'Treatise on the Holy Spirit' by Basil of Caesarea: A commentary

Sticking with the religious issues, I wish to make a commentary on a fragment from a treatise about the nature of the Spirit by a Cappadocian father ('Treatise on the Holy Spirit', 9).

This fragment begins with the name of this trinitarian person. His proper name is 'Holy Spirit' because has nor body, neither matter. He cannot be divided. He has not a circumscribed nature, so we cannot say 'He is here' or 'there'. As a matter of fact, he is not a creature but a being with intelligence, with infiniteness, who has no limits, cannot be measured and abundantly bestows its gifts. 

The Holy Spirit communicates to all who seek sanctification. He can sanctify others, yet needs nothing: nor strength, neither addition - he is full by himself. He grants life and illumination not to everybody, but to those who are worthy of him. He shares, giving himself, as though who receives him were alone, yet is present to everyone and is given for all humanity.

The Holy Spirit dwells in the person who shares with him. This is why this person becomes spiritual and may communicate the Spirit to others. Many gifts issue from this dwelling: prophecy, wisdom, becoming like God and being destined to him.

'The power and the glory' by Graham Greene: a review

 This book is a kind of road movie set in the Mexican revolution in the twentieth century.

The novel relates the pursuing of a priest by the police and his runaway to a Northern state. During his road the priest debates between leaving his religious duties -being a sinner and a betrayer to his faith- or going on until the foreseen end, being a martyr. Its plot evolves to an unexpected end for the reader.

The strongest point of the book is the drawing of secondary characters. Thus the lieutenant, a man obsessed in haunting the priest; padre José, a regretting priest who has conformed to the law and has got married; and Maria, a peasant who had an affair with the priest. The weakness of the novel, if there is any, is some inconsistency in the priest’s character, like his easiness to getting over from his alcoholism.

This book is very recommendable. It will appeal to readers who like good literature, for it is considered as a masterpiece.