CHAPTER THREE - I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY
SPIRIT
683 "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit."[1] "God has sent the
Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!"'[2] This knowledge of faith is
possible only in the Holy Spirit: to be in touch with Christ, we must first have been
touched by the Holy Spirit. He comes to meet us and kindles faith in us. By virtue of our
Baptism, the first sacrament of the faith, the Holy Spirit in the Church communicates to
us, intimately and personally, the life that originates in the Father and is offered to us in
the Son.
Baptism gives us the grace of new birth in God the Father, through his Son, in the Holy
Spirit. For those who bear God's Spirit are led to the Word, that is, to the Son, and the
Son presents them to the Father, and the Father confers incorruptibility on them. And
it is impossible to see God's Son without the Spirit, and no one can approach the
Father without the Son, for the knowledge of the Father is the Son, and the knowledge
of God's Son is obtained through the Holy Spirit.[3]
684 Through his grace, the Holy Spirit is the first to awaken faith in us and to
communicate to us the new life, which is to "know the Father and the one whom he has
sent, Jesus Christ."[4] But the Spirit is the last of the persons of the Holy Trinity to be
revealed. St. Gregory of Nazianzus, the Theologian, explains this progression in terms of
the pedagogy of divine "condescension": The Old Testament proclaimed the Father
clearly, but the Son more obscurely. The New Testament revealed the Son and gave us a
glimpse of the divinity of the Spirit. Now the Spirit dwells among us and grants us a
clearer vision of himself. It was not prudent, when the divinity of the Father had not yet
been confessed, to proclaim the Son openly and, when the divinity of the Son was not
yet admitted, to add the Holy Spirit as an extra burden, to speak somewhat daringly.... By
advancing and progressing "from glory to glory," the light of the Trinity will shine in
ever more brilliant rays.[5]
685 To believe in the Holy Spirit is to profess that the Holy Spirit is one of the persons
of the Holy Trinity, consubstantial with the Father and the Son: "with the Father and the
Son he is worshipped and glorified."[6] For this reason, the divine mystery of the Holy
Spirit was already treated in the context of Trinitarian "theology." Here, however, we
have to do with the Holy Spirit only in the divine "economy."
686 The Holy Spirit is at work with the Father and the Son from the beginning to the
completion of the plan for our salvation. But in these "end times," ushered in by the
Son's redeeming Incarnation, the Spirit is revealed and given, recognized and welcomed
as a person. Now can this divine plan, accomplished in Christ, the firstborn and head of
the new creation, be embodied in mankind by the outpouring of the Spirit: as the
Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
ARTICLE 8 - "I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY
SPIRIT"
687 "No one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God."[7] Now
God's Spirit, who reveals God, makes known to us Christ, his Word, his living
Utterance, but the Spirit does not speak of himself. The Spirit who "has spoken through
the prophets" makes us hear the Father's Word, but we do not hear the Spirit himself.
We know him only in the movement by which he reveals the Word to us and disposes
us to welcome him in faith. The Spirit of truth who "unveils" Christ to us "will not speak
on his own."[8] Such properly divine self-effacement explains why "the world cannot
receive [him], because it neither sees him nor knows him," while those who believe in
Christ know the Spirit because he dwells with them.[9]
688 The Church, a communion living in the faith of the apostles which she transmits, is
the place where we know the Holy Spirit:
- in the Scriptures he inspired;
- in the Tradition, to which the Church Fathers are always timely witnesses;
- in the Church's Magisterium, which he assists;
- in the sacramental liturgy, through its words and symbols, in which the Holy Spirit
puts us into communion with Christ;
- in prayer, wherein he intercedes for us;
- in the charisms and ministries by which the Church is built up;
- in the signs of apostolic and missionary life;
- in the witness of saints through whom he manifests his holiness and continues the
work of salvation.
