Liturgy?

[jun143]

l just want to know about the
Holy Spirit in the church.

How can we know that
the Holy Spirit is working
in the church… does the Holy Spirit
uses symbols to signify His presence.?

Hope that you will help me enlightining
my limited mind…

 

[PhilotheaZ]

Wonderful questions!

We know that the Holy Spirit is working in the Church because Jesus promised that it would be so, and Jesus, who is Truth, keeps His promises:

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth …” (John 14:16–17)

We know because Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to the Apostles at Pentecost, and those Apostles received the power to give the Holy Spirit to others, and this power has been transmitted to today’s Church by apostolic succession:

The apostles laid hands on others, and they too received the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:14–17)

We know that the Holy Spirit is working in the Church because it is the Holy Spirit who enables the Church to preach the Gospel. (Remember how frightened the Apostles were before the coming of the Holy Spirit? Remember how courageous they were after Pentecost?)

There are many symbols to denote the Holy Spirit:

• Water (as in Baptism)
• Anointing (as Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit, anointing with oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit in Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Sick)
• Fire (as at Pentecost)
• Cloud
• Hands
• Dove (as seen at Jesus’ baptism)

You can read more about these and other symbols of the Holy Spirit in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, #694-701, available here: vatican.va/archive/catechism/p1s2c3a8.htm

In the Mass itself, right before the Consecration, the priest extends his hands and prays a prayer called the epiclesis, invoking the Holy Spirit to come so that the bread and wine might become the Body and Blood of Christ.

 

[Cluny]

l just want to know about the
Holy Spirit in the church.

How can we know that
the Holy Spirit is working
in the church… does the Holy Spirit
uses symbols to signify His presence.?

Hope that you will help me enlightining
my limited mind…

Of course!

The Holy Spirit works through symbols such as the water of Baptism, the Chrism of Confirmation, and the bread and wine of the Eucharist.

Or are you talking about people seeing such manifestations as the tongues of fire in Acts 2?

Well, few people are allowed by God to see such phenomena.

But the Bible says, “We walk by faith, and NOT by sight.” And also, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the EVIDENCE of things not seen.”

As for some things that Protestant and especially Pentecostal sectarians claim to have happen, well, I wouldn’t put too much stock in them. We’re not supposed to seek after signs and wonders. Deliberately looking for such experiences can lead to serious spiritual delusion.

 

[Evan]

The Holy Spirit is doing great things in the Church.

The 20th century saw more martyrs for the faith than any other.
The 20th century saw more people canonized as saints than any other.

These witnesses are inspired by the Holy Spirit