Chapter
8

Spirit of God

In This Chapter

Understanding the Holy Spirit and his role

The names and symbols for the Spirit

Learning what Pentecost was all about

The Spirit at work in the Catholic Church today

Now we get to what I consider the most elusive aspect of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. To me, God the Father feels more concrete even though he is invisible. God the Son is very concrete in Jesus. The Spirit, on the other hand, is literally like trying to catch the wind.

We’re going to talk about where the Holy Spirit comes from, how he got here, and why we need him. The key thing to remember through all of this is that the Holy Spirit is no less God than the Father and Son. He is equal to them and has existed as one with them since before time began.

This part of the Apostles’ Creed is short and sweet: “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” Nothing more, nothing less.

As always, the Nicene Creed goes a little further, saying, “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets.” Well, that seems like a whole other story, doesn’t it? Suddenly a much clearer picture of this third person of the Trinity begins to emerge, and that is where we will begin.

Who Is the Holy Spirit?

Jesus told his apostles at the Last Supper (in John 14 and 16) that “another Advocate” or Paraclete, a Greek term meaning advocate, would be sent to them. This Advocate is the “Spirit of truth,” who was to be sent by either the Father at the request of Jesus (John 14) or by Jesus himself when he went to the Father (John 16). This Paraclete-Advocate-Spirit was sent to dwell among the disciples in order to guide them and remind them of what Jesus told them when he was with them. So after Jesus had gone to the Father, the Spirit remained on earth, and the Spirit still lives among us today. We cannot see the Spirit or hear the Spirit in a physical way, but he is alive within us, around us, in Scripture, and in the works of the Church.

The early creeds of the Church proclaimed first and foremost that the Holy Spirit is one of the three persons in the Holy Trinity, and this sets the stage for everything else. It means the Holy Spirit is coequal and coeternal with the Father and Son. He didn’t begin with Jesus or with the Resurrection. The Spirit was, since before time began, fully in cooperation with the Father and Son, although he is the last person of the Trinity to be revealed to us.

The Catechism explains that for Catholic believers the Spirit is “the first to awaken faith in us and to communicate to us the new life.” (684) So it is the Spirit that brings faith to life and allows the faithful to know God and Jesus in a personal way.

You’re Absolved If …

Some still use the name “Holy Ghost” when referring to the Holy Spirit. This was the name for the third person of the Trinity used until the 1960s when parts of the Mass began being celebrated in English rather than Latin. Because Scripture translations used “Holy Spirit” instead of “Holy Ghost,” it was thought that using the Holy Spirit reference throughout all worship and prayer would be more consistent with Scripture. Also, there was a feeling that “Ghost” conjured up haunting images from modern English and didn’t accurately symbolize the third person of the Trinity in the same way the word “Spirit” does, which symbolizes the wind or breath of God.

Signs of the Spirit

The Holy Spirit goes by a few different names in Scripture and in Church teaching, although Holy Spirit is the most common. He is also known as the Paraclete, as we mentioned earlier, which the Catechism explains as “he who is called to one’s side,” or the Advocate. He is also known as consoler, sanctifier, and Spirit of truth, among other lesser-known titles found in the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of St. Paul. (692)

You may also know the Holy Spirit by the symbols that represent his presence and action in the life and hearts of believers, and there are quite a few:

Water, the sign of new birth, is symbolic of the Holy Spirit and the cleansing actions that occur through him during the sacrament of baptism, which we will discuss at length in Chapter 12. The Catechism explains that in the Spirit we are “born into the divine life.” (694)

Anointing with oil, the sign of the sacrament of confirmation, verges on being a synonym for the Holy Spirit, according to the Catechism. Jesus was anointed by the Spirit, which he now pours out for the rest of us. (695)

Fire symbolizes the Spirit’s “transforming energy,” which is seen throughout the Old and New Testaments. John the Baptist tells his followers: “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Luke 3:16) Just as fire transforms whatever it touches, so does the Spirit. (696)

Cloud and light, the former signifying darkness or obscurity and the other luminescence or revelation, are “manifestations” of the Spirit. In both the Old and New Testaments these manifestations reveal God to his people—Moses on Mount Sinai, Mary at the Annunciation, the three apostles present at the Transfiguration, and so on. (697)

The seal is a symbol of anointing, indicating that the believer now bears an “indelible” or permanent mark of the Holy Spirit. The seal is a critical part of the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and holy orders, as will be discussed in later chapters.

