The Holy Spirit’s Power and Presence

Sisters and brothers. As we continue our journey through the Catechism, we have talked about the Holy Trinity. We have reflected about the Father as Creator. Jesus, true God and true man, suffered, died, rose, and ascended into heaven. Today we turn to the Holy Spirit. That one, Jesus said, would be an advocate, a helper to us, and indeed teaching us all that little Lord has taught us.

So when we think of the Holy Spirit, there are a number of ways we can think of the Holy Spirit. One is the teacher. Another is a source of power and grace in our life today. As we think about the Holy Spirit’s presence to us through the sacraments, through our prayer life, through our reading of Scripture, through our works, and of ministry through our works with care for one another.

Another is the source of courage. The Holy Spirit is what inspires the prophets to stand and call for a change in our world and in our lives, both the ancient prophets and the prophets amongst us today. 

Sisters and brothers, when we think of the Holy Spirit, though, there's one way we should all think of the Holy Spirit. And that is when we recall the Trinity, the Father, and the Son's love for one another, that that love indeed was and is the Holy Spirit. And so the name we can give to the Holy Spirit is the love, the love present to us. Whenever Christ is present, the love of Christ is present.

We think of again the Eucharist, that in the Eucharist Christ is really and truly present to us, as is the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit that love implanted in us in the Sacrament of Baptism strengthened in us in the Sacrament of Confirmation, present to us in ordination, in marriage, in Reconciliation, the Spirit is a source of courage, strength, and love in our life as Christians, helping us to be conformed to Christ. That wonderful work of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit was present in the Old Testament, although we don't get a clear understanding even in the New Testament. It's the development of the Church's understanding of the Old and New Testament that leads to, the Council of Constantinople in 381 declaring that the Holy Spirit has the shares and the fullness of divinity with the Father and the Son.

We might, in our creed, say it of the Son, that He’s consubstantial with the Father of the same substance. We could say the same of the Spirit. All three persons in the one divinity that we honor and share.

The Holy Spirit is important for us in a particular way, and we use images of wind, water, and fire. Of water, Christ’s death on the cross, we’re told blood and water flowed from His side. The Church fathers spoke of that moment of blood and water, that it is as if the Eucharist in Baptism flowed from those side of Christ, giving us the birth of the Church. Another image of the birth of the Church is wind and fire.

Reflection Questions:

1. How do you experience the Holy Spirit as a source of strength and courage in your daily life?

2. What significance do the symbols of wind, fire, and water hold in your understanding of the Holy Spirit?

3. How can you live as a "temple of the Holy Spirit" and reflect God's love in your community?