Cathal BarryThe Church teaches that the Holy Spirit is inseparable from the Father and the Son, writes Cathal Barry
“No one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Cor 2:11).
The Holy Spirit, according to Church teaching, is responsible for humanity hearing God’s Word, despite not being able to 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 Catechism states.
The Spirit of truth who “unveils” Christ to humanity “will not speak on his own” (Jn 16:13). This 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 (Jn 14:17).
Living in the faith
The Catechism states that the Church, a communion living in the faith of the apostles which she transmits, is the place where the faithful come to 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.
According to the Scriptures, the “One whom the Father has sent into our hearts, the Spirit of his Son, is truly God” (Gal 4:6).
The Church teaches that “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,” the Catechism states.
“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,” it teaches.
The Catechism also teaches that the mission of the Spirit of adoption is to unite God’s children to Christ and make them live in him.
As St Gregory of Nyssa states: “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 recognises 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.”