Lesson 2 Opening Thoughts on Who Is the Holy Spirit And How Does He Work?

Transcription

1 Lesson 2 Opening Thoughts on Who Is the Holy Spirit And How Does He Work? The Holy Spirit s Actions in People s Lives HOW DID THE HOLY SPIRIT WORK IN PEOPLE S LIVES IN THE EARLY CHURCH? Genesis 1: CREATION The Holy Spirit breathes life eternal into the creation of man and woman. Luke 1:30-35 ANNUNCIATION The Holy Spirit comes upon Mary and the Power of God is placed in her womb. The Holy Spirit creates the Son of God in His Humanity and Divinity and the Holy Spirit creates us in his image and likeness. Luke VISITATION The Holy Spirit who has filled Mary, now fills Elizabeth and her unborn child John the Baptist. They both proclaim the joy of being in the presence of the Messiah. Elizabeth in her proclamation and John in his movement. John 1:30-34 BAPTISIM The Holy Spirit will come down as a DOVE and remain over Jesus identifying Him as the One Who will come and baptize with the Holy Spirit because He is the Son of God. Romans 8:10-11 RESURRECTION - It is by the power of His Holy Spirit that Christ is from the dead. The Holy Spirit can give eternal life to us as will if we co-operate with Him. Acts 2:16-21 PENTECOST - The apostles hear the driving wind and see the tongues of flame hover over them and are filled with the Holy Spirit who enables them to speak in foreign tongues and make bold proclamations as the Spirit prompts them. It is always the Holy Spirit who evangelizes through the baptized. We just have to co-operate. Acts 2:16-21 END TIMES - God pours out His Holy Spirit on all his faithful sons and daughters who shall be saved when the Holy Spirit prompts them to call on the name of the Lord. Acts:13:2 The Holy Spirit directs the Church in fulfilling the mission of spreading the Good News. My initial impession The Father and Son create, reign, save and judge through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit breathed eternal life into man in his soul. The Holy Spirit infuses Mary s body and soul and Christ is conceived. The Holy Spirit will the sould of Elizabeth and John the Baptist enabling them to recognize the presence of the Messiah ( the anointed one) the Son of God. Then the Holy Spirit comes down as the dove to fulfill the prophecy and identify Christ as the Son of God who will put the mark of the Holy Spirit on all those called to the Faith. The Holy Spirit is the source of the Resurrection as

2 infuses Jesus s body and sould and raises him from the dead to an eternal life of body and soul. The Holy Spirit is the driving wind and flaming tongues which enables the disciples to proclaim the Word so the world will understand the Good News. Finally it is the Holy Spirit who directed the Apostles and continues to direct the Church in order to fulfill the Great Commission. HOW CAN WE UNDERSTAND AND EXPERIENCE THE MANY ASPECTS OF THE SPIRIT? The Holy Spirits descriptive names and titles: Advocate The Holy Spirit will be the person who argues your case before Christ, the Just Judge. The Spirit of Truth Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to reveal his Truth through Tradition, Scripture and the teaching of the Magisterium. The Spirit of Promise we can t earn salvation. It comes through the Holy Spirits Gift of Faith we receive at Baptism. The Spirit of God In Baptism we are marked by the Holy Spirit to be set aside for God. The Spirit of Christ it is the Holy Spirit who helps the apostles understand the sufferings destined for Christ and his followers and the glories to follow them. The Spirit of Life Only the Holy Spirit can free you from sin and the loss of eternal life by leading you to the sacraments. The Spirit of Grace God s Gift of Himself to us is in the power of his Holy Spirit The Spirit of Adoption It is the Holy Spirit who marks us as a brother of Christ and therefore a child of the Father. As a child of the Father we are like Christ an heir to His Kingdom. HOW CAN WE UNDERSTAND AND EXPERIENCE THE VARIOUS SYMBOLS WHICH HAVE BEEN USED TO SYMBOLIZE THE HOLY SPIRIT S PRESENCE? FIRE Moses and Burning Bush. Trinity Voice is the Father Bush is Christ the Sacrifice and the Holy Spirit is the flame of his love and power. Pillar of Fire over the Ark was symbol of God s presence. Pentecost tongues of flame prompt the preaching of the Gospel

