And that Holy Spirit is
bestowed on the poorest man who asks for it, as freely as upon the
highest of the heavenly host.
And this leads us on to the next puzzle of which I spoke: Men were
apt, and are apt now, to say to themselves: Does God care whether I
know what is right? Does God care to teach me about Himself? Is God
desirous that I should do my duty? For if He does not care about my
being good, why should I care about it?
To this St. Paul answers: "God, who was manifest in the flesh, was
preached to the Gentiles."
God does care that men should know about God; for He loves them. He
yearns after them as a father after his children, and He knows that
to know God, to know the truth about God, is the beginning of all
wisdom, the root of all safety and honour and happiness. He willeth
not that any should perish, but that all should come to the knowledge
of the truth. And, therefore, when the Son of God died for our sins,
He did not stop at that great deed of love; but He ordained Apostles,
and put upon them especially and above all men, His Holy Spirit, that
they might go and preach to all nations the good news that God had
become flesh, and dwelt among men, and borne their sorrows and
infirmities, and to baptize them into the very name of God itself,
into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;
that so, instead of fancying now that God did not care for them, they
might be sure that God so longed to teach them, that He called every
child, even from its cradle, to come into His kingdom, and be taught
the whole mystery of godliness.
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