If you want to have some fun, ask a Catholic (or any Christian) about the Holy Spirit. The answers you get will likely be as varied as the people you ask. Our faith is based on a “Trinitarian” view of God: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. As a Church we do quite well teaching about God the Father, and we do an excellent job teaching about Jesus, but when it comes to the Holy Spirit, we tend to treat the subject like a “third wheel” or “odd man out.” We spend so much time learning about God the Father and God the Son that we end up with little time to spend on God the Holy Spirit. Perhaps our readings for this week can help us to better understand this nature of our God:
Acts 8:5-8, 14-17
Psalm 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20
1 Peter 3:15-18
John 14:15-21
For this 6th Sunday of Easter we open with a story from Acts of the Apostles where we hear how Philip has had great success in bringing the Gospel to the people of Samaria. Even amid this great joy, Peter and John were concerned that the Holy Spirit had not yet come to them, so they travel to Samaria and lay hands on them. Many Christians (and indeed many Catholics) wonder why we celebrate the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation separately, but that tradition has its basis in this reading, Adding to our members and receiving the Holy Spirit is a source of great joy that is echoed in our Psalm when we sing, “Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.”
This theme of the Spirit continues in our Gospel from John. Continuing from where we left off last week with the Last Supper Discourses, Jesus is teaching the Apostles about The Advocate – The Spirit of truth – who we know as the Holy Spirit. This is that piece of God and that piece of himself which will be with them always. Last week we heard Jesus teaching the Apostles about how he and God are like one. But Jesus is also telling them that his time on this earth is about to come to an end, so it begs the question of the Apostles: how do we continue to see God if you are gone? This is where the Holy Spirit comes in. That essence of God within us, around us, and working through us. The words of the Nicene Creed reflect this natural progression and understanding:
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of lifeWho proceeds from the Father and SonWho with the Father and the Son he is adored and glorifiedWho has spoken through the Prophets
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