I. THE JOINT MISSION OF THE SON AND THE
SPIRIT
689 The One whom the Father has sent into our hearts, the Spirit of his Son, is truly
God.[10] Consubstantial with the Father and the Son, the Spirit is inseparable from
them, in both the inner life of the Trinity and his gift of love for the world. In adoring
the Holy Trinity, life-giving, consubstantial, and indivisible, the Church's faith also
professes the distinction of persons. When the Father sends his Word, he always sends
his Breath. 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.
690 Jesus is Christ, "anointed," because the Spirit is his anointing, and everything that
occurs from the Incarnation on derives from this fullness.[11] When Christ is finally
glorified,[12] 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,[13] that is, the Holy Spirit who
glorifies him.[14] 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:
The notion of anointing suggests . . . that there is no distance between the Son and the
Spirit. Indeed, 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.[15]
II. THE NAME, TITLES, AND SYMBOLS OF
THE HOLY SPIRIT
The proper name of the Holy Spirit
691 "Holy Spirit" is the proper name of the one whom we adore and glorify with the
Father and the Son. The Church has received this name from the Lord and professes it
in the Baptism of her new children.[16]
The term "Spirit" translates the Hebrew word ruah, which, in its primary sense, means
breath, air, wind. Jesus indeed uses the sensory image of the wind to suggest to
Nicodemus the transcendent newness of him who is personally God's breath, the
divine Spirit.[17] 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."
Titles of the Holy Spirit
692 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.[18] "Paraclete" is
commonly translated by "consoler," and Jesus is the first consoler.[19] The Lord also
called the Holy Spirit "the Spirit of truth."[20]
693 Besides the proper name of "Holy Spirit," which is most frequently used in the Acts
of the Apostles and in the Epistles, we also find in St. Paul the titles: the Spirit of the
promise,[21] the Spirit of adoption,[22] the Spirit of Christ,[23] the Spirit of the
Lord,[24] and the Spirit of God[25] - and, in St. Peter, the Spirit of glory.[26]
Symbols of the Holy Spirit
694 Water. The symbolism of water signifies the Holy Spirit's action in Baptism, since
after the invocation of the Holy Spirit it becomes the efficacious sacramental sign of
new birth: just as the gestation of our first birth took place in water, so the water of
Baptism truly signifies that our birth into the divine life is given to us in the Holy Spirit.
As "by one Spirit we were all baptized," so we are also "made to drink of one Spirit."[27]
Thus the Spirit is also personally the living water welling up from Christ crucified[28] as
its source and welling up in us to eternal life.[29]
695 Anointing. The symbolism of anointing with oil also signifies the Holy Spirit,[30] to
the point of becoming a synonym for the Holy Spirit. In Christian initiation, anointing is
the sacramental sign of Confirmation, called "chrismation" in the Churches of the East.
Its full force can be grasped only in relation to the primary anointing accomplished by
the Holy Spirit, that of Jesus. Christ (in Hebrew "messiah") means the one "anointed" by
God's Spirit. There were several anointed ones of the Lord in the Old Covenant, preeminently
King David.[31] But Jesus is God's Anointed in a unique way: the humanity
the Son assumed was entirely anointed by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit established
him as "Christ."[32] The Virgin Mary conceived Christ by the Holy Spirit who, through
the angel, proclaimed him the Christ at his birth, and prompted Simeon to come to the
temple to see the Christ of the Lord.[33] The Spirit filled Christ and the power of the
Spirit went out from him in his acts of healing and of saving.[34] Finally, it was the Spirit
who raised Jesus from the dead.[35] Now, fully established as "Christ" in his humanity
victorious over death, Jesus pours out the Holy Spirit abundantly until "the saints"
constitute - in their union with the humanity of the Son of God - that perfect man "to
the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ":[36] "the whole Christ," in St.
Augustine's expression.
