A.F.

The Holy Spirit is the third Person of God. He is truly God with the Father and the Son. In the Bible the Holy Spirit is also called - the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of the Lord, or simply the Spirit. Christian theologians say that the Holy Spirit is "the love between the Father and the Son". The Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father. This love between Father and Son is the Holy Spirit, the third Person of God. That is why the Holy Spirit is called "The love of God". To believe in the Holy Spirit means to accept the existence of the Holy Spirit as the third Person of God, to accept his action in the world, in the Church and in the life of the individual Christian.

The Holy Spirit dwells in the heart of every Christian who is in the state of grace. To be in the state of grace means to have no mortal sin on our conscience. St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians (I Cor. 6:9) says: "Don't you know that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit?" We Christians receive the Holy Spirit at our Baptism and the fullness of the Holy Spirit with his marvellous gifts is given to us in the sacrament of confirmation. The Catholic Church does not claim that the action of the Holy Spirit is limited exclusively to baptism and confirmation. The Holy Spirit can continue to come upon us if we pray for it with expectant faith. Learn to pray to the Holy Spirit in this way: "Come, Holy Spirit, and fill my heart with your gifts..."

The Holy Spirit is called "the giver of life", because the Holy Spirit brings life to everything we Christians do and believe. Our Christian life is lived in the power and influence of the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, prayer is no more getting in touch with God, the Sacraments are empty and meaningless rituals, Church leaders are merely bureaucrats or moralists, the Bible is just another great literary book, and Christian life, is observing a set of rules or fulfilling certain ideals by one's effort. Only through the Holy Spirit is it possible to understand what Christianity is all about. But through the Holy Spirit, the Bible is received as God's inspired word in human language, Church leaders carry on the mission of Jesus Christ by his authority and commission, the Christian life is marked by God's guidance, and prayer and the sacraments become personal encounters with the living God.

St. Paul in Gal. 5:22-23 says: "The fruits of the Holy Spirit are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self-control.

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