Was That Really the Holy Spirit Speaking to You? Discerning the Voice of Truth and Love

Both the truth of the eternal three Persons in the Holy Trinity and thoroughly knowing God’s Law (Truth) are essential in discerning what we believe the Holy Spirit may be communicating to us.  The Holy Spirit will always lead us on the path to Heaven even if it demands temporal suffering.  Joy trumps pleasure, and there can be no authentic peace in cooperation with sin.

 
Have you ever noticed that Catholics frequently relate more to one Person of the Holy Trinity than the other two?  Some begin prayers aways with “Father God, we ask;” others, “Help, Jesus,” and then there are those who favor the petition, “Come Holy Spirit” or words to that effect.   While there is nothing inherently “wrong” in favoring one of the three, frequent or exclusive  compartmentalization of mostly one of the Persons of the Holy Trinity discloses an important aspect about the catechetical formation of the person praying and his or her relationship to God.   This may arise from life experiences, as well.  

 
Of all three Persons in One God, though, the Holy Spirit may be the most difficult to navigate.   We understand the Father through the Old Testament from Creation forward.  We know Jesus Christ as portrayed in the New Testament and by the witness of Church Fathers, Doctors, Saints, and other holy persons over the past 2,000 years, controversies not withstanding.  However, the Holy Spirit, by its very nature, can remain mysterious, elusive, and, unfortunately, contorted to what we hope He conveys to us personally.  Still, there are ways to discern if what we are “hearing” is truly from the union of love between the Father and the Son. 

 
Perhaps nothing so explicitly directs us as the prayer Jesus Christ taught:  “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.  Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil Amen.”

 
While ordering prayer first to the Father, Jesus Christ brought in Himself (in the Bread of Life) and, more implicitly, the Holy Spirit in combatting temptation.   Also, Jesus emphasized that “He is in the Father, and the Father is in me.”  (John 14:11 ), and later that He would send an Advocate, the Holy Spirit (John 14:15).  This “progression” should not be misinterpreted like an introduction of characters in a play but as gradual revelation of truth from all time because the Holy Spirit has been ever present.  In Genesis, we learn “In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind (bold face mine) swept over the waters.”  (Genesis 1:1)  As a reminder Jesus is consubstantial with the Father, but entered human history at the appointed time.  All Three Persons were though all ages, one God.   There is most certainly the truth that all three Persons of the Holy Trinity are in each other, and each in the other Person.  So, when we are praying to any of them, we are praying to all.  

 
Perhaps the fault lies in our worldly “timeline” paradigm as the concept of eternity eludes us though Faith insists we profess to it.  (That is why it is called “faith.”) Or better stated, as St. Gregory of Nazianzus, the Theologian, explained, regarding the advancing and progressing from “glory to glory”:   “The Old Testament proclaimed the Father clearly, but the Son more obscurely.  The New Testament revealed the Son and gave us a glimpse of the divinity of the Spirit. Now the Spirit dwells among us and grants us a clearer vision of himself.” (CCC 684)

 
This is critical in how we perceive the Holy Spirit “answers” us because of the three, the Holy Spirit can be the easiest to misunderstand or mistranslate.  We must know the Law as handed on to the Patriarchs of the Old Testament and the which Jesus taught which did not change an iota of the law but brought it to merciful fulfillment.  In other words, the Holy Spirit could never contradict the Father or the Son, and Jesus Christ emphasized this when he proclaimed that He had not come to abolish or change the law but to fulfill it. (Matthew 5:17).

 
Study the Catechism of the Catholic Church in this regard, particularly chapter Three:  I Believe in the Holy Spirit (CCC 683-688) and the Gifts and Fruits (CCC 1830-1832) that emphasize both the theological and cardinal virtues.  The Holy Spirit has always been and is never changing.

 
By throughly embracing the Holy Spirit as He is rather than simply a more contemporized God of the 21st Century, all that we ask in His Name will be understood by the Light of Truth, unchangeable and unmodified,  and Perfect Love for our eternal good, not as we would wish to conform to self will, no matter how we judge that to be sanctioned.  Sadly,  modern interpretations even by clergy have confused the laity.

 
Another way of pondering the Holy Spirit in our lives is that the next time we seek His guidance or grace during a difficult time or troublesome conflict, is that when we think He has answered us a certain way, we ask ourselves:  “Is that really the Holy Spirit speaking to me, or am I smooth talking myself?”   Always remember that if it is the Holy Spirit, the guidance will always conform to the Law, but more importantly, humility and obedience.  You should  experience genuine joy and peace of soul even if the answer causes temporal suffering.