So, knock knock. You should respond, “Who’s there?” The Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit who? And that’s the problem. We live in a world that’s largely unaware of the Holy Spirit and the role that the Holy Spirit plays in the life of the Catholic Christian.
Of course you’ve heard of the Holy Spirit, probably in some connection with Confirmation or Pentecost. But most of us have not been able to speak about God, who wants to radically change our life. He wants to bring us power. He wants to bring us healing. He wants to bring us the gift of the Holy Spirit.
In many ways, the Holy Spirit is the forgotten person of the Trinity. We have some kind of idea of the Father, as we all have a father. We understand who the Father is—God the Father, who sits on a big throne in Heaven, clearly with a long beard, soft, not scruffy, looks really kind. Everyone gets that. Jesus, obviously, He’s the Son, and this is pretty clear too. Jesus came to earth, He showed us how to live, love, forgive, ultimately dies for us and rises again so that we can be sanctified, be holy, and share in His divinity.
But the Holy Spirit—the Holy Spirit is the forgotten Person of the Trinity, which is unfortunate because we are not able to do anything apart from the Holy Spirit. I still remember a task we gave to the teens at church. Put a mark on the white board in the section that lists Who you pray to and turn to most often – The Father, Jesus or the Holy Spirit. Twenty five tagged Jesus, three tagged the Father (two of which were dads), and one marked the Holy Spirit.
All good we do, whether we know it or not, is the grace of the Holy Spirit. And what’s so sad is that I see many people trying to live the life of faith, trying to be more loving, more patient, more kind, gossip less, sin less, and they fall. Then they make the decision to try harder, and they mean it. They just want to do better, and they fall again. How many people have said, “This Lent is going to be different,” and then it isn’t? This all leads to frustration, despair, and many give up. “I just can’t do it.” I can’t be free. I can’t be whole. I can’t be holy.
The Holy Spirit wants to overshadow you, fill you, transform you. You don’t have to live this life alone, and you can’t live this life alone. We need the Holy Spirit.
Changed can’t come to the soul apart, even a little bit, from the Holy Spirit. Yes, we can related to a loving Father and see eye to eye with Jesus but it is the Advocate Who makes it happen. He brings the fire that can set the soul ablaze, burn away wrongs and light the path of the soul.