Day 98: The Son and the Spirit (689-693)

• It’s Day 98!!

• We are continuing our time with the Holy Spirit

• We are going to talk about TWO BIG THINGS

• THE JOINT MISSION OF THE SON AND THE SPIRIT

• THE NAME, TITLES, AND SYMBOLS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

• We are just going to get to the NAMES AND TITLES today

• BUT…

• What do we mean by THE JOINT MISSION OF THE SON AND THE SPIRIT?

• MAN!!

• THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!

• When the Son and the Spirit act, they act TOGETHER

• They are DISTINCT

• They are two of the three DIVINE PERSONS in the Most Holy Trinity

• The Church ALWAYS professes the DISTINCTION OF PERSONS

• AT THE SAME TIME…

• Paragraph 689 says, “When the Father sends his WOrd, he always sends his Breath.”

• That’s so poetic

• You can also see how that’s the case

• That might have been a St Augustine example

• You have the SPEAKER who is the Father

• You have the WORD SPOKEN who is the Son

• You have the BREATH that accompanies the Word

• Paragraph 689 continues, “In their joint mission, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct but inseparable.”

• THIS IS JUST REMARKABLE!!

• Jesus is ANOINTED

• The Spirit is HIS ANOINTING

• IT IS JUST REMARKABLE!!

• We will also hear from St Gregory of Nyssa

• He captures this with his image of the surface of the water and oil

• There is oil in the water

• You are coming in contact with the water

• You are coming in contact with the oil

• It’s one of those…

• (SQUIRREL!! 😉)

• You’ll love it!!

• It’s one of those great analogies that St Gregory of Nyssa uses in Paragraph 690

• We will also talk about the PROPER NAME of the Holy Spirit

• THAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT!!

• We call God the Father, FATHER

• We call God the Son, JESUS

• We call God the Holy Spirit, THE HOLY SPIRIT

• The Church is going to make a distinction

• THIS IS REMARKABLE!!

• We receive that name, THE HOLY SPIRIT, from the Lord

• We use it in Baptism, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

• We use that when we baptize people

• The term SPIRIT is the Hebrew word RUAH 

• It means BREATH, AIR, WIND

• So the term HOLY and the term SPIRIT are attributes that are common to ALL THREE DIVINE PERSONS

• Does that make sense?

• The Father is SPIRIT

• The Son is SPIRIT

• The Father is HOLY

• The Son is HOLY

• BUT…

• Paragraph 691 says, “By joining these two terms, Scripture, liturgy, and theological language designate the inexpressible person of the Holy Spirit, without any possible equivocation with other uses of the terms ‘spirit’ and ‘holy.’”

• TITLES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

• He is the Paraclete

• He is the Advocate

• SO GOOD!!

• So let’s pray and ask our Lord to send us this ADVOCATE to send us this PARACLETE to send us this CONSOLER into our hearts right now!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we give you praise and glory. We thank you for this opportunity to be here. Thank you for this incredible moment where we get to learn more about who you are. Holy Spirit, too often we forget about you. Too often, you are the forgotten person of the Holy Trinity. We do not want to forget you. We forget you because we don’t know. We forget you because of our lack of appreciation, our lack of memory, our lack of love. In this moment help us to know more clearly so that we can love you, Holy Spirit. You are true God from true God. Help us to love you. Help us to know you. Help us to walk in your power, in your strength this day and every day. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”

• There we are!!

• THE JOINT MISSION OF THE SON AND THE SPIRIT

• THE NAME, TITLES, AND SYMBOLS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

• MAN!! (OH MAN!! 😉)

• The ONLY way we come to know Jesus is by the Holy Spirit

• IN FACT…

• Paragraph 689 says, “In their joint mission, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct but inseparable. To be sure, it is Christ who is seen, the visible image of the invisible God, but it is the Spirit who reveals him.”

• This UNION between the two in their ECONOMY

• They are obviously united in the THEOLOGY of the Trinity

• Paragraph 690 says, “Jesus is Christ, ‘anointed,’ because the Spirit is his anointing, and everything that occurs from the Incarnation on drives from this fullness. When Christ is finally glorified, he can in turn send the Spirit from his place with the Father to those who believe in him: he communicates to them his glory, that is, the Holy Spirit who glorifies him.”

• What does that mean?

• Well how about this?

• YOU are a temple of the Holy Spirit

• So in glory Jesus Christ and the Father who are glorified send the Holy Spirit

• When the Holy Spirit dwells in your heart, you are a temple of the Holy Spirit

• AND…

• The Holy Spirit glorifies one

• THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!

