St Patrick revealed the mystery of the Holy Trinity through the image of a shamrock. For he explained that the three leaves grow out of a single stem. Thus, there is one God in Three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
As a child, I understood the Father. He was an old man with a beard. Jesus was also easy to understand, He was the son that was sent to earth and died for our sins. They were different but still one. It was always
often hard for me to understand the Holy Spirit. One thing was that the old people always said "Holy Ghost", which was scary. I must admit that I did think so much about the Holy Spirit. It was something that was just there.
The fact is that many find the Holy Spirit very important. How many pray to the Holy Spirit and are grateful for this great gift?
Let us look at the first Disciples. When we look at the Acts of the Apostles and read about the early Church, it is clear that something incredibly transforming took place after Jesus ascended into Heaven. Up until that time, the disciples and other followers of Jesus had faith, but they were also fearful. They communicated with those others who believed, but did so in secret and with fear. But as soon as Pentecost came and the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, the Spirit of Truth, descended upon them, the Apostles began to be used by God to powerfully proclaim the Gospel without fear and with great effect upon many.
The Holy Spirit means that God is with us all the time! He may have left the world in his physical form. but he remains with us through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will " guide you to all truth” (Jn 16:13). The truth is Jesus is our saviour. Jesus is our redeemer! The Holy Spirit gives us the help we need to testify this truth to the world.
The Church teaches us that the Holy Spirit gives us 7 gifts:
The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are, according to Catholic Tradition, wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of God. The standard interpretation has been the one that St. Thomas Aquinas worked out in the thirteenth century in his Summa Theologiae:
Wisdom is both the knowledge of and judgment about “divine things” and the ability to judge and direct human affairs according to divine truth (I/I.1.6; I/II.69.3; II/II.8.6; II/II.45.1–5).
Understanding is penetrating insight into the very heart of things, especially those higher truths that are necessary for our eternal salvation—in effect, the ability to “see” God (I/I.12.5; I/II.69.2; II/II.8.1–3).
Counsel allows a man to be directed by God in matters necessary for his salvation (II/II.52.1).
Fortitude denotes a firmness of mind in doing good and in avoiding evil, particularly when it is difficult or dangerous to do so, and the confidence to overcome all obstacles, even deadly ones, by virtue of the assurance of everlasting life (I/II.61.3; II/II.123.2; II/II.139.1).
Knowledge is the ability to judge correctly about matters of faith and right action, so as to never wander from the straight path of justice (II/II.9.3).
Piety is, principally, revering God with filial affection, paying worship and duty to God, paying due duty to all men on account of their relationship to God, and honoring the saints and not contradicting Scripture. The Latin word pietas denotes the reverence that we give to our father and to our country; since God is the Father of all, the worship of God is also called piety (I/II.68.4; II/II.121.1).
Fear of God is, in this context, “filial” or chaste fear whereby we revere God and avoid separating ourselves from him—as opposed to “servile” fear, whereby we fear punishment (I/II.67.4; II/II.19.9).
This is something we should thank God for. We are not alone! He had sent us the Holy Spirit. Let us welcome the Holy Spirit in our lives!
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