3 DOVE Baptism We are marked as Faithful members of Christ s Body The Church. WATER - Old Testament we have the Living Water flowing out from the Temple. And at our Baptism we are immersed in the Holy Spirit so that the living water of life will be within us. The wedding feast at Cana, we have Jesus using his Holy Spirit to transform water into wine. When we co-operate with the Holy Spirit we are able to be transformed from a sinner to a saint. WIND - At Pentecost, they first heard the driving wind of the Holy Spirit SEAL - A seal is accepted as the sign of authority. Kings would use their rings to place their seal of authority on official proclamations. The Father has set the Holy Spirit as His Seal that Jesus is the Son of God and King of the Universe.. CLOUD - In the Old Testament, the Israelites followed the cloud by day as they wandered in the desert searching for the Promised Land. In the New Testament we have Jesus being overshadowed by the Cloud at the Transfiguration and the Father telling the Disciples to listen to Him and Follow Him for He is the Son of God and will lead you to eternal life. Identify and describe the role of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in God s plan of salvation.. Three persons in one God, who co-operate and invite us to share in God s Life which is Divine Grace. Trinity is a model of selfless Love. Their Love is united, giving, receiving and sharing perfectly. FATHER Creator of all things which He created for us. We were created in God s mind from the beginning of time. He is the Giver of all Blessings and Grace. His Grace is all you need to come back to Him. The Father gave us His only Son, Jesus Christ, to bring his Grace and Blessings into the world and to mark us as his adopted sons. SON - The bearer of the Fathers Grace we are all redeemed by his blood He is the perfect sacrifice to remove all sin Christ made known the Mystery of God which we can not really understand until we meet God face to face. It is Christ who revealed to us the plan and the path which leads to meeting God face to face. All things in Heaven and on earth are subject to Christ s will, which is the will of the Father. In Christ we are the Father s chosen son s and we receive the richness of the inexhaustible graces he received for us from the Father. HOLY SPIRIT - is the Divine Force of Action. He seals us as adopted sons of the Father. The Holy Spirit brings us Truth and the Word of God and gives us the gift of Faith so we may believe. Faith is the first installment of the journey to our inheritance.

4 We obtain the fullness of redemption as God s possession by co-operating with the love and power of the Holy Spirit so we bring praise and glory to God.. Ways we see Father working in the world today. The Father is the Mystical Source of all unconditional Love. He shares His love with us. He is the Creator Leader Forgiver (Prodigal Son) Gives us Freedom and Free Will. He rejoices in our return to Him He is always there for us. He sends us all Truth. His only request is that we obey Him because we love Him. Impact Jesus work of redemption has had on our life personally. Jesus followed God s will (Humility) to become human, be mocked, scorned, ridiculed, tortured and crucified. He demonstrates how love and sacrifice is the plan of salvation and redemption. Jesus teaches me that to meet God I must help every neighbor, just as He did. How Spirit s work in one person can have enormous impact on world. Nothing can be accomplished without the assistance of the Holy Spirit. In the 20 th Century alone you can see the enormous impact the Holy Spirit made working in cooperation with Mother Theresa, St. Therese, Pope John Paul II; Fulton Sheen, Scott Hahn, Mother Angelica to name just a few. There can be no doubt the Spirit moves and guides the Church. Are we going to invite the Holy Spirit to work through us to make an impact on the world? GO MAD How does the Holy Spirit work in us to increase our Faith? 1 Corinthians 2 - The Holy Spirit reveals the depth of God s Love. He knows God s inner most thoughts and he knows our inner hearts. The Holy Spirit gives us the mind of the Father and Christ and helps us to understand their spiritual realities. 1 Corinthians 12 - We can t proclaim Christ or do anything in Christ s name without the power of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 4 - It is the Holy Spirit who marks us as God s adopted son s and prompts us to seek God. The Holy Spirit frees us from the slavery of the world and makes us heirs of the kingdom. Benefits of Holy Spirit dwelling within us. - We belong to Christ. We have life now and for eternity. We are constantly being made righteous. We are marked as children of God and coheirs of the kingdom. The Holy Spirit enables us to join our suffering to Christ s. At the end of time we will be glorified in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.

