75. doc. Chr. 3.10.16; Hill, Teaching Christianity (I/11), 176. (continued)
The Holy Spirit's Indwelling 167 in God for his own sake, and in oneself and one's neighbor for God's sake; by cupidity or greed any impulse of the spirit to find joy in oneself and one's neighbor, and in any kind of bodily thing at all, not for God's sake."75 Charity is an elevation of the person so as to equip him or her to find joy in God alone and thereby enjoy all else in God. This elevation is an inspiration as it is particularly the effect of the Holy Spirit's presence in the life of the elect. Only those who possess the Holy Spirit are capable of authentic love: "The Holy Spirit gives life to no one outside this body . . . one who is an enemy of unity has no share in the love of God. Those, therefore, who are outside the Church do not have the Holy Spirit."76 Outside Christ's Catholic Church only a semblance of this unity and love exist. As we will see in the next chapter, the Son's incarnation has given his body on earth a visible and definite structure, and the Spirit is sent to work within this concrete plan and body.
To sum up, if love proceeds from the Father, and if the damned can to some degree share in the Son but if they cannot properly love, the caritas mentioned by the evangelist must be the Holy Spirit.77 This way of elimination and argumentation raises an important point: the love which is God is the same love bestowed upon God's faithful. Christian charity is not a creature or simply a gift from God but is God himself. To what extent can we say that God himself dwells in the human soul and not simply an effect of God? Augustine approaches such a question by way of the charity found within the creature: "Embrace love which is God, and embrace God with love. This is the love which unites all the good angels and servants of God in a bond of holiness [consociat uinculo sanctitatis], conjoins us and them together, and subjoins us to itself. . . . And if a man is full of love, what is he full of
75. doc. Chr. 3.10.16; Hill, Teaching Christianity (I/11), 176. 76. ep. 185.50; Teske, Letters (II/3), 206. 77. Cf. ep. Jo. 7.6.