The Holy Spirit

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

This weekend we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. It is the third most important
feast of our yearly Liturgical calendar, following only the feasts of Easter and
Christmas. This feast day is not so much about an event, but about a WHO – we
celebrate the third Person of the Blessed Trinity – The Holy Spirit.

In today’s Gospel we hear our Risen Lord say “Receive the Holy Spirit.” These
four words represent the third most important mystery of our faith, following the
mysteries of the Trinity and the Person of who Jesus Christ is in his Hypostatic
Union (i.e. that Jesus was fully human and fully divine and yet remained ONE
Person with two natures). Our faith reminds us that through our baptism we have
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We become “God-bearers” as Mary was the “Godbearer” of the second person of the Blessed Trinity. As much as I might want to
explain to you this mystery of having the third Person of the Blessed Trinity in us, I
would still fail in capturing the fullness of what it means to have the Holy Spirit in us
– this makes total sense, since we are dealing with a “mystery” that only God
himself can reveal.

We have the Catechism of the Catholic Church that speaks about this mystery and
provides us with much insight that we can take to prayer and discernment. What the
Catechism says can help our faith in believing all the more in the Holy Spirit.

Below you will find the first of a number of explorations of what it means to say in
the Creed “I believe in the Holy Spirit” from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I
encourage you to read this exploration and take it to prayer for meditation. I further
encourage you to look at what follows as well – you will not be sorry you did.
Let us pray that we can come to know and love the third Person of the Blessed
Trinity and realize that the Holy Spirit is within us to guide us in all TRUTH.

Happy Pentecost Feast day,

Fr. Liborio