Who is the Holy Spirit

Who is the Holy Spirit?

Whenever we make the sign of the cross we mention the Holy Spirit, but what this Holy Spirit mean to us? Sometimes it seems we just mention this third person of the Holy Trinity in passing, for form’s sake, like a home run hitter will touch third base on his way home. One reason may be that the Holy Spirit is hard to describe. We think of God as “Father” and fathers are part of our experience. Perhaps we relate best to the second person of the Trinity, because He became man in Jesus. But the Holy Spirit did not become human and cannot be shown in human form.

We know that not everything that is real can be seen, such as the wind, but we know it is there. Some things are not even material, like love, honor or courage, and yet we believe in them. The Holy Spirit is like this: unseen, immaterial, but no less real for that.

At the baptism of Christ, the first manifestation of the Holy Trinity, the Spirit appeared in the form of a dove. This does not mean that the Spirit of God became a bird, or even that He should be depicted as a dove except in images of Christ’s baptism. Elsewhere in the New Testament we find different images of the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost the Spirit was manifested in a powerful wind and in tongues of fire. These signify the power of the Holy Spirit given to the Church at Pentecost. Jesus Himself described the Holy Spirit as “rivers of living water” (John 7:38-39) to indicate the life-giving nature of the Holy Spirit which believers were to receive.

In the Gospels we find the Lord Jesus telling His followers, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate [Paraclete], to be with you forever” (John 14:15-16). Jesus’ time on earth was limited, but the One He called the “Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father” (John 15:26) would always be with them.

The word Paraclete, sometimes translated Advocate or Consoler, referred to the counselor who would help people through the intricacies of the courts in the ancient world, somewhat as a lawyer would do today. Jesus uses this image to show that the Holy Spirit would be with us to be our guide throughout the circumstances of our life. The Spirit would lead us through the difficult and sometimes complex paths we travel if we would only rely on His guidance.

Jesus assured His followers that this Spirit “will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you” (John 14:26) and “will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit would help the disciples understand the real meaning of the time they spent with Jesus. The Spirit would help them see who Jesus really is, what He has taught us and what His death and resurrection mean for us.

One of the last things the risen Christ told His followers was that they were “…not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. …[for] you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:4-5). Jesus was promising that the Holy Spirit would be poured out on the disciples like the waters of baptism. This “baptism” would give the disciples the power they need to proclaim the Gospel. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

The risen Christ first gave the Holy Spirit to the Apostles the evening of His resurrection, empowering them to forgive sins in His name. Fifty days later, on Pentecost, the Spirit came upon the infant Church, numbering about 120 (Acts 1:15). With the Spirit’s help these believers went forth to proclaim the Gospel and invite people to follow Christ.

The New Testament book Acts of the Apostles tells how the Holy Spirit was given to more and more people when they accepted the Gospel of Christ and were baptized.

- In the Days of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit gave them the ability to proclaim the Gospel boldly, bearing witness to Christ despite opposition. When Peter and John were arrested and told not to go around preaching Christ, they answered, “Whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19-20). The Spirit inspired the Apostles and their companions to preach and to record their preaching in writing. The Spirit inspired the Church to collect their writings in what we now call the New Testament and to reject other writings as presenting distorted pictures of Christ and His message. In this way the Holy Spirit established the Church firmly on the saving work and message of Christ.

- The Holy Spirit enables each believer to live the Christian life. The Spirit helps us to believe and to understand the Gospel, for “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3). The Holy Spirit is also within us to guide our prayer along right paths. “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27). It is the Holy Spirit who leads us to repentance, prompting us to confess our sins and to be renewed in the life of God.

- The Holy Spirit also gives particular gifts to each believer different from those given to our neighbor to build up the Church by our common activity. “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit… To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:4, 7). One may be a good preacher or teacher, another good musician, a third have the means to support the Church generously. The speaker or singer has not received this gift so that they could glory in the sound of their own voice. The rich man has not received his gift so that he could indulge his cravings. All these gifts are given to build up the Body of Christ which is the Church.

When the apostles baptized believers they prayed that the Holy Spirit would come upon them. St Paul described this as an anointing, a sealing with the Holy Spirit. “But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first installment” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22). He teaches us that the gift of the Holy Spirit we receive on earth is a pledge of the life in God which we are meant to enjoy eternally.

We receive the Holy Spirit as our helper in the Mystery of Chrismation when we are anointed with chrism, “the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit,” after our Baptism. The Church Fathers taught that we become “other Christs,” other anointed ones, in this Mystery, gifted by the Holy Spirit to take our place in the Church to exercise our gifts as members of God’s priestly

people. As we say at the end of the Divine Liturgy, “We have seen the true Light, we have received the heavenly Spirit…”

If we actively accept this gift of the Spirit, cooperate with the Spirit’s graces and follow His lead in our lives we will manifest the “fruit” of the Holy Spirit’s presence within us. “By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-25).

The Church’s most basic prayer to the Holy Spirit is “O heavenly King,” which begins almost every service or public activity of the Church. It includes many of the images and characteristics of the Holy Spirit mentioned above: