As Christians, our prayers are directed to the Father in the Son. We need to understand the power of the Son’s name and frequently invoke it. Our prayer, however, does not end with the Father and the Son. There is also the Holy Spirit, that mysterious third person of the Holy Trinity who is always moving about and who always works in surprising and unexpected ways.
As believers, we need to nurture a true worship and adoration of the Holy Spirit. We cannot grow in the spiritual life without the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit who prompts us to draw closer to God. It is the Spirit who initiates prayer within us.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: “’No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.’ Every time we begin to pray to Jesus it is the Holy Spirit who draws us on the way of prayer by his prevenient grace.”
The prevenient grace of the Holy Spirit is given since the Spirit knows what is coming and what we’ll need. Knowing our future, the Spirit prepares us by grace to walk through the joys and sufferings of life. Through the Holy Spirit, we receive the grace we need before we enter whatever state-of-affairs require it. As we turn to the Holy Spirit, therefore, we receive all the graces we need to endure hardship, trials, and sufferings.
God’s grace is also given to us in good times so that we remember his providence, give thanks, and turn to him with hearts of praise.
And so, through the trials and triumphs of life, the Holy Spirit gives us the grace we need to fight the good fight and continue on our race toward eternity.
The Catechism continues: “Since [the Holy Spirit] teaches us to pray by recalling Christ, how could we not pray to the Spirit too? That is why the Church invites us to call upon the Holy Spirit every day, especially at the beginning and the end of every important action.”
As we have the opportunity to receive prevenient grace from the Holy Spirit, so we should readily turn to him and avail ourselves of his assistance. Since our fallen minds can wonder, become exclusive, reject wisdom, and become bloated with hubris, we must regularly turn to him and ask for his guidance, correction, and encouragement.
We do not yet fully understand what it means to be a child of God. We are seeking every day to do our Father’s will and to faithfully follow the way of the Lord Jesus. In these efforts, we can rely on the Holy Spirit to help us and lead us. We are not meant to figure out everything on our own or to always rely solely on our own counsel. There is a goodness and freedom in opening our hearts to the Holy Spirit and allowing his creativity and spontaneity to guide us and maneuver the efforts of our lives.
And so, it is a noble and humble act to offer a brief prayer to the Holy Spirit before and after our decisions and actions throughout the day. The Church recommends such spiritual acts of reliance on God.
The Catechism quotes Saint Gregory Nazianzus: “If the Spirit should not be worshiped, how can he divinize me through Baptism? If he should be worshiped, should he not be the object of adoration?”
In his teaching, the great saint is highlighting the work of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit who brings the Lord’s redemption to us at baptism. It is the Spirit who “divinizes” us by making us children of God. If the Holy Spirit brings about the beginning of the divine life within us at baptism, then we should offer him the worship of thanks and praise.
In its historical context, Saint Gregory Nazianzus was arguing for the divinity of the Holy Spirit, which was questioned and doubted by some. The baptismal argument he used was a popular one and was one of the helps in discerning and asserting the Holy Spirit as true God.
Saint Gregory’s argument is given by the Catechism to make a different point, but one relating to the saint’s, namely, that as the Spirit gives us the divine life at baptism, so we should adore him and rely on his grace to make us holy as we walk through the joys and sufferings of life.
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