Embedded Files
It’s Day 97!!
We begin Chapter 3: I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
IT IS REMARKABLE!!
OH MY GOSH!!
We ended with a bang yesterday on Jesus and the fact that He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead
Was your heart convicted yesterday?
Our hearts will be moved today by the recognition of the Holy Spirit
Paragraph 683 says, “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.”
St Paul wrote that to the Corinthians
Paragraph 683 continues, “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’”
St Paul wrote that to the Galatians
Paragraph 683 continues, “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.”
THIS IS GOING TO BE SO REMARKABLE FOR US!!
Have you ever thought about this?
IN FACT…
We are going to hear a couple different Saints, St Irenaeus and St Gregory of Nazianzus, talk about how the Holy Spirit, the Son, and the Father have revealed themselves to us OVER TIME
First is God reveals that He is THE FATHER and wants to make sure that is really clear to us
Then, slowly, God reveals that He is also THE SON
And then slowly, God reveals that He is also THE HOLY SPIRIT
THE DIVINE PEDAGOGY!!
St Irenaeus says in Paragraph 683, “Baptism gives us the grace of new birth in God the Father, through his Son, in the Holy Spirit.”
There is all this CONNECTION in the DIVINE ECONOMY of Salvation
IT IS REALLY REMARKABLE!!
Paragraph 686 says, “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.”
THIS IS REMARKABLE!!
You and I are living in the END TIMES
Because of this we are going to talk about how the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as the Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the Resurrection of the Body, and Life Everlasting
Those last articles of The Creed are all part of this chapter on the Holy Spirit
This is all part of how God makes this possible
What Jesus made POSSIBLE in his Incarnation and the Paschal mystery, the Holy Spirit makes ACTUAL
THE CHURCH
THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS
THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS
THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY
LIFE EVERLASTING
We will also talk about 8 THINGS the Holy Spirit continues to give to us
8 WAYS we SEE the Holy Spirit
Paragraph 688 has all these dashes, “The Church, a communion living in the faith of the apostles which she transmits, is the place where we know the Holy Spirit:
in the Scriptures he inspired
In the Tradition, to which the Church Fathers are always timely witnesses
etc
etc
There are places we can point to and say, “Here is where we know the Holy Spirit is present and here is where the Holy Spirit is ACTIVELY in our lives.”
So let’s pray in the name of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit to the Father right now!!
Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, in the name of your Son Jesus Christ send your Holy Spirit into our hearts. Send your Holy Spirit to continue to sanctify us, to guide us, to help us trust in you, to help us have your supernatural gift of Faith. Help us to have that supernatural gift of Hope. Help us to have that supernatural gift of Love, that is driven, motivated, and strengthened by you. You are the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. Holy Spirit, come upon us now. And may the Father be glorified forever and ever. Amen”
So there we have it!!
The reality of our Profession of Faith
I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Catechism makes this very very clear
Paragraph 685 says, “For this reason, the divine mystery of the Holy Spirit was already treated in the context of Trinitarian ‘theology.’”
Way back when we talked about the Trinity
Here is the very NATURE and very REALITY of who God is
We talked about the difference between THEOLOGY and ECONOMY
THEOLOGY is who God is in Himself
ECONOMY is how God reveals Himself to us and interacts with us
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are ONE DIVINE BEING and THREE DIVINE PERSONS
IT IS A COMPLETE MYSTERY!!
Now, however in these next days and paragraphs we will talk about the Holy Spirit with regard to DIVINE ECONOMY
How does God come to us in the Holy Spirit?
How does God reveal Himself to us in the Holy Spirit?
How does God interact with us in the Holy Spirit?
So keep that in mind
We have already talked about the identity and the very nature of who the Holy Spirit is
Now we are going to talk about HOW that Holy Spirit interacts with us and what He does and how He is active in our Salvation
IT IS PRETTY IMPORTANT!!
What did you think about those quotes from St Irenaeus and St Gregory of Nazianzus?
St Irenaeus says in Paragraph 683, “Baptism gives us the grace of new birth in God the Father, through his Son, in the Holy Spirit.”
In Baptism the Holy Spirit DWELLS IN US
We get adopted as sons and daughters of GOD THE FATHER and get new life THROUGH HIS SON
Paragraph 683 continues, “For those who bear God’s Spirit are led to the Word, that is, to the Son, and the Son presents them to the Father, and the Father confers incorruptibility on them. And it is impossible to see God’s Son without the Spirit, and no one can approach the Father without the Son, for the knowledge of the Father is the Son, and the knowledge of God’s Son is obtained through the Holy Spirit.”
