Pastor's Column

 

 One day (in a former) parish, the youth minister ran up to me frantically, pleading with me to help her out of a bind. It turned out that she needed to give a five-minute talk on the Holy Spirit and couldn't think of anything to say about Him at all! It strikes me as funny now, but how many of us could say something about the Holy Spirit in our lives?

 

The Father and the Son love each other so much that this love is a person-the Holy Spirit. In this sense the Trinity and the family share a similarity-the love of the parents (ideally!) is reflected in the children.

 

The Spirit is represented in Scripture as being in the form of a dove, or tongues of fire or as a wind. All of these, of course, are simply images. The Holy Spirit, like the Father, really cannot be grasped by human sight, but that doesn't mean that the Spirit is invisible!

 

Scripture makes it quite clear that we are meant to have a relationship with the Holy Spirit. Relationships develop when we talk with someone else. For example, before I prepare a sermon or write one of these columns, I always ask the Holy Spirit to speak through my words (the only way a sermon will be effective). We can ask the Spirit to guide us at the beginning of our day, or when we get into the car or before beginning our job each day.

 

The Spirit is responsible for many of the inspirations we take for granted in our lives, and he provides charisms or gifts for the Church at large. Being a lector, Eucharistic minister, teacher or even a priest are only some of the gifts God has given to the Church, but all of us have received the unique gift of ourselves, and that is what he really wants from us. We offer this gift of the Spirit back to God when we pray or attend Mass, for example.

 

When the Spirit is absent, we see "sexual vice, impurity, sensuality, the worship of false gods, sorcery, antagonism, jealousy, bad temper, quarrels, disagreements, factions, drunkenness, rivalries and orgies:" (Galatians 5:19-20). When the Spirit is present, we see the opposite: love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, and self control (chastity). Come Holy Spirit!