Jan. 28, 2013 Monday: St. Thomas Aquinas
The sin against the Holy Spirit
Why is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit unforgivable? How should this blasphemy be understood ? St. Thomas Aquinas replies that it is a question of a sin that is "unforgivable by its very nature, insofar as it excludes the elements through which the forgiveness of sin takes place." According to such an exegesis, "blasphemy" does not properly consist in offending against the Holy Spirit in words; it consists rather in the refusal to accept the salvation which God offers us through the Holy Spirit, working through the power of the Cross. If man rejects the "convincing concerning sin" which comes from the Holy Spirit (Jn 16,8) and which has the power to save, he also rejects the "coming" of the Counselor (Jn 16,7) - that "coming" which was accomplished in the Paschal Mystery, in union with the redemptive power of Christ's Blood: the Blood which "purifies the conscience from dead works" (Heb 9,15).We know that the result of such a purification is the forgiveness of sins. Therefore, whoever rejects the Spirit and the Blood (cf. 1Jn 5,8) remains in "dead works," in sin. And the
blasphemy against the Holy Spirit consists precisely in the radical refusal to accept this forgiveness, of which he is the intimate giver and which presupposes the genuine conversion which he brings about in the conscience.
If Jesus says that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven either in this life or in the next, it is because this "non-forgiveness" is linked, as to its cause, to "non-repentance," in other words to the radical refusal to be converted...
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, then, is the sin committed by the person who claims to have a "right" to persist in evil - in any sin at all - and who thus rejects Redemption. One closes oneself
up in sin, thus making impossible one's conversion, and consequently the remission of sins, which one considers not essential or not important for one's life. This is a state of spiritual ruin, because blasphemy against the Holy Spirit does not allow one to escape from one's self-imposed imprisonment.
-Blessed John Paul II
Why is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit unforgivable? How should this blasphemy be understood ? St. Thomas Aquinas replies that it is a question of a sin that is "unforgivable by its very nature, insofar as it excludes the elements through which the forgiveness of sin takes place." According to such an exegesis, "blasphemy" does not properly consist in offending against the Holy Spirit in words; it consists rather in the refusal to accept the salvation which God offers us through the Holy Spirit, working through the power of the Cross. If man rejects the "convincing concerning sin" which comes from the Holy Spirit (Jn 16,8) and which has the power to save, he also rejects the "coming" of the Counselor (Jn 16,7) - that "coming" which was accomplished in the Paschal Mystery, in union with the redemptive power of Christ's Blood: the Blood which "purifies the conscience from dead works" (Heb 9,15).We know that the result of such a purification is the forgiveness of sins. Therefore, whoever rejects the Spirit and the Blood (cf. 1Jn 5,8) remains in "dead works," in sin. And the
blasphemy against the Holy Spirit consists precisely in the radical refusal to accept this forgiveness, of which he is the intimate giver and which presupposes the genuine conversion which he brings about in the conscience.
If Jesus says that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven either in this life or in the next, it is because this "non-forgiveness" is linked, as to its cause, to "non-repentance," in other words to the radical refusal to be converted...
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, then, is the sin committed by the person who claims to have a "right" to persist in evil - in any sin at all - and who thus rejects Redemption. One closes oneself
up in sin, thus making impossible one's conversion, and consequently the remission of sins, which one considers not essential or not important for one's life. This is a state of spiritual ruin, because blasphemy against the Holy Spirit does not allow one to escape from one's self-imposed imprisonment.
-Blessed John Paul II
