We’ve just celebrated the great feast of Pentecost. Did you wear red for it? Do you remember when we referred to the Holy Ghost? Spirit and ghost (from Old English gast) are synonyms, but as time passed, ghost came to mean a dead person and was frightening to children and somewhat creepy. So the Church and Bible translators substituted Spirit for the Third Person of the Trinity.

This Person has been dubbed the Cinderella of the Trinity because he (or she) is overlooked. One reason people tend to neglect the Holy Spirit in prayer is that a spirit can’t be visualized. We picture the Father as an old man, and the Son as his incarnated form, Jesus. But artists depict the Spirit as a dove, as he appeared at the baptism of Jesus. So that’s how we think of him. But praying to a bird isn’t appealing. (A newspaper once carried a story about a speeding driver in Germany captured by a police camera. In the photo a large white dove with wings spread over the driver’s face saved him from a ticket!)

My Experience with the Holy Spirit

When a spiritual director asked me, “Do you pray to the Holy Spirit?” I said, “No, not specifically.” He was surprised and replied,  “You, a writer, and you don’t pray to the Holy Spirit!” Since then I’ve addressed prayers to all three persons in the Trinity: the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.  I’ve learned from personal experience that this Spirit is all that Jesus promised: a powerful helper. Jesus called him a Paraclete, that is, someone who stands with someone in need, a lawyer, an advocate, a friend. I call the Holy Spirit my co-author. Without his inspiration, how could I ever have written so many books and textbook series?

On Pentecost the Spirit of Jesus swooped down is the forms of strong wind flames of fire. He filled the disciples so that miraculously they spoke in languages foreigners could understand. They also were filled with courage to emerge from their hiding place. This same Spirit inspires me with ideas and words when I have writer’s block. But more than that…

A Teacher Aide

In my first year teaching high school religion, I had a very intelligent class. Every day the students challenged me, wrecking my carefully worked out lesson plan. Feeling like a failure, I confided in my friend, a fellow teacher. She assured me that the Holy Spirit was my hidden partner in teaching religion. Somehow he would use my words to touch the students’ hearts in ways I may never know. So I went on in sheer faith, day after day. Then one night as I was correcting the test of the most exasperating student, I discovered she had written these words: “You probably won’t believe this, but I go to Mass every day. Many people don’t realize how important faith is, but because of things you said, I do now.”

Incredible Help

From baptism the Trinity has lived within us. From time to time we have a inkling that the Holy Spirit is at work within us and with us. A sole writer for a textbook series, I once was to complete a major revision in three years. (That was grades one to 8 and Confirmation; student books, manuals, and blackline masters.) Part way through the task, the publisher cut my allotted time by ten months! I was in shock. It would be impossible to meet the new deadline. Pacing back and forth, I wondered how I would ever accomplish that. Oh, God, what should I do? Suddenly I heard, “Go for it. I’ll be with you.” Was the the Spirit speaking…in slang? Immediately peace came over me. The books were finished on time, dioceses that hadn’t approved them before accepted them, and sales soared.

Other Rescues

I’ve learned to call on the Holy Spirit and ask for the gift of saying the right words in stressful situations: when making an important phone call, giving a new talk, going to an uncomfortable meeting, finding a piece of information quickly, or counseling a person. This gives me confidence.

St. Paul wrote, “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God?” (1 Cor. 6:19) Through the sacraments the Spirit in some mysterious way lives in us—and along with the Spirit the Father and the Son because they are inseparable. This means we are never alone and have easy access to divine aid. One thing we can ask the Holy Spirit’s help with is becoming a better pray-er!

The Holy Spirit’s special job description includes making people holy, guiding the writing and reading of Scripture, bringing about the Eucharist, and watching over the Church. Theologically speaking, God the Father generates the Son, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from them as the bond of love between them. When we love, we are like God, in other words, holy. Someone said that we ought to be taken along by the Holy Spirit as a feather is taken by the wind.

My community used to pray the Litany to the Holy Spirit every Monday. I should take that up again!

My Book about the Holy Spirit

A parishioner at St. Dominic asked me to write a book about the Holy Spirit. He said he didn’t understand this Person of the Trinity. The result of his request was my book the Holy Spirit: Font of Love, Life, and Power. It’s available on Amazon for $10.00.  Or you can order from me. 

A Lovely Hymn about the Holy Spirit

When do you turn to the Holy Spirit for help?

Have you ever felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life?