The Holy Spirit

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I’m almost embarrassed to admit this but I am a 55 year-old cradle Catholic and I have never really understood the concept of the Holy Spirit.

We all have some notion of what Jesus (the Son) looks like based on statues and paintings throughout history. Likewise, we probably have some mental notion of God (the Father); old man, beard, wisdom etc. That personification is something that I can relate to.

But I have trouble wrapping my mind around the idea of a Holy Spirit.

What is it, exactly? :confused:
 
I am sure others will have biblical references, etc… Here are a few thoughts…

The Holy Spirit is in all living things. He gives life to the world. He is especially in humans as we are made in God’s image. He connects us to Jesus and God. He connects us to each other. He is pure love. There are some humans in which he is more present because they have opened themselves to him. And, we can always invite him to come into us more fully.
 
WaitingForJesus said:
I am sure others will have biblical references, etc… Here are a few thoughts…

The Holy Spirit is in all living things. He gives life to the world. He is especially in humans as we are made in God’s image. He connects us to Jesus and God. He connects us to each other. He is pure love. There are some humans in which he is more present because they have opened themselves to him. And, we can always invite him to come into us more fully.
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You know I’ve been thinking about this myself lately. Jesus and his disciples cured disease with the same holy spirit we have in us. Why do we not use the holy spirit to cure our afflictions? I know faith is involved too and they asked Jesus “Lord increase our faith”.
 
“It” is a “He”, as the Spirit is the third part of the Godhead. Fr. Robert Barron characterizes the Holy Spirit as that mutual sigh that occurs when Father and Son look upon each other with infinite love.

The Holy Spirit animates all of creation, and is the ultimate force behind all good that is accomplished on earth. The Holy Spirit arranges things in our lives so that we might draw nearer to the Lord. Father and Son communicate with us via the Spirit. By the power of the Holy Spirit, our sins are taken away, bread and wine become Body and Blood, and graces flow upon us through the Sacraments.

The Holy Spirit is the Giver of all gifts - the charisms that we received during our Baptism and Confirmation. He is the reason behind all of those delightful and sometimes eerie “coincidences” that occur in our lives. He has no body, as He is spirit in His essence.

He lives in us.
 
po18guy said:
“It” is a “He”, as the Spirit is the third part of the Godhead. Fr. Robert Barron characterizes the Holy Spirit as that mutual sigh that occurs when Father and Son look upon each other with infinite love.

The Holy Spirit animates all of creation, and is the ultimate force behind all good that is accomplished on earth. The Holy Spirit arranges things in our lives so that we might draw nearer to the Lord. Father and Son communicate with us via the Spirit. By the power of the Holy Spirit, our sins are taken away, bread and wine become Body and Blood, and graces flow upon us through the Sacraments.

The Holy Spirit is the Giver of all gifts - the charisms that we received during our Baptism and Confirmation. He is the reason behind all of those delightful and sometimes eerie “coincidences” that occur in our lives. He has no body, as He is spirit in His essence.

He lives in us.
Click to expand...
Speaking of Fr. Barron,

youtube.com/watch?v=1INut0Gi09Q
 
billcu1 said:
You know I’ve been thinking about this myself lately. Jesus and his disciples cured disease with the same holy spirit we have in us. Why do we not use the holy spirit to cure our afflictions? I know faith is involved too and they asked Jesus “Lord increase our faith”.
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Well, I think because our society is medically advanced that people don’t bother to pray for healing very much. However, I can and do believe Jesus wants to give us these miracles. We have some healing masses around here and there are people who have received healings. And people almost always receive spiritual healings when we pray for them, for example coming out of despair and/or being at peace with God despite their afflictions.
 
WaitingForJesus said:
Well, I think because our society is medically advanced that people don’t bother to pray for healing very much. However, I can and do believe Jesus wants to give us these miracles. We have some healing masses around here and there are people who have received healings. And people almost always receive spiritual healings when we pray for them, for example coming out of despair and/or being at peace with God despite their afflictions.
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I pray that God allow the doctors to have the means to heal me.
 
I pray for healing too but I won’t pray for something specific like let the doctors have the means because I see that as putting my own limitations on God.

John the Baptist preached repentance but Jesus sent the 72 out to preach ‘the Kingdom of God is at hand.’

When Jesus is accused of casting out demons by the authority of beezebul or what ever name it was he replied by saying 'but if I cast them out by the finger of God then the Kingdom of God has come upon you." meaning it’s not just at hand, it’s there. It manifested into the physical world.

combine these with “the Kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent take it by force.” I take it to mean we have to get violent with the devils kingdom and take the Kingdom of God (which is at hand) by force. Pulling it from the spiritual realm into the physical where it manifests for us by the power of God and in the name of Jesus. And the power of God is the Holy Spirit. If you are a Christian it dwells inside of you. If God wills it you will feel it burst up from your belly up through your chest rippling your organs like water in a spa. Like a river. I’ve only felt that once but wow praise God!

That’s why we take authority of a spirit, cast it out and command sickness to heal or leave. We are not being arrogant with God but we are demanding the devil and co to leave us alone. Jesus gives us the authority to do it.
 
Lost_Sheep said:
I’m almost embarrassed to admit this but I am a 55 year-old cradle Catholic and I have never really understood the concept of the Holy Spirit.

We all have some notion of what Jesus (the Son) looks like based on statues and paintings throughout history. Likewise, we probably have some mental notion of God (the Father); old man, beard, wisdom etc. That personification is something that I can relate to.

But I have trouble wrapping my mind around the idea of a Holy Spirit.

What is it, exactly? :confused:
Click to expand...
I would suggest that you create your own image of the Holy Spirit, since that is what others have done with the image of God the Father and of Jesus Christ. The only thing we can say about Jesus is that he appeared as a human male, and what his ethnicity was. All the images that have ever been created of Jesus are pure imagination (with the possible exception of images derived from the Shroud of Turin, but that is a whole other matter).

It is interesting that the most common image of God the Father is as how you described it. Perhaps that is based on historical impressions and that we see and hear God addressed as “Father”; hence the natural image of an older, wiser, male.

In the Bible we see the Holy Spirit described as movement or action, or as temporal things that provide that movement (doves, tongues of flame, light, etc.). When we read Jesus and others saying that God will send his Spirit, and we read about it occurring, it seems like a very ephemeral process, which is perfectly described by the word “Spirit”.

To me the action of the Holy Spirit is internal, not something we see outside of us, but something that occurs within us. Perhaps it could be best be thought of as a feeling or revelation, rather than as something physical.
 
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