The Promise of the Holy Spirit [Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter]

THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Image from saintpetersbasilica.org via google.com

"The Advocate, 

the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name 

- he will teach you everything 

and remind you of all that I told you.' 

- John 14:26

Of the three Persons composing the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, seems to be the least known. Perhaps it is due to the fact that there are not so many Biblical passages to attest to His Divine Personhood or maybe it is due to what the Lord Jesus himself said about the Holy Spirit, 

"the Spirit of Truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it" [John 14:17a]. 

And yet for us who believe, we do know and possess the Holy Spirit [ see John 14:17b].

The Lord Jesus Christ promised the coming of the Holy Spirit who will teach everything and will remind Apostles and after them, the Church through their successors, about the things which He has taught them for many of these have not been recorded in the Bible [see John 20:30] but have been handed down by word of mouth [see 2 Thessalonians 2:15]. Moreover, the Lord Jesus himself said that He wanted to tell many other things but that the Apostles won't be able to bear so He will leave it to the Holy Spirit to lead them to all the truth and to tell them of things to come [see John 16: 12-13].

Hence the role of the Holy Spirit, though already established in the Holy Bible, is not yet finished and He is still working even if the Holy Bible has been closed after the last surviving Apostle, St John the Beloved, our Patron of the Holy Friendship, died, which signaled the completion of Divine Revelation. It is now the Holy Spirit's role to make all that has been revealed to be fully understood by the Church so that she may be able to fully proclaim the whole Truth [see John 16:13]. 

As we have stated above, the Lord Jesus himself had said that the Holy Spirit cannot be accepted by the world, and so in our days we witness the many attacks against the Church because they cannot understand and accept that it is the Holy Spirit who is guiding her in her work and teachings especially with regards to so many issues that have not been directly answered by the Bible and yet, through the Holy Spirit, have been provided with answers already such as the issues on contraceptives, abortion, homosexuality, same-sex marriage, euthanasia, stem-cell research, etc. Surely, we cannot see any Biblical passage which directly speak about these but the divine principles that guides our understanding and acceptance or denial of these things have been laid down and their proper interpretation and explanation lie within the power of the Holy Spirit already who actively works within the Church as promised by the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Perhaps it is also noteworthy to mention that some dogmas and doctrines of the Church might also have not been directly and exactly revealed in the Bible but their foundations are truly Bible-based and with the Holy Spirit's guidance and inspiration, the Church cannot but proclaim such dogmas and doctrines such as the perfect union of the divine and human natures of the only-begotten Son, the Holy Trinity, the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption, etc. 

As Catholics, we rely on the promises of the Lord Jesus Christ that He will abide by the Church until the end of time [see Matthew 28:20], and that the Church will never be overcome even by the gates of hell [see Matthew 16:18] and that the Holy Spirit will guide her into all the truth [see John 16:13].

Remember what the Lord said about unpardonable sin against the Holy Spirit? The Pharisees have said that the Lord had an evil spirit and so He warned them about blaspheming against the Holy Spirit for such is an unpardonable sin [see Matthew 12: 22-32; Mark 3: 22-30; Luke 11: 14-23; 12:10]. Now, since the Holy Spirit is the one guiding the Church in her activities and teachings, would anyone be guilty of such a sin if he or she declares that Church is doing or teaching evil things, or worse, that she herself is evil?

May the Father who has sent the Holy Spirit through the Lord Jesus Christ to give the Church the power to forgive sins have mercy on us all [see John 20: 22-23].