THIS IS REMARKABLE!!
This is an incredible PROCESSION
Maybe it’s PROGRESSION
We are given the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit gives us NEW LIFE in the Son
The Son brings us to the Father who gives us incorruptibility
Of course, this is a mystery still
How does that work?
It’s not as if ONE person of the Trinity works while the other doesn’t
THEY ARE ALL WORKING TOGETHER!!
IT IS REMARKABLE!!
St Gregory of Nazianzus’ nickname is “THE THEOLOGIAN”
When your nickname is “THE THEOLOGIAN” you must be pretty smart 😉
He talks about the DIVINE PEDAGOGY
How slowly God reveals Himself
St Gregory of Nazianzus says in Paragraph 684, “The Old Testament proclaimed the Father clearly, but the Son more obscurely. The New Testament revealed the Son and gave us a glimpse of the divinity of the Spirit. Now the Spirit dwells among us and grants us a clearer vision of himself. It was not prudent, when the divinity of the Father had not yet been confessed, to proclaim the Son openly and, when the divinity of the Son was not yet admitted, to add the Holy Spirit as an extra burden…”
So you can see hints of the Trinity and the Son in the Old Testament
God is revealing Himself SLOWLY OVER THE COURSE OF TIME
FIRST as Father
THEN as Father and Son
AND FINALLY as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
SO REMARKABLE!!
SO INCREDIBLE!!
SO BEAUTIFUL!!
Paragraph 687 and following talk about how the Holy Spirit is ACTIVE IN OUR WORLD
Paragraph 687 says, “Now God’s Spirit, who reveals God, makes known to us Christ, his Word, his living Utterance, but the Spirit does not speak of himself…We know him only in the movement by which he reveals the Word to us and disposes us to welcome him in faith.”
THIS IS POWERFUL!!
If we come to know ANYTHING about Christ it has ALWAYS been by the POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO DWELLS WITHIN US
IN FACT…
Those 8 ways in which we know the Holy Spirit that are named…
In Scripture…yeah because the Holy Spirit INSPIRED Scripture
In Tradition…yeah because the Church Fathers are always timely witnesses
In the Church’s Magisterium…the Holy Spirit assists them
Remember the three legged stool?
SACRED SCRIPTURE + SACRED TRADITION + THE MAGISTERIUM
The Holy Spirit is the one who INSPIRES, GUIDES, AND ASSISTS ALL OF THAT
In the sacramental liturgy…which the Holy Spirit puts us into COMMUNION WITH CHRIST
Think about this…
OH MY GOSH!!
We will talk about this when it comes to Sacraments and over the next few days
What Jesus did for us 2,000 years ago, HOW do we come into contact with that gift?
ONLY BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!!
So in the SACRAMENTAL LITURGY the ONLY thing that changes bread and wine into the BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST…
The ONLY THING that makes the words “I absolve you of all your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” really truly FORGIVES SINS is the Holy Spirit
It is the POWER OF THE PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT that takes what Jesus did IN THE PAST and brings us RIGHT NOW in the present moment
In prayer…where the Holy Spirit intercedes for us
Why?
BECAUSE WE DO NOT KNOW HOW TO PRAY AS WE OUGHT!!
In the charisms and ministries by which the Church is built up…
Every gift that God has given to the people of God…
Every charism…
Every ministry in the Church…
THAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT!!
The signs of apostolic and missionary life…
EVERY INITIATIVE
EVERY OUTREACH
Apostolic meaning REACHING OUT
Ministry meaning SERVING PEOPLE
THAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT!!
The witness of saints through whom the Holy Spirit manifests His holiness and continues the work of salvation
GOD IS GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS!!
We pay attention to the Saints
We study their lives
We honor them
We look to them
Why?
Because when we look to them what we are seeing are GOD’S GIFTS ON DISPLAY
This is what God can do in the life of an ordinary human being
That’s what the Holy Spirit has done in the lives of the witnesses of the Saints
We have so much more to talk about when it comes to the Holy Spirit in this world, in your life, and my life
So let’s call upon the Holy Spirit today
Know that you can WALK in the Holy Spirit
IN FACT…
EVERY TIME WE PRAY AS CHRISTIANS WE PRAY IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!!
PRAY FOR EACH OTHER IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!!
Fr. Mike is praying for you IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!!
Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!!
I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!
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