What do we know about the Holy Spirit?

[Reuben_J]

@Reuben_J,

I hadn’t thought of it actually. But how then do we explain ISIS, when they have strong faith in God, pray 5 times a day, and then go out and saw off a head or two, and kill children themselves.

How does the Evil Spirit enter so easily into those faithful people, but not Christians unless it’s the rejection of the Holy Spirit that is the problem. Because as you probably know, Muslims reject the H.S. because they believe it contradicts the singularity of God.

Plainly speaking, evil enters us like how the Holy Spirit does, that is, through our permission, agreement and in some cases invitation.

The Evil Spirit being more aggressive, unlike the Holy Spirit who is gentle and meek and who respects our free will, the former tempts us and sometimes oppresses or even possesses us because he is like a roaring lion looking for a prey to devour.

Even as Christians, we are not spared from the attack of the Evil Spirit and to defend ourselves, we need to be strong and to allow the power of Christ to strengthen us.

Every time in our action, thought and word, we commit sin, the Evil One enters us in some degrees. If we do not repent but persist to sin, his influence in us would increase perhaps to a point where we would do his will and be his slave.

As for Muslims, what they practice and believe may not necessarily be from God. Like us Christians, if they stray from God and serve the Evil One by their action, then it will have its hold over them.

 

[Vico]

Good points Vico. I even heard somewhere once that the Holy Spirit was a particularly special agent during the Creative Act, and that the Spirit is what animates life itself, as life is indeed a grace of God’s.

…But there’s something special about Christians who believe. They tend to not commit the most heinous sins such as the mass murder of innocent random people. That would be beyond what a good Christian could do.

I read in the Catholic Encyclopedia that it is our soul that animates our body, but also, per St. Paul we there is the trichotomy of body (soma), soul (psyche), and spirit (pneuma). The principle of the spirit (pneuma) is the Holy Spirit, dwelling and operating in the heart.

See: Maher, M., & Bolland, J. (1912). Soul. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14153a.htm

 

[Ron_Conte]

Vico,

The spirit, in the sense that you cite (body, spirit, soul) is not the Holy Spirit. All human persons are said to have body, spirit, soul, even if they are not in the state of grace. The spirit of man is of human nature, not the Divine indwelling.

Prevenient grace is received and is effective without any cooperation. Only subsequent grace allows for the possibility of cooperation by the free will of man.

 

[MonteRCMS]

In the catechism, we are told about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

This is from Wikipedia:

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, these gifts “…complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them.”[19]

Wisdom is considered the first and the greatest of the gifts. It acts upon both the intellect and the will. According to St. Bernard, it both illumines the mind and instills an attraction to the divine. Adolphe Tanquerey OP explained the difference between the gift of wisdom and that of understanding, “…the latter is a view taken by the mind, while the former is an experience undergone by the heart; one is light, the other love, and so they unite and complete one another.”[20] Wisdom is the perfection of the theological virtue of charity;

Understanding is a perceptive intuition which illuminates the mind to grasp the truths of faith. It does not involve a comprehensive understanding of the mysteries of faith, but helps a person understand that these mysteries are credible; compatible with and related to each other; and not unreasonable. The gift of understanding perfects the theological virtue of faith.[21]

Counsel functions as a sort of supernatural intuition, to enable a person to judge promptly and rightly, especially in difficult situations. It perfects the cardinal virtue of prudence. While prudence operates in accord with reason as enlightened by faith, the gift of counsel operates under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to illuminate the will of God.[22]

 

[MonteRCMS]

Fortitude is often identified with courage, but Aquinas takes its meaning to also encompass endurance. Joseph J. Rickaby describes it as a willingness to stand up for what is right in the sight of God, even if it means accepting rejection, verbal abuse, or physical harm. The gift of fortitude allows people the firmness of mind that is required both in doing good and in enduring evil.[23] It is the perfection of the cardinal virtue of the same name.