696 Fire. While water signifies birth and the fruitfulness of life given in the Holy Spirit,
fire symbolizes the transforming energy of the Holy Spirit's actions. The prayer of the
prophet Elijah, who "arose like fire" and whose "word burned like a torch," brought
down fire from heaven on the sacrifice on Mount Carmel.[37] This event was a "figure"
of the fire of the Holy Spirit, who transforms what he touches. John the Baptist, who
goes "before [the Lord] in the spirit and power of Elijah," proclaims Christ as the one
who "will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."[38] Jesus will say of the Spirit:
"I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!"[39] In the
form of tongues "as of fire," the Holy Spirit rests on the disciples on the morning of
Pentecost and fills them with himself[40] The spiritual tradition has retained this
symbolism of fire as one of the most expressive images of the Holy Spirit's actions.[41]
"Do not quench the Spirit."[42]
697 Cloud and light. These two images occur together in the manifestations of the Holy
Spirit. In the theophanies of the Old Testament, the cloud, now obscure, now luminous,
reveals the living and saving God, while veiling the transcendence of his glory - with
Moses on Mount Sinai,[43] at the tent of meeting,[44] and during the wandering in the
desert,[45] and with Solomon at the dedication of the Temple.[46] In the Holy Spirit,
Christ fulfills these figures. The Spirit comes upon the Virgin Mary and "overshadows"
her, so that she might conceive and give birth to Jesus.[47] On the mountain of
Transfiguration, the Spirit in the "cloud came and overshadowed" Jesus, Moses and
Elijah, Peter, James and John, and "a voice came out of the cloud, saying, 'This is my
Son, my Chosen; listen to him!'"[48] Finally, the cloud took Jesus out of the sight of the
disciples on the day of his ascension and will reveal him as Son of man in glory on the
day of his final coming.[49]
698 The seal is a symbol close to that of anointing. "The Father has set his seal" on
Christ and also seals us in him.[50] Because this seal indicates the indelible effect of the
anointing with the Holy Spirit in the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy
Orders, the image of the seal (sphragis) has been used in some theological traditions to
express the indelible "character" imprinted by these three unrepeatable sacraments.
699 The hand. Jesus heals the sick and blesses little children by laying hands on
them.[51] In his name the apostles will do the same.[52] Even more pointedly, it is by
the Apostles' imposition of hands that the Holy Spirit is given.[53] The Letter to the
Hebrews lists the imposition of hands among the "fundamental elements" of its
teaching.[54] The Church has kept this sign of the all-powerful outpouring of the Holy
Spirit in its sacramental epicleses.
700 The finger. "It is by the finger of God that [Jesus] cast out demons."[55] If God's
law was written on tablets of stone "by the finger of God," then the "letter from Christ"
entrusted to the care of the apostles, is written "with the Spirit of the living God, not on
tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts."[56] The hymn Veni Creator Spiritus
invokes the Holy Spirit as the "finger of the Father's right hand."[57]
701 The dove. At the end of the flood, whose symbolism refers to Baptism, a dove
released by Noah returns with a fresh olive-tree branch in its beak as a sign that the earth
was again habitable.[58] When Christ comes up from the water of his baptism, the Holy
Spirit, in the form of a dove, comes down upon him and remains with him.[59] The
Spirit comes down and remains in the purified hearts of the baptized. In certain
churches, the Eucharist is reserved in a metal receptacle in the form of a dove
(columbarium) suspended above the altar. Christian iconography traditionally uses a
dove to suggest the Spirit.
