I believe in the Holy Spirit

We do indeed believe in the elusive Holy Spirit.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks of the Holy Spirit as the first person of the Holy Trinity to be active in us and the last to be recognised.

We have solid images by means of which we speak of the Father.  And we have the words and acts of Jesus by which to acknowledge and speak of the Son.  But the Spirit?

We are given interestingly different images of the Spirit.  The very word spirit means breath.  At the beginning of creation, the Spirit was at work bringing everything to life (Genesis 1:2) and it is God’s breathing into human beings which makes them distinctive (Genesis 2:7).  

The giving of the Spirit is associated with Jesus’ breathing on his disciples (John 20:22).  The root of this word used for breath and spirit means something like ‘movement of air’.  It is subtle.  Thus wind is another image of the Spirit (Acts 2:1).  In his gospel, in a passage speaking of being born of water and the Spirit, John says: “The wind blows where it pleases.  You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.  So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (3:8).  The Spirit cannot be tamed or domesticated; we have to be alert and listening to his movement among us.

The Gospel of John puts great emphasis on the Spirit, who will  be sent by Jesus as the means by which Jesus keeps his disciples united with himself.  The Spirit will lead his disciples into the understanding of the mystery of Jesus and of his mission.  See the following passages of John’s Gospel – 14:16-19, 25-26; 15:26-27; 16:4-15.

The Holy Spirit is God within us.  The Holy Spirit is Christ’s first gift to those who believe.  The Spirit dwells within us: we are kept in faith and fidelity by his active interior presence.

By Fr Frank O’Loughlin

Published: 12 April 2024