Pope says Holy Spirit makes each person a child of God

Published: 2006-11-15

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Holy Spirit, present in every Christian, makes each person a child of God and part of God's great family, Pope Benedict XVI said. During his Nov. 15 weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, the pope continued a series of talks on the life and teachings of St. Paul. In the apostle's Letter to the Romans, St. Paul describes the ways in which the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, is present and works in the lives of all Christians. The Holy Spirit "lives in us (as) God invited the Spirit of his Son into our hearts," the pope said. Each Christian receives "a spirit of adoption" through which he or she becomes, in Christ, a son or daughter of God the Father, he said. "This is our great dignity, to be not only the image, but the children of God," Pope Benedict said.

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