God's love for us: The Holy Spirit
A Reflection by Fred Schaeffer, OFS
Who is the Holy Spirit? The answer is found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, beginning with Article 683: "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit." "God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!"' This knowledge of faith is possible only in the Holy Spirit: to be in touch with Christ, we must first have been touched by the Holy Spirit. He comes to meet us and kindles faith in us. By virtue of our Baptism, the first sacrament of the faith, the Holy Spirit in the Church communicates to us, intimately and personally, the life that originates in the Father and is offered to us in the Son."
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Holy Trinity, said to be the love expressed between the Father and Son (the first and second person of the Holy Trinity). It is something we Catholic believe by Faith. There is ONE God in THREE persons, and to understand anything about the Faith (because, Faith is a Gift of God) we have to listen to the Holy Spirit. Article 686: "The Holy Spirit is at work with the Father and the Son from the beginning to the completion of the plan for our salvation. But in these "end times," ushered in by the Son's redeeming Incarnation, the Spirit is revealed and given, recognized and welcomed as a person. Now can this divine plan, accomplished n Christ, the firstborn and head of the new creation, be embodied in mankind by the outpouring of the Spirit: as the Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting."
Pentecost is the Feast of the Holy Spirit, the Birth of the Church. Still there are many people, even Catholics, who do not understand the Holy Spirit's role in our Church. We cannot go to Heaven without the help of the Holy Spirit. "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven." How do we know the Will of the Father. At the moment we need that information, the Holy Spirit will assist us. (Mt 7:21) Or, in Lk 12:12: "For the holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say." (©NAB). Some translations say "For the Holy Spirit will teach you all things."
From before the Birth of Jesus, the Angel Gabriel told Joseph, and then Mary that [Mary] will conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit. See Mt 1:20-25. And, again, in Mt. 3:11, "I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." There are 90 verses in the New Testament that deal with the words: "Holy Spirit."
It is through the wisdom given us by the Holy Spirit that we know and understand why Jesus called His Father "Abba!" In New Advent website: "Abba is the Aramaic word for "father." The word occurs three times in the New Testament (Mk 14:36; Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6). In each case it has its Greek translation subjoined to it, reading 'abba ho pater' in the Greek text; 'abba, pater' in the Latin Vulgate, and "Abba, Father" in the English version. St. Paul made use of the double expression in imitation of the early Christians, who, in their turn, used it in imitation of the prayer of Christ." (New Advent) a.
"Abba" is an informal mode of address - it is the way a child would address his father as "Daddy." Didn't our Lord teach us to be as children, without pretense, without agenda? That's how we're supposed to talk with Jesus, without agenda. We do not tell Him what we are going to do and then expect Him to just tag along. No, we suggest what we might do, and let Him whisper His choice for us!
Please stay well, and trust in the Lord always.
Fred Schaeffer, OFS, 2009, rev. 2023
a. Maas, Anthony. "Abba." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 26 Aug. 2023 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01006d.htm>
Addendum
"Let us examine the Catholic Charismatic Renewal as it exists today. It is the outgrowth from a retreat held in February 1967 of several faculty members and students from Duquesne University. Many of the students - though not all - experienced a movement of God’s Spirit called being “baptized in the Holy Spirit.” The professors had previously been “baptized in the Spirit” a week or two before. God’s action was also prepared for in a very human way by the students’ prayerful preparation in reading the Acts of the Apostles and a book entitled “The Cross and the Switchblade.”
What happened quickly spread to graduate students and professors at the University of Notre Dame and others serving in campus ministry in Lansing, Michigan. It continued to spread so that, as of this date, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal exists in over 238 countries in the world, having touched over 100 million Catholics in its nearly 40-year plus, existence.
In 1975, Pope St. Paul VI greeted ten thousand Catholic charismatics from all over the world at the ninth international conference of the Renewal, “The Church and the world need more than ever that ‘the miracle of Pentecost should continue in history’ . . . How could this ‘spiritual renewal’ not be ‘good fortune’ for the Church and the world?” [others have translated “good fortune” as “a chance”]
Pope St. John Paul II has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. In 1979 soon after becoming Pope he said, “I am convinced that this movement is a sign of the Spirit’s action . . . a very important component in the total renewal of the Church.” He has met with the international leaders of the Renewal on a number of occasions, and regularly sends greetings to National and International Conferences on the Renewal.
As early as 1969, only two years after the Renewal started, the U.S. Bishops investigated the fledgling movement and the Committee on Doctrine wrote that “theologically the movement has legitimate reasons of existence. It has a strong biblical basis. It would be difficult to inhibit the working of the Spirit which manifested itself so abundantly in the early Church.” (Text from: Chariscenter USA)
We wish you a Happy Pentecost!
Please stay well, and trust in the Lord always.
Fred Schaeffer, OFS
2009 rev. 5/15/2024