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What Are Inspirations of the Holy Spirit?

Question:

Please describe inspirations of the Holy Spirit. How often? What are they? Actual Graces? Under what conditions?

Answer:

We distinguish inspirations of the Holy Spirit from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, which refers to the Holy Spirit’s role as the principal author of Scripture in working with the human authors of the respective scriptural books, the result of which is the inerrant collection of biblical books (CCC 107).

In contrast an inspiration(s) of the Holy Spirit refers to our being docile in our walk with God, so that we might hear the promptings of the Holy Spirit re: what we should think, say, do, etc. As St. Faustina says in paragraph 359 of her Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul,

Oh, if souls would only be willing to listen, at least a little, to the voice of conscience and the voice — that is, the inspirations — of the Holy Spirit! I say “at least a little,” because once we open ourselves to the influence of the Holy Spirit, He Himself will fulfill what is lacking in us.

Inspirations of the Holy Spirit are actual graces, “which refer to God’s interventions, whether at the beginning of conversion or in the course of the work of sanctification” (CCC 2000). In his Modern Catholic Dictionary, Father John Hardon, SJ, adds that actual graces “enlighten the mind or strengthen the will to perform supernatural actions that lead to heaven. Actual grace is therefore a transient divine assistance to enable man to obtain, retain, or grow in supernatural grace and the life of God.”

How frequently we receive these inspirations depends on how docile we are to doing God’s will in our lives. In addition, we should employ “The Practice of the Presence of God,” whereby we consciously dispose ourselves to be attentive to God’s voice throughout the day. As we do, we’ll gradually grow in virtue to be more attentive to the inspirations or promptings of the Holy Spirit.

To do this we must strive to be radically childlike, as Jesus says: “Whoever wants to be my follower must renounce himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24; see 18:1-4; 18:13-15).

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