III. GOD'S SPIRIT AND WORD IN THE TIME OF
THE PROMISES
702 From the beginning until "the fullness of time,"[60] the joint mission of the Father's
Word and Spirit remains hidden, but it is at work. God's Spirit prepares for the time of
the Messiah. Neither is fully revealed but both are already promised, to be watched for
and welcomed at their manifestation. So, for this reason, when the Church reads the Old
Testament, she searches there for what the Spirit, "who has spoken through the
prophets," wants to tell us about Christ.[61]
By "prophets" the faith of the Church here understands all whom the Holy Spirit
inspired in living proclamation and in the composition of the sacred books, both of the
Old and the New Testaments. Jewish tradition distinguishes first the Law (the five first
books or Pentateuch), then the Prophets (our historical and prophetic books) and
finally the Writings (especially the wisdom literature, in particular the Psalms).[62]
In creation
703 The Word of God and his Breath are at the origin of the being and life of every
creature:[63]
It belongs to the Holy Spirit to rule, sanctify, and animate creation, for he is God,
consubstantial with the Father and the Son.... Power over life pertains to the Spirit, for
being God he preserves creation in the Father through the Son.[64]
704 "God fashioned man with his own hands [that is, the Son and the Holy Spirit] and
impressed his own form on the flesh he had fashioned, in such a way that even what was
visible might bear the divine form."[65]
The Spirit of the promise
705 Disfigured by sin and death, man remains "in the image of God," in the image of the
Son, but is deprived "of the glory of God,"[66] of his "likeness." The promise made to
Abraham inaugurates the economy of salvation, at the culmination of which the Son
himself will assume that "image"[67] and restore it in the Father's "likeness" by giving it
again its Glory, the Spirit who is "the giver of life."
706 Against all human hope, God promises descendants to Abraham, as the fruit of
faith and of the power of the Holy Spirit.[68] In Abraham's progeny all the nations of
the earth will be blessed. This progeny will be Christ himself,[69] in whom the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit will "gather into one the children of God who are
scattered abroad."[70] God commits himself by his own solemn oath to giving his
beloved Son and "the promised Holy Spirit . . . [who is] the guarantee of our inheritance
until we acquire possession of it."[71]
In Theophanies and the Law
707 Theophanies (manifestations of God) light up the way of the promise, from the
patriarchs to Moses and from Joshua to the visions that inaugurated the missions of the
great prophets. Christian tradition has always recognized that God's Word allowed
himself to be seen and heard in these theophanies, in which the cloud of the Holy Spirit
both revealed him and concealed him in its shadow.
708 This divine pedagogy appears especially in the gift of the Law.[72] God gave the
Law as a "pedagogue" to lead his people towards Christ.[73] But the Law's
powerlessness to save man deprived of the divine "likeness," along with the growing
awareness of sin that it imparts,[74] enkindles a desire for the Holy Spirit. The
lamentations of the Psalms bear witness to this.
In the Kingdom and the Exile
709 The Law, the sign of God's promise and covenant, ought to have governed the
hearts and institutions of that people to whom Abraham's faith gave birth. "If you will
obey my voice and keep my covenant, . . . you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a
holy nation."[75] But after David, Israel gave in to the temptation of becoming a
kingdom like other nations. The Kingdom, however, the object of the promise made to
David,[76] would be the work of the Holy Spirit; it would belong to the poor according
to the Spirit.
710 The forgetting of the Law and the infidelity to the covenant end in death: it is the
Exile, apparently the failure of the promises, which is in fact the mysterious fidelity of
the Savior God and the beginning of a promised restoration, but according to the Spirit.
The People of God had to suffer this purification.[77] In God's plan, the Exile already
stands in the shadow of the Cross, and the Remnant of the poor that returns from the
Exile is one of the most transparent prefigurations of the Church.
Expectation of the Messiah and his Spirit
711 "Behold, I am doing a new thing."[78] Two prophetic lines were to develop, one
leading to the expectation of the Messiah, the other pointing to the announcement of a
new Spirit. They converge in the small Remnant, the people of the poor, who await in
hope the "consolation of Israel" and "the redemption of Jerusalem."[79]
We have seen earlier how Jesus fulfills the prophecies concerning
himself. We limit ourselves here to those in which the relationship of the
Messiah and his Spirit appears more clearly.
712 The characteristics of the awaited Messiah begin to appear in the "Book of
Emmanuel" ("Isaiah said this when he saw his glory,"[80] speaking of Christ), especially
in the first two verses of Isaiah 11:
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch
shall grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon
him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and
might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
713 The Messiah's characteristics are revealed above all in the "Servant songs."[82]
These songs proclaim the meaning of Jesus' Passion and show how he will pour out the
Holy Spirit to give life to the many: not as an outsider, but by embracing our "form as
slave."[83] Taking our death upon himself, he can communicate to us his own Spirit of
life.
