The Holy Spirit Dwelling
in Us
Fr Paul Mundolickal
"Do you not know
that you are God’s temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?"(1 Cor 3:16)
The Holy Spirit dwells in
the hearts of those who believe in Jesus and proclaim their faith. The
Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Blessed Trinity. In the days of
the Old Testament only the leaders destined for a special mandate, kings
and prophets received the anointing of the Holy Spirit. But in the New
Testament (in the Messianic) age the Holy Spirit is poured out on "all
men"(Acts 2:17). The Indwelling of the Spirit is also a special phenomenon
of the New Testament.
It is Christ who
gives the Holy Spirit
When John the Baptist introduced
Jesus, he said: "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire"(Lk
3:16). Consoling the Apostles, who were grieved at Christ's impending departure,
Jesus said, "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,
to be with you forever"(Jn 14:16). In the Gospel of St John we read that
Jesus "breathed" on the disciples and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit"(Jn
20;22). In fact, the Holy Spirit is the gift of God the Father and of the
risen Christ. Jesus, returning to the Father after fulfilling his mission,
was giving the Holy Spirit to the disciples in order to be with them to
continue his salvific mission.
To be with them forever
With the reception of Baptism,
man becomes the dwelling of the Holy Spirit. And with that he participates
in divine life. This is a great gift given to man. The Holy Spirit enables
a man to grow in faith and holiness. That is why Jesus spoke of "another"
Advocate. With the sacrament of confirmation a Christian is specially sealed
with the Holy Spirit. The sacrament gives the strength and inspiration
to preserve the faith in favourable and unfavourable circumstances and
to proclaim the gospel. Subsequent life must be constantly guided by the
Holy Spirit. "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of
God" (Rom 8:14).
The Holy Spirit and
the lusts of the flesh
The man who desires to live
a holy life as the temple of the Holy Spirit lives in this world. The desires
of the flesh, therefore, keep harassing him. "What the flesh desires is
opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh;
for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you
want"(Gal 5:17).
Even St Paul, the zealous
apostle that he was, experienced this inner conflict. Therefore he calls
himself a "Wretched man"(cf Rom 7:32,24).Though the desire to enjoy the
pleasures of this world gains strength within us, these is also a deep
longing to turn towards what is good. This longing is from the Holy Spirit.
Even when we do wrong, the
Holy Spirit takes us back to the path of holiness by pouring out the love
of God(cf Rom 4:5) and gives us the sense of sin and repentance(cf Jn 16:8-10).
His purpose is to gradually strengthen the inner man (cf Eph 3:16), preserve
him from falling in sin and lead him to perfection.
Rekindle the fire
of the Spirit
It is possible that the
zeal and surrender of the one who has received the Holy Spirit gradually
begin to wane. This may happen because we live in the valley of sin and
fail to grow in the spirit of prayer. This does not mean that the Holy
Spirit totally ceases to dwell in the individual. At times it becomes necessary
to acquire greater strength. That is why St Paul advised Timothy: "...
I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the
laying on of my hands"(2 Tim 1:6). We read in the Acts that in the first
century, in the midst of unfavourable circumstances, the whole community
of disciples prayed with all their heart as one body and then the Holy
Spirit came down upon them and strengthened them: "When they had prayed,
the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were
all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness"(Acts
4:31)
The man filled with
the Holy Spirit
When the fruits of the Holy
Spirit become manifest in a person, he is filled with the Holy Spirit."These
fruits are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control"(Gal 5:22). Being anointed with the Spirit of
God does not necessarily make these fruits manifest. It is only when we
co-operate with the Holy Spirit and go forward along the path of goodness
that these fruits shine forth in us.
These fruits are seen in
all their perfection in Jesus. The prophet had foretold about Jesus, "The
spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and of might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear
of the Lord"(Is 11:2). Moreover, numerous gifts were also manifest in Jesus.
The Blessed Virgin Mary was another person who was filled with the Holy
Spirit.
The above -mentioned fruits
of the Spirit are a criterion to judge to what extent a person is conformed
to the image of Jesus Christ. When a person is fully surrendered to God,
all these gifts will be expressed in his day to day life.
(to be continued)