Perfect Knowledge

"But we all, beholding the glory of the Lord with faces uncovered, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Cor. 3:18, Douay-Rheims

The Holy Spirit bestows upon us the gift of Knowledge. This knowledge is unlike ordinary human knowledge. It is not the consequence of intellectual pursuit or academic labor, rather it is the knowledge of a Person. We can memorize Scripture, study theology, or teach the Catechism, and these things are good and edifying, but the knowledge that the Spirit grants us goes beyond a collection of facts and words. The perfect knowledge of God is granted in union with the Holy Spirit and is a transforming knowledge. It is a living knowledge which brings about in our souls a true change of being. St. John describes it in this way: "Dearly beloved, we are now the sons of God, and it hath not yet appeared what we shall be. We know, that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, because we shall see him as He is." I John 3:2. With faces uncovered, that is, with our souls cleansed from every stain of sin and detached from our personal motives, aspirations, and opinions, our perception of God, mediated by the Holy Spirit, will be perfect and accurate. For "the things also that are of God no man knoweth, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit that is of God, that we may know the things that are given us from God, which things also we speak, not in the learned words of human wisdom, but in the doctrine of the Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual." 2 Cor 2: 12-13. The very beholding of God in the Spirit, which will grant us true knowledge of Him, will produce in our souls a perfect imitation of His being. "We shall be like Him", we shall be truly sons and daughters of God because we shall know Him as He is...not as we wish Him to be or as we hope Him to be, but as He is.
Come, Holy Spirit, filled the hearts of Your faithful, and grant unto us the gift of perfect knowledge of God.