714 This is why Christ inaugurates the proclamation of the Good News by making his
own the following passage from Isaiah:[84]
The Spirit of the LORD God is upon me, because the LORD has
anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind
up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the
opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of
the LORD'S favor.
715 The prophetic texts that directly concern the sending of the Holy Spirit are oracles
by which God speaks to the heart of his people in the language of the promise, with the
accents of "love and fidelity."[85] St. Peter will proclaim their fulfillment on the morning
of Pentecost.[86] According to these promises, at the "end time" the Lord's Spirit will
renew the hearts of men, engraving a new law in them. He will gather and reconcile the
scattered and divided peoples; he will transform the first creation, and God will dwell
there with men in peace.
716 The People of the "poor"[87] - those who, humble and meek, rely solely on their
God's mysterious plans, who await the justice, not of men but of the Messiah - are in the
end the great achievement of the Holy Spirit's hidden mission during the time of the
promises that prepare for Christ's coming. It is this quality of heart, purified and
enlightened by the Spirit, which is expressed in the Psalms. In these poor, the Spirit is
making ready "a people prepared for the Lord."[88]
IV. THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST IN THE FULLNESS
OF TIME
John, precursor, prophet, and baptist
717 "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John."[89] John was "filled with
the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb"[90] by Christ himself, whom the Virgin
Mary had just conceived by the Holy Spirit. Mary's visitation to Elizabeth thus became a
visit from God to his people.[91]
718 John is "Elijah [who] must come."[92] The fire of the Spirit dwells in him and makes
him the forerunner of the coming Lord. In John, the precursor, the Holy Spirit
completes the work of "[making] ready a people prepared for the Lord."[93]
719 John the Baptist is "more than a prophet."[94] In him, the Holy Spirit concludes his
speaking through the prophets. John completes the cycle of prophets begun by
Elijah.[95] He proclaims the imminence of the consolation of Israel; he is the "voice" of
the Consoler who is coming.[96] As the Spirit of truth will also do, John "came to bear
witness to the light."[97] In John's sight, the Spirit thus brings to completion the careful
search of the prophets and fulfills the longing of the angels.[98] "He on whom you see
the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have
seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.... Behold, the Lamb of
God."[99]
720 Finally, with John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit begins the restoration to man of "the
divine likeness," prefiguring what he would achieve with and in Christ. John's baptism
was for repentance; baptism in water and the Spirit will be a new birth.[100]
"Rejoice, you who are full of grace"
721 Mary, the all-holy ever-virgin Mother of God, is the masterwork of the mission of
the Son and the Spirit in the fullness of time. For the first time in the plan of salvation
and because his Spirit had prepared her, the Father found the dwelling place where his
Son and his Spirit could dwell among men. In this sense the Church's Tradition has
often read the most beautiful texts on wisdom in relation to Mary.[101] Mary is
acclaimed and represented in the liturgy as the "Seat of Wisdom."
In her, the "wonders of God" that the Spirit was to fulfill in Christ and the Church
began to be manifested:
722 The Holy Spirit prepared Mary by his grace. It was fitting that the mother of him in
whom "the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily"[102] should herself be "full of grace."
She was, by sheer grace, conceived without sin as the most humble of creatures, the
most capable of welcoming the inexpressible gift of the Almighty. It was quite correct
for the angel Gabriel to greet her as the "Daughter of Zion": "Rejoice."[103] It is the
thanksgiving of the whole People of God, and thus of the Church, which Mary in her
canticle[104] lifts up to the Father in the Holy Spirit while carrying within her the eternal
Son.
