Receiving the Holy Spirit

[zz912]

Ok, thanks for the response. I still see a conflict in what the Catechism says and what is written in Scriptures. Saying that Acts isn’t an explanation of doctrine doesn’t diminish the facts that are stated in it.

Anyway, here is another place where I’m conflicted. In Acts 8 Simon the sorcerer along with others believed and were baptized but did not receive the Holy Spirit. It looks like Peter and John went to Samaria (after the baptism) and prayed that the new believers might receive the Holy Spirit. And Simon the sorcerer, although he was baptized, never did receive the Holy Spirit if I’m understanding it correctly.

I read what this says, then I read the Catechism and the two don’t seem to jell.

You missing something important in the passage. In that passage they listened to the preaching of Phillip, the deacon. He then baptized them. They received the Holy Spirit at that time. But they didn’t receive the fullness the of the Holy Spirit (i.e. Confirmation and the gifts of the Holy Spirit).

So they had to wait until the Apostles (who are also bishops), to come to them and perform the sacrament of Confirmation on them, and THEN they received the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:14 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:
15 Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:
16 (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
18 And when Simon saw that through **laying on of the apostles’ hands **the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,

So to answer your question, it is the sacrament of Confirmation, and this explains your confusion over the passage.

 

[twf]

Why? As I stated before, the Catechism states that you receive the Holy Spirit at baptism. Holy Scripture states that some people receive the Holy Spirit before baptism, some receive the Holy Spirit after baptism, and some never received the Holy Spirit even though they were baptized. So I can’t understand why the Catechism says that you receive the Holy Spirit at baptism. Obviously, you can receive the Holy Spirit before, during or after baptism (That is if you believe Scripture).

Could you point out to where Jesus said to be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit? Thanks! I’m just trying to understand is all.

The language in the Acts isn’t intended to be theologically precise. It is a narrative, not a Catechism.

1. At baptism we receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is now present within us in a special way making us a child of God.
2. At confirmation we are sealed with the fullness of the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is a greater outpouring of the Spirit. Confirmation completes and perfects baptism.
   In the Acts we see references to the Holy Spirit being given to new Christians after their baptism by the “laying on of hands” by the Apostles. This is the sacrament of confirmation - the sealing of the fullness of the gift of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands of the bishop (the successor of the Apostles).
   There is one or two places in the Acts where the Holy Spirit comes before baptism or confirmation. This was an extraordinary case. The Catechism says that God is not bound by His sacraments - He can act beyond them (CCC 1257). In the case of Cornelius and the other Gentiles, the Holy Spirit came upon them before baptism and confirmation to demonstrate to the mostly Jewish Christian community that the gift of the Gospel was also for the Gentiles. If not for this special sign, the Jewish Christians would have protested St. Peter baptizing and confirming the Gentiles.

 

[SJacob7]

Please excuse my lack of knowledge in how to ‘cut and past’ on this site. You stated ‘The language in the Acts isn’t intended to be theologically precise. It is a narrative, not a Catechism’.

Is your statement above considered Church teaching or is this just your own opinion? Thanks for you time and (name removed by moderator)ut.

 

[slh3016]

Please excuse my lack of knowledge in how to ‘cut and past’ on this site. You stated ‘The language in the Acts isn’t intended to be theologically precise. It is a narrative, not a Catechism’.

Is your statement above considered Church teaching or is this just your own opinion? Thanks for you time and (name removed by moderator)ut.

To reply or comment on a specific comment, just click on the “Quote” button on the bottom right of that post. To break that quote into parts for commenting, just put a in all caps which means end quote at the appropriate place.

Then use

in all caps to start the quoting again…hope that helps!

 

[Michael_Francis]

*Just click http://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/buttons_sky/quote.gif at the bottom right of the post window and it will automatically quote the post you are responding to.

To break it up into sections you’ll need to go to the bottom of the text in question and erase and then you can quote other parts by simply highlighting the text and then clicking http://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/editor/quote.gif at the top of your post window.
God bless.*

 

[twf]

Please excuse my lack of knowledge in how to ‘cut and past’ on this site. You stated ‘The language in the Acts isn’t intended to be theologically precise. It is a narrative, not a Catechism’.

Is your statement above considered Church teaching or is this just your own opinion? Thanks for you time and (name removed by moderator)ut.

Probably my opinion, though if I did some research I would suspect there are magisterial documents that would back me up on this point. Regardless, do you have any thoughts on my comments regarding why the Holy Spirit appears to come, at various points, before, during, and after baptism?

 

[Randy_Carson]

Please excuse my lack of knowledge in how to ‘cut and past’ on this site. You stated ‘The language in the Acts isn’t intended to be theologically precise. It is a narrative, not a Catechism’.

Is your statement above considered Church teaching or is this just your own opinion? Thanks for you time and (name removed by moderator)ut.

How to use the Catholic Answers Forum Quote Function

If you want to respond to something that someone else posted, you can simply hit the “Quote” button on the lower right…not the “Post Reply” button on the lower left. Simply begin typing after the text that the forum automatically copies for you. That’s what I did at the beginning of this post above.

If you want to insert your comments into the middle of something you are quoting, you have to manually insert square brackets. Here is the original passage I want to comment on:

Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was black as soot, and everywhere that Mary went, his sooty foot he put.

In order to show you what you need to do, I have to use a different set of brackets for illustrative purposes only. I’ll use { and } instead of and ] so that you can see where the brackets should be located, and I’ll insert my comments in red text. To begin a quote, you must insert {quote} at the beginning of the passage and {/quote} at the end. The / is the key to ending the quoted section. Here’s what it would look like:

{quote} Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was black as soot, {/quote} I’m inserting my comments here in red. {quote} and everywhere that Mary went, his sooty foot he put. {/quote} Hope this helps.

Remember, wherever you see the { or } you have to actually use a square bracket or ] so that the paragraph above comes out like this:

Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was black as soot,

I’m inserting my comments here in red.

and everywhere that Mary went his sooty foot he put.

Hope this helps.

One more thing: the quote function will automatically insert the name of the person to whom you are replying so that person can find your response more easily.