WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT ?

When we speak about the ‘Holy Spirit’, we can never separate Him from the Father and the Son. God took upon himself the nature of man, in the person of Jesus Christ, to obey, to accomplish the Divine Plan of God the Father. So there exists a bond of love between the Father and the Son, that bond, that love is the ‘Spirit’.

The Holy Spirit renews the face of the earth, makes all things new, gives life, a new life. And what better example can be presented if not of a married couple. The fruit, the result of the consumed love between the married man and woman is ‘a new life’. The baby, the new creature, is the proof of that love of the couple.

But when we think about the Holy Spirit, we can’t imagine any facial characteristics, or looks … not even a name. It is no coincidence that in various languages He is referred to almost by the same ‘thought’, by the same ‘characteristic’. In Hebrew He is called ‘ruah’, very similar to the Maltese words ‘rih’ (wind) and ‘ruh’ (soul). In Greek He is called ‘pneuma’, which means air, from which we get the English word ‘pneumatic’.

In Latin we address Him as ‘spiritus’ meaning ‘spirit’, in English as well, He is addressed as ‘spirit’ or ‘ghost’, in Italian we use ‘spirito’. In Costantinople we find the magnificent Cathedral of ‘Santa Sofia’, (the Holy Spirit), we have ‘sofia’ meaning ‘breath’. So as we can notice these are words taken from the elements, from nature; air wind spirit, breath.

Though we can’t listen or hear His voice, nor touch Him yet, we can feel his presence, his promptinhgs, as St.John tells us: “The Spirit blows where it wills. We do not know from where He comes or where He is blowing.” (3:8). YET, His presence can be felt. The Spirit always acts through another ‘person’, when the Spirit takes hold of, overwhelms, we could say transforms someone, that particular person changes completely, radically, he will be a new person, a new life, a new birth.

Just look at our dear apostle Simon, son of Jonah, the rough, hyper fisherman, always ready to challenge everyone, can’t hold his tongue in place, a bully, I might say, even a liar because he lacked courage to face the truth. Yet, look at the ‘transformation’ that overwhelmed this same Galilean, when he was filled, taken over by the Holy Spirit. We read in the Acts that he baptized 3,000 at one go. NOW, Simon bar Jonah has been born again, changed into Peter the Rock, to the point of suffering martyrdom.

The power, the influence of the Holy Spirit is … only one word can be chosen … ‘extraordinary’, things of great wonder will be performed. As the Psalm goes: “He will renew the face of the earth” (104:30) But His power, His influence is always ‘internal influence’. As St.John tells us: “But you shall know Him because He abides with you and in you.”

The Holy Spirit alone leads us to discover the ‘truth’, it is the Holy Spirit who helps us to pray, to see, to understand everything in a different light, in its proper perspective, as God wills it. We have to open up to the Spirit who is already in us. Few realise that we have received the Holy Spirit on the day of our Baptism, when our parents wisely decided on our behalf. When we receive the Sacrament of Confirmation, we would actually be personally confirming, declaring that we accept the power of the Holy Spirit to work in us.

A Catholic, worthy of the name, should not wait for the Feast of Pentecost to invoke the Holy Spirit. We can have all the help we need in all type of situations in our daily life. HE is there, certainly not asleep. Maybe, very often, we are the ones who are asleep and do not realise the power that is within us. Do invite Him to come to your aid, not once a day, but in every moment of ‘decision’… and we do take thousands of decisions every day. But, do consult the Paraclete before taking any decision in life and you will be amazed how things turn out the way God wills them … much better than we were planning.

“Holy Spirit, enlighten us to see the true Light, lead us to find the one Way, and help us enter through the right Door of our Father’s Mansion prepared for us since eternity. Amen.”