Knowledge: The gift of knowledge allows one, as far as is humanly possible, to see things from God’s perspective. It “allows us to perceive the greatness of God and his love for his creatures” through creation.[24]

Piety accords with reverence. A person with reverence recognizes his total reliance on God and comes before God with humility, trust, and love. Thomas Aquinas says that piety perfects the virtue of religion, which is an aspect of the virtue of justice, in that it accords to God that which is due him.[25] In a series of talks on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Pope Francis said that piety is a recognition of "…our belonging to God, our deep bond with him, a relationship that gives meaning to our whole life and keeps us resolute, in communion with him, even during the most difficult and troubled moments”.[26] “Piety is not mere outward religiosity; it is that genuine religious spirit which makes us turn to the Father as his children and to grow in our love for others, seeing them as our brothers and sisters,…”[27]

Fear of the Lord is akin to wonder (or awe): With the gift of fear of the Lord, one is made aware of the glory and majesty of God. At a June 2014 general audience Pope Francis said that it “is no servile fear, but rather a joyful awareness of God’s grandeur and a grateful realization that only in him do our hearts find true peace”.[28] A person with wonder and awe knows that God is the perfection of all one desires. This gift is described by Aquinas as a fear of separating oneself from God. He describes the gift as a “filial fear,” like a child’s fear of offending his father, rather than a “servile fear,” that is, a fear of punishment. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It is the perfection of the theological virtue of hope.

 

[Lonnie_Atticus]

Thank you all for your contributions, and I’m going to spend time allowing my conscience to digest it all. If anyone has anymore contributions, please feel free to post them. This is a topic that is pretty important to me, so all responses are welcomed and appreciated.

 

[youngsterat16]

A faithful practicing Catholic is still human and is prone to sin and evil. I’d say it isn’t impossible though unlikely. Like I said earlier, the crusades may have been faithful and practicing Catholics- to the extent that they can since they didn’t have the same Mass (was there even?) that we do today.

Anyway your topic is on what do we know about the Holy Spirit, we should extend that on not just wars and such

 

[Lonnie_Atticus]

A faithful practicing Catholic is still human and is prone to sin and evil. I’d say it isn’t impossible though unlikely. Like I said earlier, the crusades may have been faithful and practicing Catholics- to the extent that they can since they didn’t have the same Mass (was there even?) that we do today.

But the Crusades were good people, who defended other Christians from being hurt and degraded by Islamic radicals. You are aware that the Crusades began when the Islamists began taking over Christian territories by force, right? Our Eastern Christian Orthodox brothers asked us for help, and the crusades were a response to their pleas.

Please watch the following video. At the end, he shows the Crusade battles, and explains the relevance of why they existed.

 

[petra22]

The first reading for the Mass this weekend is Wisdom… Wisdom 6:12-16… what a coincidence!!!

 

[Kei]

The fruit of the Holy Ghost are cultivated, not implanted.
All Good comes from God, and without His Grace we would not be able to refrain from mortal sin for very long.
A Christian who has long been a Christian is in the process of sanctification. This is a long process, and I have heard it said there are three main parts to it.

A practicing Christian can be graced to follow the Will of God, and hence we do try to do this.

It’s a sad thing wars lIke the crusades have to happen, but we do believe in the concept of the Just War. In the Bible, a lot of it has to do with war. Many miracles happened in the Crusades and during the first Crusades we took Antioch despite the numbers being massively against us. Many reported the angels and saints in battle right alongside them. Praise God.
It should be noted that ancient war was quite different from modern warfare.

 

[misstherese]

The Holy Spirit is within us when we are in a state of grace. That is called sanctifying grace. For non Catholics, or for those who are in mortal sin, they can receive actual grace, that pushes them toward sanctifying grace, but the Holy Spirit only truly resides in those who are in a state of grace.

 

[Ron_Conte]

The Holy Spirit is within us when we are in a state of grace. That is called sanctifying grace. For non Catholics, or for those who are in mortal sin, they can receive actual grace, that pushes them toward sanctifying grace, but the Holy Spirit only truly resides in those who are in a state of grace.

Non-Catholics and non-Christians can be in the state of grace, by a baptism of desire. But, yes, the Spirit only resides in those in the state of sanctifying grace.