723 In Mary, the Holy Spirit fulfills the plan of the Father's loving goodness. Through
the Holy Spirit, the Virgin conceives and gives birth to the Son of God. By the Holy
Spirit's power and her faith, her virginity became uniquely fruitful.[105]
724 In Mary, the Holy Spirit manifests the Son of the Father, now become the Son of
the Virgin. She is the burning bush of the definitive theophany. Filled with the Holy
Spirit she makes the Word visible in the humility of his flesh. It is to the poor and the
first representatives of the gentiles that she makes him known.[106]
725 Finally, through Mary, the Holy Spirit begins to bring men, the objects of God's
merciful love,[107] into communion with Christ. And the humble are always the first to
accept him: shepherds, magi, Simeon and Anna, the bride and groom at Cana, and the
first disciples.
726 At the end of this mission of the Spirit, Mary became the Woman, the new Eve
("mother of the living"), the mother of the "whole Christ."[108] As such, she was
present with the Twelve, who "with one accord devoted themselves to prayer,"[109] at
the dawn of the "end time" which the Spirit was to inaugurate on the morning of
Pentecost with the manifestation of the Church.
Christ Jesus
727 The entire mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit, in the fullness of time, is
contained in this: that the Son is the one anointed by the Father's Spirit since his
Incarnation - Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah.
Everything in the second chapter of the Creed is to be read in this light. Christ's whole
work is in fact a joint mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Here, we shall mention
only what has to do with Jesus' promise of the Holy Spirit and the gift of him by the
glorified Lord.
728 Jesus does not reveal the Holy Spirit fully, until he himself has been glorified
through his Death and Resurrection. Nevertheless, little by little he alludes to him even
in his teaching of the multitudes, as when he reveals that his own flesh will be food for
the life of the world.[110] He also alludes to the Spirit in speaking to Nicodemus,[111] to
the Samaritan woman,[112] and to those who take part in the feast of Tabernacles.[113]
To his disciples he speaks openly of the Spirit in connection with prayer[114] and with
the witness they will have to bear.[115]
729 Only when the hour has arrived for his glorification does Jesus promise the coming
of the Holy Spirit, since his Death and Resurrection will fulfill the promise made to the
fathers.[116] The Spirit of truth, the other Paraclete, will be given by the Father in
answer to Jesus' prayer; he will be sent by the Father in Jesus' name; and Jesus will send
him from the Father's side, since he comes from the Father. The Holy Spirit will come
and we shall know him; he will be with us for ever; he will remain with us. The Spirit will
teach us everything, remind us of all that Christ said to us and bear witness to him. The
Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth and will glorify Christ. He will prove the world
wrong about sin, righteousness, and judgment.
730 At last Jesus' hour arrives:[117] he commends his spirit into the Father's hands[118]
at the very moment when by his death he conquers death, so that, "raised from the dead
by the glory of the Father,"[119] he might immediately give the Holy Spirit by
"breathing" on his disciples.[120] From this hour onward, the mission of Christ and the
Spirit becomes the mission of the Church: "As the Father has sent me, even so I send
you."[121]
V. THE SPIRIT AND THE CHURCH IN THE
LAST DAYS
Pentecost
731 On the day of Pentecost when the seven weeks of Easter had come to an end,
Christ's Passover is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, manifested, given, and
communicated as a divine person: of his fullness, Christ, the Lord, pours out the Spirit
in abundance.[122]
732 On that day, the Holy Trinity is fully revealed. Since that day, the Kingdom
announced by Christ has been open to those who believe in him: in the humility of the
flesh and in faith, they already share in the communion of the Holy Trinity. By his
coming, which never ceases, the Holy Spirit causes the world to enter into the "last
days," the time of the Church, the Kingdom already inherited though not yet
consummated.
We have seen the true Light, we have received the heavenly Spirit, we have found the
true faith: we adore the indivisible Trinity, who has saved us.[123]
The Holy Spirit - God's gift
733 "God is Love"[124] and love is his first gift, containing all others. "God's love has
been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."[125]
734 Because we are dead or at least wounded through sin, the first effect of the gift of
love is the forgiveness of our sins. The communion of the Holy Spirit[126] in the
Church restores to the baptized the divine likeness lost through sin.
