Today we focus on the Holy Spirit, and what it means for you and me to receive the Holy Spirit. We want to look at the Holy Spirit as guiding us into relationship with Jesus and the Father. As our GPS, the Holy Spirit leads us into the love of Jesus and the Father. The Holy Spirit is Jesus’ promise to us; is Jesus’ great gift to us. So, in faith we want to say:
“Jesus because I love You, I want to receive Your Spirit. And Holy Spirit, I welcome You, because I want to know and love Jesus and the Father more and be obedient to their commandments of love.”
Why does Jesus say that the Father will give you another advocate? Jesus himself is an advocate for us before the Father. Jesus pleads for us and is continually on our side and through the Holy Spirit. Jesus is not only ‘helping’ us from heaven, but He is ‘helping’ us here and now through his Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is distinct from Jesus but does not operate independently from Jesus. Because the Holy Spirit abides with Jesus, as Jesus abides with the Father, and that leads us into the relationships of the Trinity.
What an awesome gift the Holy Spirit is to us; what a wonderful promise from Jesus. We were baptised into the life of God, and Holy Spirit came to dwell in us and at our confirmation through the laying of hands, and the anointing of oil on our forehead, we were sealed with the Holy Spirit, the completion of our baptismal grace.
We must make a conscious, deliberate, intentional and total decision in faith to receive and cooperate with the HS’ action in us, leading to fruitfulness of the grace of the sacraments in us.