Day 97: Introduction to the Holy Spirit

"No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit."1 "God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!"'2 This knowledge of faith is possible only in the Holy Spirit: to be in touch with Christ, we must first have been touched by the Holy Spirit. He comes to meet us and kindles faith in us. By virtue of our Baptism, the first sacrament of the faith, the Holy Spirit in the Church communicates to us, intimately and personally, the life that originates in the Father and is offered to us in the Son. CCC 683

In today's reading, the Catechism gives us an intro to the Holy Spirit, but more one "in the divine 'economy'" than "in the context of Trinitarian 'theology'" (CCC 685). The latter was covered earlier. Together with the Father & Jesus the Holy Spirit is inescapable for us as believers. As the Catechism Companion, Vol I puts it:

If we have come to know Jesus, it has always been by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the sacraments, it is the power of the presence of the Holy Spirit that takes what Jesus did and brings it to us right now in this present moment. (p. 198)

Inspired by the saints? It is through what we see in their lives that the Holy Spirit has given them. Even in our prayer and any good works we may do, the power of the Holy Spirit and His grace shines through. He gets overlooked sometimes when it comes to "credit" but the Holy Spirit is very much at the heart of our faith.

The Catechism closes today's reading with this list of some of what the Holy Spirit does:

The Church, a communion living in the faith of the apostles which she transmits, is the place where we 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. (CCC 688)