5 How can we respond to the Holy Spirit? Ephesians We must hear God s word, accept it, believe it and ask the Holy Spirit to help us meditate on it in order to grow in our spiritual knowledge, wisdom and understanding of the Truth Galatians Faith is open to all. We receive the Spirit when we say we believe and have Faith. Jesus has sent his Holy Spirit to ransom us if we believe and ask for the Holy Spirits help. 1 Peter Obey the Holy Spirit. Participate in Mass so we may receive the grace, peace and help of the Holy Spirit. The Gospel can only be spread to the World with the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. How is Simeon described? What was the relationship between the kind of life he led and the Holy Spirit s presence in him? He is righteous, devout, patient and marked by the Holy Spirit. He lived a life guided by his cooperation with the promise and power of the Holy Spirit. What had the Holy Spirit revealed to Simeon? What kind of inner disposition do you think Simeon had to have in order to hear the Holy Spirit and be guided by him? The Holy Spirit revealed he would see the Messiah. Simeon was obedient, patient and perseverant and thru the power of the Holy Spirit he returned to the temple every day so he could stay in touch with the Holy Spirit and be guided by him while he waited for the fulfillment of His promise. HE BELIEVED AND HAD FAITH. What results can we expect when we live life in the Spirit? If we live with the Holy Spirit our reward will be finding peace and happiness now as we live in obedience to Jesus Word. And eternal fulfillment when we see God face to face in a perfect exchange of the Love of God which is the Holy Spirit. What are some practical ways we can learn to be guided by the Holy Spirit? 1. Pray to Him each day. Ask Him to lead us to a life of Virtue (Good Habits) 2. Attend Mass as often as possible and receive the Eucharist. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill us with His Grace (Divine Life) 3. Ask the Holy Spirit to send us the Grace we need to be obedient to His Will (Humility) 4. Be grateful and thank the Holy Spirit each day for his generous gifts.

6 CLOSING Exerpt from Word Among us The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. The Holy Spirit has been with you since baptism. No Matter the challenge or temptation, you don t ever have to be afraid. You belong to God. His Holy Spirit has conquered all of them. The Holy Spirit will help you face every day s challenge. Face all things with one question; Is Jesus being honored and given first place? The Holy Spirit speaks through the Church on complex moral and social issues. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to God s ways then follow His guidance in the choices you make. THE MORE YOU LISTEN TO HIM; THE EASIER IT GETS TO HEAR. The Holy Spirit is the FIRE of God. Fire gives off Light The Holy Spirit brings us Wisdom & Truth Fire gives off Heat - The Holy Spirit brings the Burning Love of God into our mind, our heart and our soul. The Holy Spirit educates us, inspires us and brings us to obedience. Obedience to Jesus Christ is the hall mark of conversion through the Holy Spirit. For many of the first Christians, it began with their initial obedience to believe and be baptized. Many of us were born into Catholic families, to be baptized as infants and believe more fully as we mature in our faith. God intends that this initial obedience or putting our trust and faith in Jesus Christ grow in depth and responsiveness to Jesus as we yield to the continuing sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit. We are encouraged to affirm our initial steps of faith by continuing to live a life guided by the Holy Spirit. As we come to the end of this session, contemplate one new truth you have learned so far about the Holy Spirit and His intense desire to touch and influence your life.