We reflect a lot concerning God the Father and God the Son, but often forget to reflect upon the third person of the Holy Trinity. The Holy Spirit is very important for all us to place at the center of our lives because we are assured in our Gospel that "the advocate, the Holy Spirit" will be sent to "teach you everything, and to remind you of all that" Christ has "told you." In our world it can be easy to lose sight of this reality in the midst of our sinfulness, our busyness, and at the moments when we feel lost and alone. No matter the situation that we find taking place inside of our everyday lives the Holy Spirit remains at the heart of the Church and reaches out to our hearts to bring us comfort and wisdom in the midst of any trial that we may face. Despite the Holy Spirit always being present we often fail to allow the Holy Spirit to truly enter into our lives to give us guidance. Instead of trusting in the guidance of the Holy Spirit we attempt to navigate through life through our own merits.
In the Book of Acts the apostles quickly learned of the necessity of the Holy Spirit within the life of the Church. Without Christ in their midst they were left to guide the Church as it began to grow throughout the world. With this growth of faith would come many difficult questions that would need to be answered and we are told within our first reading that "it is the decision of the Holy Spirit" that was made concerning these questions in accordance with their authority as the apostles of Christ. In the age of the apostles there was a desire to find truth and they did so through the guidance of the Holy Spirit who always guides the Church towards truth. In our own age we find something very different because we have replaced our desire to find truth with the acceptance of everything as being true. Relativism has erased truth within our society, but if we can begin to trust in the Holy Spirit as an advocate we will see that this cannot be so. The third person of the Holy Trinity always gives the guidance of truth to our lives and to the Church.
The Holy Spirit dwells within the Church and brings sanctification to souls through grace. This grace that is poured into our lives is very helpful in searching out truth and finally being able to find hope from the darkness of sin. As we enter into our daily lives we know all the hardships that we can encounter, but assistance can be given to calm the waters that we must endure through the grace that is ushered into our lives through the Holy Spirit. From this new life brought into our lives we are able to have the three theological virtues and seven gifts of the Holy Spirit bestowed upon our souls. Faith, hope, and charity make up the three theological virtues and the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are made up of counsel, piety, wisdom, understanding, knowledge, fortitude, and the fear of the Lord. The theological virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit give assistance to us in our pursuit for truth, our growth in the understanding of faith, being able to overcome our battle with sin, and to grow in relationship with God.
If we truly desire to grow in grace and thus allow these virtues and fruits to grow in our lives we must come to allow the Holy Spirit to become the advocate of our lives. In moments of temptation, making a tough decision, feeling as if we are alone, or any other struggle that we may encounter how would our lives be changed if we take a timeout to allow the Holy Spirit to give us guidance. If we can enter into this practice we in time will grow in our understanding of the faith, we will be given hope during the time of trial, and be moved with charity towards our neighbors. We will be given the strength to pursue the knowledge of the faith and accept all of the teachings that come with it while also being assisted during our inclination towards sin, so that through the grace of God we can overcome its grasp upon our lives. With trust placed in the third person of the Trinity this liberation and peace of mind can begin to take place.
In the words that came to us from Christ we hear: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you." These familiar words are found during each Mass following the recitation of the Our Father. These familiar words that come to our ears should give comfort to each of our needs. Comfort that Christ is present in all of our needs and that the Holy Spirit dwells within our midst to bring us this peace of heart. None of us have been left alone to accomplish this journey of faith through our own merits, but were given the peace of the Holy Spirit when we entered into the waters of baptism. May we not allow ourselves to continue to do battle with the world without first trusting in the peace that can be brought into our lives through the Holy Spirit. May we allow ourselves to continuously walk with the Holy Spirit, so that we can be moved forward in our life of faith. If we can truly allow ourselves to trust in the Holy Spirit we will have to let go and walk the path of faith and stop our many attempts at forming the Holy Spirit after our own desires.
In the words of our Holy Father, Pope Francis: "Submit to the Holy Spirit which comes from within us and makes us go forward along the path of holiness."
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