What Are You Looking For? Part 1: The Nicene Creed

In The Holy Spirit

In The Holy Spirit

            When I was a kid, and even still today in older translations of the Bible, the Holy Spirit was called the Holy Ghost.  Frankly, I found that a little creepy.  Why would I want a ghost, even a Holy one, to be a part of my life?  Fortunately his name has been changed.  Today we refer to the third person of the Most Holy Trinity as the Holy Spirit.  Which is a much more accurate translation of the Latin:  Spiritus Sancti.  (That’s about the extent of my Latin!)  And it’s a lot less creepy.  The question remains, just who is the Holy Spirit?

            As I said, the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Holy Trinity.  Just as the Son wasn’t referred to directly in the Old Testament, neither was the Holy Spirit.  Perhaps this is because the Trinity is so difficult to explain even today.  Back in the Old Testament, people had a hard enough time grasping the concept of only one God.  If God had tried to reveal that He is Three, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and also one God, they wouldn’t have understood even the little that we understand now.  God gradually revealed himself to the people over the course of centuries.  First he revealed himself as one.  Then he revealed himself as one, Father and Son.  Then Jesus revealed God as one, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  There is a progression that occurs as people can process more and more information.  It’s kind of like educating children.  You don’t start a Kindergartener off with quadratic equations.  First they have to learn to count. 

            Just because the Holy Spirit wasn’t named in the Old Testament doesn’t mean he wasn’t there and wasn’t active.  He was part of the “us” at creation.  “Let us make human beings in our image.”  (Genesis 1:26)  In 1Kings 18: 38 he is the Lord’s fire that comes down from heaven and consumes Elijah’s sacrifice, pre-figuring the tongues of fire that would appear over the heads of the apostles on the day of Pentecost. 

            In Hebrew the word for “Spirit” is ruah, which means breath, air or wind. (CCC 691)  When Jesus ascended and the Holy Spirit came, He came as a rushing wind.  Today He still comes into our lives in the same way.  He is our breath of life, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not.  As Christians, he is the very air we breathe.  He is the wind that blows through our lives and our souls, always shaking things up. 

            People who live in Arizona are very familiar with wind.  Before a storm, everything gets very still and quiet.  Then all of a sudden, you look out and the wind is blowing fiercely and the sky is orange.  You can hardly see the parking lot a few feet away because there’s so much dust in the air.  Then the rain comes.  And it pours.  And the wind blows so hard it’s raining sideways.  And the awesome power of God is seen in the lightning and heard in the thunder.  And then, just as suddenly as it all began, it stops.  And everything is washed clean.  And the sky is clear and beautiful. 

The Holy Spirit is like that.  He blows into our lives (if we let him) and stirs up all the dust in our souls.  For a time it’s hard to see anything.  And then God brings the rain.  And sometimes it pours and it seems like there’s thunder and lightning all around.  And he washes everything clean.  And after the storm, just like Elijah, we hear again that still small voice of God.