• Paragraph 690 continues, “From that time on, this joint mission will be manifested in the children adopted by the Father in the Body of his Son: the mission of the Spirit of adoption is to unite them to Christ and make them live in him…there is no distance between the Son and the Spirit.”

• Think about ANOINTING

• If you have ever been anointed…

• You were anointed at your BAPTISM

• You were anointed at your CONFIRMATION

• St Gregory of Nyssa says in Paragraph 690, “Just as between the surface of the body and the anointing with oil neither reason nor sensation recognizes any intermediary, so the contact of the Son with the Spirit is immediate, so that anyone who would make contact with the Son by faith must first encounter the oil by contact. In fact there is no part that is not covered by the Holy Spirit. That is why the confession of the Son’s Lordship is made in the Holy Spirit by those who receive him, the Spirit coming from all sides to those who approach the Son in faith.”

• Raise your hand if you have a headache like me!!! 😉

• At the same time, it is so simple

• This INSEPARABILITY in the mission of Son and Holy Spirit

• THE PROPER NAME OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

• It is HOLY SPIRIT

• Paragraph 691 says, “The term ‘Spirit’ translates the Hebrew word ruah, which, in its primary sense, means breath, air, wind…On the other hand, ‘Spirit’ and ‘Holy’ are divine attributes common to the three divine persons. By joining the two terms, Scripture, liturgy, and theological language designate the inexpressible person of the Holy Spirit, without any possible equivocation with other uses of the terms ‘spirit’ and ‘holy.’”

• THAT IS A REALLY REMARKABLE THING!!

• Tomorrow we will talk about the SYMBOLS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

• There are quite a few!!

• Today we have TITLES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

• Paragraph 692 says, “When he proclaims and promises the coming of the Holy Spirit, Jesus calls him the ‘Paraclete,’ literally, ‘he who is called to one’s side,’ ad-vocatus. ‘Paraclete’ is commonly translated by ‘consoler,’ and Jesus is the first consoler.”

• It can be a reference to a courtroom

• Someone who is your defense attorney

• At the end of His earthly life Jesus said, “I will pray to the Father and He will send you another advocate.”

• WHICH IS REMARKABLE!!

• Keep this in mind…

• THE MISSION OF THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT ARE DISTINCT BUT INSEPARABLE

• And Jesus said, “I will pray to the Father and He will send you another advocate.”

• What does that mean other than JESUS IS THE FIRST ADVOCATE?

• He is the FIRST ONE who is called to our side

• He is the FIRST ONE who has come to our defense

• “I’m going to ask the Father and He is going to send you ANOTHER ADVOCATE.”

• BOTH OF US!!

• THAT IS THE JOINT MISSION OF THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT!!

• The Son is the Advocate who is called to our side

• EMMANUEL who dwells among us

• The Holy Spirit who is called to our side

• Who ADVOCATES for us

• Who is the PARACLETE

• Who is the CONSOLER

• Who is the SPIRIT OF TRUTH

• Paragraph 693 concludes with these different TITLES of the Holy Spirit

• St Paul calls Him THE SPIRIT OF THE PROMISE, THE SPIRIT OF ADOPTION, THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST

• When we are given the Holy Spirit at Baptism we become ADOPTED sons and daughters of God the Father

• THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD

• THE SPIRIT OF GOD

• St Peter calls Him THE SPIRIT OF GLORY

• MAN!! (OH MAN!! 😉)

• WHAT A GIFT!!

• HOLY SMOKES!! (BATMAN!! 😉)

• OH MAN!!

• We get to be IN AWE of God in this moment

• That inseparable MISSION of Son and Spirit

• If you think you don’t have a relationship with the Holy Spirit, if you have a relationship with the Son, then the Holy Spirit is OPERATIVE IN YOUR LIFE

• If you have read Scripture and it has spoken to you, the Holy Spirit is OPERATIVE IN YOUR LIFE

• If you can pray the Holy Spirit is OPERATIVE IN YOUR LIFE

• If you appeal to the Sacraments then the Holy Spirit is OPERATIVE IN YOUR LIFE

• So we give God praise today and every single day for sending His Holy Spirit among us and dwelling inside of us

• May that Holy Spirit in us and in our lives give God glory forever and ever

• Please pray for each other

• Because it’s one thing to HEAR about this stuff

• To hear about Here is God’s action, God’s work, God’s Holy Spirit

• It’s another thing to say YES

• Sometimes it is really hard to say YES to the Holy Spirit

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!