THIS Sunday the Christian world celebrates Pentecost. On this day, the fiftieth after Easter, we commemorate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and other followers of Jesus, as recorded in the book, Acts of the Apostles. It is a special day to thank God for fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies of him pouring out of his Spirit among his people, and of Jesus’ own promise to send his Spirit after his death on the cross, resurrection from the dead, and ascension back to heaven.
On Pentecost Sunday, it is thus fitting that we reflect on the Holy Spirit as a real Person, and not just a force or effect in the Divine reality. Christianity stands on the belief that the Holy Spirit is God himself, with the same conviction that it claims Jesus Christ as God, and the Father as God. We believe in the Holy Trinity – of one God existing in three Persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
This Trinity exists in unity, meaning, that the presence of one Person does not mean the absence of the other two. The same Trinity acts in unity, such that when one Person is attributed to have done something, it does not connote the lack of participation of the other two Persons. Thus, when the Father created the heavens and the earth in Genesis, Jesus and the Holy Spirit were very much with him in doing the act of creation. When Jesus preached the word of God, forgave sins, drove away evil spirits, healed diseases, and did all kinds of good works, he, too, had the Father and the Holy Spirit in his substance.
The same is true with the Holy Spirit – the least understood Person of the Triune God. Whatever it was that the Holy Spirit did in the past, is doing in the present time, and will do in the future, we can be assured of the company of Jesus and the Father.
We must bear this in mind as we read about the many actions that God did in the Bible, which were primarily attributed to the Holy Spirit. Doing so would be in line with keeping our Trinitarian perspective. What are some of these Divine actions?
First, the Holy Spirit, through the agency of human beings, composed all the books of the Scriptures. As St. Peter declares, “Know this first of all, that there is no prophecy of scripture that is a matter of personal interpretation, for no prophecy ever came through human will; but rather human beings moved by the Holy Spirit spoke under the influence of God” (2 Peter 1:20-21). St. Paul, for his part, says, “We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the things freely given us by God. And we speak about them not with words taught by human wisdom, but with words taught by the Spirit, describing spiritual realities in spiritual terms” (1 Corinthians 2:12-13). We thus say that the Bible is the word of God which was written by men who were inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Second, it was by the Holy Spirit that the mystery of the Incarnation – of God taking the human form – happened. Speaking to Mary, the angel Gabriel said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). Jesus, the second Person of the Trinity, entered the human race through conception by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, his mother.
Third, it was with the Holy Spirit that the Father anointed Jesus, empowering him to carry out his ministry and fulfill his mission. In Luke 3:21-22 we read how, during the baptism of Jesus, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove while the voice of the Father was heard saying, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” Filled with the Spirit, Jesus would thereafter be seen teaching and acting with power to restore the relationship between God and man, which was marred by sin.
And on Pentecost Day, it was by the same Holy Spirit that Jesus anointed his own followers to continue the mission that he has started. In the Acts, we can see how the Holy Spirit transformed the apostles from fearful believers after the death of their Master, to bold preachers and miracle workers after their anointing with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit accompanied their works with signs and wonders, which, prior to Pentecost, were done only by Jesus. The apostles taught with wisdom and authority unto the ends of the earth, turned people’s hearts to repentance, healed the sick, expelled demons, restored sight to the blind, brought back hearing to the deaf, made the crippled walk, and called some dead back to life. They withstood persecutions and suffering with courage and gentleness, and many died a martyr’s death for their refusal to recant their testimony about Jesus.
The same anointing is available to us, Christians of today. We only have to ask Jesus and he will pour out his Spirit to us as he promised. And with the Holy Spirit in us, God will give us the grace and gifts to live our everyday lives in the knowledge of God, obedience to his will, service to his kingdom, and love of God and neighbor. The Holy Spirit will enable us to follow Jesus even closer, and thus worship the Father in spirit and in truth. This is our calling, until one day, filled with Spirit, we will reach the successful completion of our personal mission in this world.