You Can't Define the Holy Spirit

It’s the physical worldview that has things all wrong. We think we can live forever, we think we can do whatever we want (within reason), we think of our bodies’ needs first, and we think intelligence is the ticket for success. Perhaps this simplifies things, but the overall point is we live in a “show me” era.

You just can’t show someone the Holy Spirit. It’s not that the Holy Spirit doesn’t work on demand, but He works on a different plane entirely and achieves results that to the world seem insignificant. How many times does the world scoff and say, “If God existed, there’d be no starvation or war.” If this world was all there is, then the argument makes sense. But the Catholic knows this world is not all there is.

The true gift of the Holy Spirit is His presence and guidance. It’s not easy to identify Him as a hidden power and authority. We trust He is present when we strive to live a Christian life. Still, the Holy Spirit is elusive in many ways. No one likes to wait, and yet God’s Spirit has us wait until He wills to act. Sometimes this takes years. Sometimes, like at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes driving us forward to fulfill our role in a dramatic fashion. Other times, we struggle to sense the Spirit of God, but through faith, we wait until He decides to make his presence known.

There is a real stirring in our souls when we feel the Holy Spirit. His presence comforts us and encourages us. When we pray, we view our lives with His focused lens. And prayer is a must if we want to find Him. There’s one truth about God, we must chase Him if we want to find Him.

The Holy Spirit is defined by His fruits, but who fully understands the list of abstract words? The better way to understand Him is to think of a power source. We can’t run an appliance without the source that delivers electricity. We can’t follow God without the power of the Holy Spirit. The Church can’t do what it must do without the source Christ called the Advocate. An advocate is defined as someone who offers public support. Advocate is an odd word choice until we think of a criminal court where a defendant leans on his legal counsel to navigate the difficult system. Living in this world is difficult, and without a counselor (the Holy Spirit) we would be lost.

As followers of Jesus, we’re called by a different voice than that which governs the world. Our knowledge of things like the immortal soul separates us from those who don’t see the hidden. Faith allows us certain knowledge. We know Who awaits us at death, and it’s a Divine decision as to who enters His kingdom. We seek help in our weakness. The Spirit of God directs us to what we must do. When the Holy Spirit descends upon His Church, its members find a Divine conversation. Through this spiritual influence, we grow closer to God and a circular effort begins. The more we pray the more we sense God’s presence inside of us. Then to reach the state of knowing the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we pray even more.

To explain the Holy Spirit is difficult. It’s easier to experience His presence. The world will never accept Him for the world thrives in the body, not the soul. The Church has her mission from Jesus, powered by the Advocate, and therefore what seems impossible is possible.