The hand represents the Spirit, in that Jesus would heal the sick and bless children by laying hands on them. The apostles later did the same in his name. Even more pointedly, it is by the apostles’ laying on of hands that the Holy Spirit was given to others. (699)

The finger of God’s outstretched hand is seen as a symbol of the Spirit. In the Old Testament, God uses his finger to write the Ten Commandments on stone tablets. In the New Testament, Jesus is said to “write” on human hearts. (700)

The dove is one of the more common symbols of the Spirit. When Jesus came up from the water after his baptism, the Holy Spirit came upon him in the form of a dove. Christian iconography traditionally uses a dove to connote the Spirit. (701)

The Spirit at Work

We have looked at who the Spirit is and how he is symbolized. Now let’s consider more specifically what the Spirit does.

The Catechism explains that we can see the work of the Holy Spirit in a variety of important ways: In the Scripture he has inspired; in the Tradition of the Church; in the Church’s magisterium, which the Spirit assists; in the words and symbols of the liturgy; in prayer where the Spirit intercedes for us; in the ministries of the Church on earth; in the signs of apostolic and missionary life; and in the witness of the saints who exhibit the Spirit’s holiness. (688)

The Spirit, who is united with the Father and the Son, never works independent of them. He is on a joint mission with the Son in the work of salvation, and he brings that mission to life in the lives of the adopted children of the Father, meaning all of us. (689–690)

Clearly, based on everything we’ve discussed so far, the Holy Spirit plays a pretty big role in seeing God’s divine plan to its fulfillment. He was there from day one. He spoke to humankind through the words of the prophets of the Old Testament. He came upon Mary and allowed her to conceive the Son of God. He was with Jesus throughout his life and death, and he remained with the apostles and remains with all of us for all time. That’s some resumé.

Church Speak

A prophet is someone sent by God to proclaim his word, to speak in God’s name. Although prophets did not principally predict the future, sometimes they did, yet sometimes their predictions were wrong. Oftentimes they chastised Israel; other times they consoled Israel and offered hope for the future. The Old Testament includes 18 prophetic books. John the Baptist, in the New Testament, completed the work of the old-school prophets.

I think sometimes the Holy Spirit doesn’t get his due because he seems like he’s a Johnny-come-lately in terms of divine revelation and intervention. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Holy Spirit is the “breath” of God. At the beginning of creation, it is the Spirit that breathes life into all living things. Certainly that’s nothing to shrug off. (703)

Later on, it is the Spirit that reveals, through various manifestations, great truths to the patriarchs of the Old Testament, from the Ten Commandments to the Psalms. (707–708)

Scripture tells us John the Baptist was “filled with the Holy Spirit” from the moment of his conception in his mother’s womb. And, of course, we know it was the Holy Spirit who came upon Mary at the Annunciation and allowed God to become one of us.

The Catechism says that when the pregnant Mary visited her cousin, Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist, it was a “visit from God to his people.” Even before his birth, God made man was reaching out to the rest of humankind. (717)

John the Baptist was the prelude to Jesus, and the Church teaches that through John, the Holy Spirit “concluded his speaking through the prophets.” (719)

Now let’s backtrack just a bit to revisit Mary and the role of the Spirit in her life and her decision. The Catechism explains that Mary was “the masterwork of the mission of the Son and the Spirit in the fullness of time.” (721) Wow, Mary was the “masterwork.” She became God’s dwelling place, and the Holy Spirit made it happen.