735 He, then, gives us the "pledge" or "first fruits" of our inheritance: the very life of the
Holy Trinity, which is to love as "God [has] loved us."[127] This love (the "charity" of 1
Cor 13) is the source of the new life in Christ, made possible because we have received
"power" from the Holy Spirit.[128]
736 By this power of the Spirit, God's children can bear much fruit. He who has grafted
us onto the true vine will make us bear "the fruit of the Spirit: . . . love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."[129] "We live by the
Spirit"; the more we renounce ourselves, the more we "walk by the Spirit."[130]
Through the Holy Spirit we are restored to paradise, led back to the Kingdom of
heaven, and adopted as children, given confidence to call God "Father" and to share in
Christ's grace, called children of light and given a share in eternal glory.[131]
The Holy Spirit and the Church
737 The mission of Christ and the Holy Spirit is brought to completion in the Church,
which is the Body of Christ and the Temple of the Holy Spirit. This joint mission
henceforth brings Christ's faithful to share in his communion with the Father in the
Holy Spirit. The Spirit prepares men and goes out to them with his grace, in order to
draw them to Christ. The Spirit manifests the risen Lord to them, recalls his word to
them and opens their minds to the understanding of his Death and Resurrection. He
makes present the mystery of Christ, supremely in the Eucharist, in order to reconcile
them, to bring them into communion with God, that they may "bear much fruit."[132]
738 Thus the Church's mission is not an addition to that of Christ and the Holy Spirit,
but is its sacrament: in her whole being and in all her members, the Church is sent to
announce, bear witness, make present, and spread the mystery of the communion of the
Holy Trinity (the topic of the next article):
All of us who have received one and the same Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit, are in a
sense blended together with one another and with God. For if Christ, together with the
Father's and his own Spirit, comes to dwell in each of us, though we are many, still the
Spirit is one and undivided. He binds together the spirits of each and every one of us, . .
. and makes all appear as one in him. For just as the power of Christ's sacred flesh
unites those in whom it dwells into one body, I think that in the same way the one and
undivided Spirit of God, who dwells in all, leads all into spiritual unity.[133]
739 Because the Holy Spirit is the anointing of Christ, it is Christ who, as the head of the
Body, pours out the Spirit among his members to nourish, heal, and organize them in
their mutual functions, to give them life, send them to bear witness, and associate them
to his self-offering to the Father and to his intercession for the whole world. Through
the Church's sacraments, Christ communicates his Holy and sanctifying Spirit to the
members of his Body. (This will be the topic of Part Two of the Catechism.)
740 These "mighty works of God," offered to believers in the sacraments of the Church,
bear their fruit in the new life in Christ, according to the Spirit. (This will be the topic of
Part Three.)
741 "The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought,
but the Spirit himself intercedes with sighs too deep for words."[134] The Holy Spirit,
the artisan of God's works, is the master of prayer. (This will be the topic of Part Four.)
IN BRIEF
742 "Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying,
'Abba! Father!"' (Gal 4:6).
743 From the beginning to the end of time, whenever God sends his Son, he always
sends his Spirit: their mission is conjoined and inseparable.
744 In the fullness of time the Holy Spirit completes in Mary all the preparations for
Christ's coming among the People of God. By the action of the Holy Spirit in her, the
Father gives the world Emmanuel "God-with-us" (Mt 1:23).
745 The Son of God was consecrated as Christ (Messiah) by the anointing of the Holy
Spirit at his Incarnation (cf. Ps 2:6-7).
746 By his Death and his Resurrection, Jesus is constituted in glory as Lord and Christ
(cf. Acts 2:36). From his fullness, he poured out the Holy Spirit on the apostles and the
Church.
747 The Holy Spirit, whom Christ the head pours out on his members, builds, animates,
and sanctifies the Church. She is the sacrament of the Holy Trinity's communion with
men.
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