Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on Pentecost Sunday.
My dear Parishioners,
Peace! The eighth article of the Apostle’s Creed is “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” There are six (6) In Brief passages in the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding this article of the Creed. The following is a reflection on article 742.
The fiftieth day after Easter is Pentecost and could rightly be called the birthday of the Church insofar as the Holy Spirit is said to be the soul of the Church. Before the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost the Apostles were frightened, hiding in the upper room (cf. Acts 2:1-4). Once the Spirt descended upon them in a rushing wind and tongues of fire there was nothing which could stop them.
Good News for us who live in the post-apostolic age (although the successors of the Apostles are still in our midst, namely the Bishops), is that the same Holy Spirit who descended upon the Apostles at the first Pentecost still descends. The Holy Spirit of God is given to us in all the sacraments, especially in Holy Baptism and Confirmation. It is in the Holy Spirit that we are able to be adopted sons and daughters of God in the Son. To the extent that we have faith, the Holy Spirit is at work in us. To the extent that we renounce sin in ourselves and all around us, the Holy Spirit is at work in us.
It was by the power of the Holy Spirit that the eternal Son of the eternal Father was conceived in time in the womb of the Virgin Mary (cf. Luke 1:26-38). It was the same Holy Spirit, who is One God with the Father and the Son, who descended upon the Lord Jesus as He stood in the Jordan at His baptism with John (cf. Matthew 3:13-17; Mark1:9-11). It was the same Holy Spirit who descended upon the Lord Jesus as He taught in the synagogue (cf. Luke 4:16-30). The Lord Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit even before His saving death and resurrection (cf. John 14:16-17).
The eternal Father sent His eternal Son into the world to save us. This eternal Son and Savior, Jesus Christ, was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and together with the Father sends the Spirit into the world.
It is in the power of the Holy Spirit that we are able to cry out “Abba, Father” (cf. Galatians 4:6) and “Jesus is Lord” (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:3). Without the Holy Spirit our Christian life withers. With the strength Holy Spirit gives we can do all things (cf. Philippians 4:13).
May the Spirit of holiness be ours as God’s gift to us. May we give of ourselves to God in the Spirit lives which are pleasing in His sight. May the same Holy Spirit who inspired the human authors of Sacred Scripture inspire our hearing and reading that we might believe what we read and practice the same.
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr