Question 25 – Who is the Holy Spirit? 

Continuing with the exploration and reflection through a series of articles written in a conversational language about Catholicism, about God, about Jesus, about the Church and many other faith related topics. Here we present:

Question 25 – Who is the Holy Spirit? 

Christians believe that God* is Father*, Son and Holy Spirit*. Most people can imagine the Father and the Son but the Holy Spirit? How can you imagine that? What is special is that the Holy Spirit, unlike the Father and the Son, does not speak anywhere in the Bible*. The Spirit has something inexpressible. Of the three divine persons, the Holy Spirit is by far the most mysterious.

In the Bible, the Spirit is also called fire, breath or wind. The Holy Spirit exists and lives in the heart of God and of Jesus*, as the fire of divine love. Fire that is and passes on heat and light. For the Spirit does not remain hidden in the heart of God, the Spirit comes out. The Holy Spirit gives God’s love to people. In this way he brings people into contact with God and Jesus and opens them more and more to them.

So the Spirit is the passing on of love, the love that exists between the Father and the Son, but also the love of Father and Son for people. That is why Christians believe that the Spirit unites and desires to unite all in the one love that is God and is mentioned as the third. In a mysterious way the Holy Spirit completes the love-work of God. Like the wind, of which you do not know in advance where it is blowing.

– Can you imagine the Holy Spirit?
– Does the Holy Spirit have a place in your life of faith?

Feel free to leave your thoughts, reflections or comments below.


Watch this space! Coming up:   Question 26 – Do Christians believe in one God or in three gods?    
 

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If you wish to learn more about this resource follow this link  “52 Questions and Answers about faith

 

About the author:

Nikolaas Sintobin, SJ, joined the Society of Jesus in 1989, following a short career as a lawyer. He was trained as a Jesuit in Brussels, Paris, and Santiago de Chile. Today he is a spiritual director who is keenly interested in online ministry and discovering new ways to help people find God.

This text is republished with the permission of Messenger Publications, Ireland. To buy a hard copy of the book click here.