Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, enkindle in us the fire of your
love, send forth your Spirit and we shall be created and you shall renew the
face of the earth.
What is the Trinity? 3 persons, 1 God. The three persons of the Trinity are:
1st Person: The Father
2nd Person: The Son (who took on flesh and was born into the world as Jesus)
3rd Person: The Holy Spirit.
What images do each bring to mind? What
do you think of?
Sometimes it is easier to relate to the Father or to Jesus because of how we think of them. The Holy Spirit can be more difficult to relate to because the images that are used. A tongue of fire or a dove are a little harder to think of having a relationship with. So let's dig a little deeper about what the Holy Spirit's role in our life should be.
One of the titles of the Holy Spirit that He is referred to in the Scripture is: the Paraclete. It is actually a legal term in Greek that means something like a defense attorney. We have an accuser –
the devil and we also have an advocate - the Holy Spirit. But, the term Paraclete also means something like
First cry: I am longing to be
loved – deepest desire within all of us. None of us wants to be alone.
"And I tell you, ask and you will receive, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? if you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" Luke 11:9-13
What God most wants to give is Himself. God is love and we receive that in the Holy Spirit. God’s love has been
poured into our hearts at Baptism. He may be dormant, but He is there to
convince you that you are loved. God knows all the things we don’t want
everyone else to know – our thoughts, actions etc and still loves me. He is calling us on to greater freedom, life and holiness.
If the cross really happened, if
this happened for me, I need to not know that intellectually, but I need to
experience that. That is what the Holy Spirit wants to do. He wants me to know
in the depth of my being, that THAT happened for me.
"For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, 'Abba, Father!' The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him." Romans 8:15-17
What fear is Paul
alluding to? Fear about God? The HolySpirit is there to convince you God is not the
enemy. He is a loving merciful Father. He is also just, but loving and merciful. The fear we often experience is that God doesn’t care or that
He might not even be there. The other fear is that I am all alone or that I am
damaged goods. You might hear "The Holy Spirit is poured into our hearts…" but you think, "I’m
damaged goods. You don’t know what I’VE done." Remember: there is no saint, except Mary
who has lived without a past, and there is no sinner, no matter what they've, without a
future. Three of the greatest people in the Bible, Moses, David and Paul, were all murderers. No matter what we've done, if we repent we can become the greatest of Saints.
The Holy Spirit brings us to know the Father. He makes it possible to call our Abba! Father! He brings
us to relationship with the Father and so to be children of God, precious in His sight. You
don’t blend into the crowd. He knows you and me.
The second cry the Spirit answers is: "I’m not who I want
to be…I’m not yet who I want to be and it is my fault. I can’t blame anyone
else." The bad news is it is my fault, but the good news is that it is my fault…I CAN be who I want to be with God’s
grace. The Spirit respond to this cry and gives us the ability to live the life Christ calls us to. We are given the ability to do the impossible and love like God.
"But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8
The word translated here "power" is originally "dynamos" in Greek. This is the same word from which we get dynamite. The Holy Spirit should be like a spiritual dynamite in our lives. These poor mostly uneducated men, changed the world. There has never been anything that has changed the world more than what Jesus did. There is more art, more buildings, films, laws etc that are based on what Christ did than any other thing. It was what these early Christians did spreading the Good News of Jesus that transformed the world.
You too are called to be a witness to the world with the help of the Holy Spirit. To be a witness means to give evidence – if you were on trial for being a follower of Jesus,
would there be enough evidence to convict you?
Closing Prayer:
Candidate: Holy Spirit, I invite you into my
life. Help me to become the person you want me to be. I give you permission to
be active in my life.
Parent and/or sponsor (lay a hand on the candidates head or shoulder): Come Holy Spirit. Fill the heart of
_______________ as he/she prepares to receive you in the Sacrament of
Confirmation. Stir into a flame the fire of your love to transform him/her as he/she shines your light before men. I
commend ____________________ to you as he/she spends the next weeks preparing
to receive the sacrament of Confirmation.
I pledge to be a mentor and guide as we journey together toward our
goal. I pray this all through Christ,
our Lord. Amen.
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