The Holy Spirit “prepared” Mary by his grace, “fulfilled” the Father’s plan in her, “manifested” in her the Son of God, and through her brought all people “into communion” with Jesus Christ. (722-725) That is the work of the Holy Spirit.

According to the Catechism, we must read the entire second section of the creed—the section on Jesus Christ—in light of the role of the Holy Spirit. They were on a “joint mission,” which Jesus revealed slowly throughout his preaching life and completely after his death and Resurrection. (727)

After his Resurrection, when Jesus appeared to his disciples, he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” (John 20:21) He then “breathed” the Holy Spirit on them, giving them the mission—which is the mission of the Church to this day—to continue the work he began.

Pentecost

Fifty days after the Resurrection, on what is known as Pentecost, after Jesus had already ascended into heaven, the Spirit of the Lord came upon the apostles and the Holy Trinity was fully revealed. (732)

“… Suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.” (Acts 2:1–4)

Church Speak

Pentecost comes from the Greek word pentekoste, meaning “fiftieth day,” and in the Catholic Church commemorates the day when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles, which was about 50 days after Easter. For Jews, it was the “feast of weeks,” which fell on the fiftieth day after Passover, when the first fruits of the grain harvest were presented to the Lord (Deut 16:9).

Okay, so once Pentecost was over and the apostles accepted the fact that now they could be understood by people who spoke languages the apostles had never spoken, what happened to the Holy Spirit? Well, the Spirit is present today just as he was present in the room with the apostles all those years ago. Maybe we’re not hearing rushing winds or seeing fire descend from the heavens, but the Spirit is alive and well, nonetheless.

The Church teaches it is by the gift of the Holy Spirit that God’s love is given to each of us, and that through the Spirit each of us can be restored to the “divine likeness” we lost through sin. (734)

The Catechism explains—and quotes St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians (5:22–23)—that by the “power of the Spirit,” we can bear the “fruit of the Spirit,” which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (736)

Teachable Moment

The Church teaches that there are seven “gifts” of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, piety, fortitude, and fear of the Lord. These gifts are spelled out in Isaiah 11:1–3 as characteristics of the Spirit of the Lord that will rest upon the Messiah. They are an explicit part of the prayer that is said when the minister of the sacrament of confirmation extends his hands prior to anointing the believer.

The Spirit in the Church Today

So how is the Holy Spirit evident in the Church today? The Catechism explains that the joint mission of Christ and the Spirit is “brought to completion” in the Church (737), and that the Spirit “builds, animates, and sanctifies” the Church on earth (747). And what does all of that mean? The Church’s mission is not separate from or in addition to the mission of Jesus and the Spirit but is “its sacrament,” meaning that the Church makes Jesus’ mission present in the world today. (738)

Through the seven sacraments of the Church (which we will discuss in the next section of this book), Christ sends his Spirit to the faithful. Quoting from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, the Catechism explains that the Spirit, who helps believers face their weaknesses and is the “master of prayer,” intercedes in the lives of the faithful “with sighs too deep for words” (Romans 8:26), giving us a poetic and somewhat concrete picture of a being that is in many ways beyond description. (741)

The Least You Need to Know

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Holy Trinity who was fully revealed to humanity on Pentecost. He is equal with Father and Son and, like them, has existed since before time began.

There are numerous names for the Spirit and a series of symbols—like water, fire, anointing, and the dove—that represent our human attempts to capture the Spirit’s essence and activity.

Jesus and the Holy Spirit are on a “joint mission” to save humanity, which was inaugurated with Jesus’ death and Resurrection and brought into a final but not-yet-over stage through the outpouring of the Spirit.

The Spirit sanctifies and animates the Church today so it can continue the mission of Jesus.

The power of the Holy Spirit offers believers “fruit” in the form of love, joy, and patience, as well as many “gifts,” such as wisdom, fortitude, and piety.