and put to good use everything that is good, noble and beautiful in the modern progress of civilization, culture, science, technology and the other areas of thought and human activity.²⁶⁴ They do this as disciples of Christ who-as the Council writes-"appointed Lord by his Resurrection...is now at work in the hearts of men through the power of his Spirit. He arouses not only a desire for the age to come but by that very fact, he animates, purifies and strengthens those noble longings too by which the human family strives to make its life more humane and to render the earth submissive to this goal."²⁶⁵ Thus they affirm still more strongly the greatness of man, made in the image and likeness of God, a greatness shown by the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God, who "in the fullness of time," by the power of the Holy Spirit, entered into history and manifested himself as true man, he who was begotten before every creature, "through whom are all things and through whom we exist"²⁶⁶