Wisdom, Knowledge Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, and Fear of the Lord.
7 seemingly simple and common words raised up, by the very power of God, into extraordinarily powerful gifts, gifts that transform who we are so that we become living vessels, Temples, Cathedrals of the Holy Spirit.
And these gifts are bestowed upon us, in a very special way, on this feast of Pentecost, descending as not just one but a multiplicity of gifts, all unique in what they are but all stemming from the same source, that same divine wellspring, the very fountain of grace which can only be found in the Holy Spirit.
For, we, who though only human, have the very power of God within us, that is why unseen in any holy man or woman, unseen in the powerful preacher, speaker, or teacher of faith, unseen in the confessor and the healer is this most beautiful, most profound and most powerful Spirit.
In fact, in the Baltimore Catechism, a Catechism many of you may remember, used years ago for religious education, and still, even today, recommended by our bishop, puts it well, it says: “The power of the Holy Spirit, which our ship catches by unfolding the sails of the gifts, enables us to do even things that are humanly impossible. It is the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the souls of the saints that explain the seemingly impossible things in their lives.”
Yet, in spite of this, sadly, the Holy Spirit is, in the words of a good priest friend of mine, the most underappreciated and overworked Person of the Blessed Trinity, simply because He is Spirit. As a result, our understanding of Him is limited to symbols, and it becomes difficult to connect or worship a dove, tongues of fire, a driving wind or living water.
But that is what makes our relationship with this Third Person of the Blessed Trinity so beautiful and so unique, because while He does not have a name like Son or Father, He is still God, which is why we are still aware of His presence, for, just as we feel the wind upon our face, but cannot see it, or feel the heat from a fire, but cannot touch it, we know when He manifests Himself in our lives.
Because, as Ezekiel witnessed, once The Holy Spirit fills something, it comes to life, whether dry bones, a hardened heart, our actions, or the very words we speak in prayer, they are given new life, for as St. Paul reminds: “we do not know how to pray as we ought,” rather, it is the Spirit Himself who intercedes on our behalf.
This is why the Holy Spirit does not come as a child or loving Father, because He is the one who proceeds from the Father and the Son, and since to proceed implies a continuation, the Holy Spirit is, in essence, the “continuation” of the perfect love of the Father and the Son, equally infinite, eternal, and living. He is, as one theologian beautifully puts it: “The sigh that lovers breathe.”
Yet, as difficult as it might be to relate to Him sometimes, the more receptive to the Holy Spirit we become and the more willing we are to receive what He wants to offer, the more we learn better how to imitate the saints, especially one of the greatest saints, Mary, the Mother of God, she whose title is the very Spouse of the Holy Spirit.
In fact, in his spiritual classic, “The Sanctifier,” a book on the Holy Spirit, by a former archbishop of Mexico, Archbishop Luis Martinez, he says the way Jesus is reproduced in our souls: “Two artisans must occur in the work that is at once God’s masterpiece and humanity’s supreme product: the Holy Spirit and the most holy Virgin Mary.”
Because, when the Holy Spirit overshadowed her, Jesus immediately dwelt in her womb, so that when the Holy Spirit overshadows us, like those Apostles in the upper room, Jesus dwells within our souls. And when that happens we will be strengthened and unafraid, and our only desire in life will be to seek holiness no matter the cost. Because, while it doesn’t say it here, immediately after the descent of the Holy Spirit, those Apostles preached boldly and confidently in spite of persecution, accusation or even death itself.
This is why those who have a devotion to the Holy Spirit will almost, inevitably, have a devotion to Mary and vice versa, because they recognize their importance in our sanctification, they recognize that though unequal in authority, they are both indispensable to our holiness.
That is why, too, we should all have great devotion to the Holy Spirit, upon whom we should call often, because if we allow Him to ignite our souls with His fire and to be moved by the driving wind of His love, if we allow ourselves to foster and to experience the amazing and beautiful gifts He wishes to bestow upon us and live them to a heroic degree, not only would all of us be different, but the entire church would be different as well.
I want to end with my favorite prayer by St. Augustine to the Holy Spirit, a prayer that I recite every day, a prayer that I leave you with as I follow His Will to my next assignment. While it is written in the first person, I invite you to make this prayer your own, and to recite it just as often:
Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit
That my thoughts may all be holy.
Act in me, O Holy Spirit
That my work too may be holy.
Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit
That I love but what is holy.
Strengthen me O Holy Spirit
To defend all that is holy.
Guard me then, O Holy Spirit
That I always may be holy.
Amen.
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