The Holy Spirit and The Nature of the Church
 
Rev. Dr. Joseph Erambil V.C.
 
The Holy Spirit and the Church
 
Through the faith and love that the Holy Spirit pours into the hearts of believers, the Church has become a chain of fellowship. St Paul's words can be recalled here. "For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and we were all made to drink of one Spirit" (1 Cor 12:13). "Make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of the peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all" (Eph 4:3-6). The Holy Spirit dwells in the hearts of the believers and leads them to the sublimity of fellowship. As the result of the activity of the Holy Spirit, believers become united with God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son and also with one another. The mission of the Holy Spirit is to harmonize what is divided and unite it to the Father through Jesus Christ. What is remarkable here is the fact that the diversity of the external aspects of the Church is not an obstacle to internal unity, rather, it is an ornament to her. The blessed Trinity, too, is an expression of unity in diversity.

The unity that the Holy Spirit initiated on the day of Pentecost, was more a matter of internal essence than external expression. No one who came to Jerusalem discarded his customs and culture on the day he received baptism. On the other hand, we can only say that they received the divine essence and purified and perfected their observances and culture and were thus made God-oriented. In this manner they experienced their fellowship in the essence of the Trinitarian unity. It is in the Trinitarian unity that we have to view the unity within the Church and the unity among the various Churches. And that unity has to be attained through dependence on the Holy Spirit. That is why Congar says," The unity of the Church is not something that can be gained or ordered by man by himself, rather, it is God's gift". But the Holy Spirit who initiated the life of fellowship on the day of Pentecost, is constantly inspiring each individual and each provincial Church to long for and build up the life of fellowship. It is, therefore, the duty of the believers to co-operate with the Holy Spirit with openness. The paralysis that adversely affects the unity of Church fellowship, indifference and vested interests are nothing but challenges thrown to the Holy Spirit. Today, the bondage of selfishness, the inclination to be unfaithful, the tendency to escape from the company of others, and the effort to alienate the stranger, not only undermine the life of fellowship but also cause grief to the Holy Spirit. When each believer listens to the whisperings of the voice of the Holy Spirit in his heart, the unity he is longing for, becomes a reality.

When the love of the Father, the compassion of the Son and the holiness of the Holy Spirit are internalised and nurtured within and then poured out to others, oneness of heart and soul is brought about. It is not the might of the world, but the Trinitarian pulse in the Church that is her unifying principle. In the opinion of Eurgon Moltuman, "The unity of the Church in the power of the Spirit is seen most clearly in the Sacraments, particularly the Eucharist (1 Cor 12:13;10:17).
 
 

The Holy Spirit and the Holy Church.

The Church is holy because she is the spouse of Christ (Eph 5:26; Titus 3:5-7) and the mystical body of Christ, because the essence of Christ abides in her and the Holy Spirit dwells in her. Thus she is the beloved daughter of the Father. In other words, believers are cleansed and purified by the blood of Christ (Rev 1:5; Heb 13:2), the Church is anointed by the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 1:21; 1Cor 6:11) whereby the Holy Trinity dwells in her (Gen 25:17; Ps 93:5), and the believers worship this Trinitarian God. The Church thus becomes holy (Jer 14:9; 1 Cor 3). The worshipping community is nourished in holiness through the daily word of God and the various sacraments. St. John refers, "To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood" (Rev 1:6). Pope John Paul II teaches: "The Holy Spirit purifies people from everything that disfigures them. He heals the deep wounds in the existential condition of the human spirit and transforms it into the fertile land of grace and sanctity."

When we say that the Church is holy many who are living in the consumeristic stream of thought are uneasy. What is to be remembered here is that the Church is holy because there is a divine dimension to her. She is weak and imperfect because of her human dimension and because she is the fellowship in God of sinful men. As long as she is on this earth, the Church is a pilgrim. While on a pilgrimage she may go off the track; the leaders also may falter and fail; dangers will overtake her. Besides, the possibility of falling into sin is always there because, for the children of the Church, it is possible to reject the working of the Spirit and to grieve him (Eph 4:30; 1 Thes 5:19; Acts 7:51). For that very reason the Church may not always be a virgin on the human dimension. All the same, with the unceasing ministry of the word and the sacramental life, the Holy Spirit keeps purifying her. In this lies the mystery of the holiness of the Church. In other words, the Church advances in holiness in three broad ways. The Church has become holy through the prayers inspired by the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins and their remission that she receives from God. Through the constant working of the Holy Spirit the Church has become holy(Rom 8:14). The Church also becomes holy through participation and living out of the self-emptying of Christ in his poverty and passion.
 
 

The Holy Spirit and the Universal Church

The universality of the Church is clearly revealed and sealed in the anointing of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost . It can clearly be seen that it is the Holy Spirit who subsequently moulds the personality development of the apostolic community formed by Christ, provides guidance for its leadership and action programmes. The Holy Spirit makes possible the journey of the Church from its origin, who is Christ to its end who is also Christ through the apostolic succession. Moreover, by sustaining the apostolic tradition, the Holy Spirit also preserves the essence of faith in the Church (1 Cor 4:1). Apostolicity in its essence lies in faith. But in a broad sense it is contained in proclamation, witnessing, teaching and suffering.

Through the apostolic succession the Holy Spirit unites each believer to the Saviour Christ. Through the apostolic nature made possible through the abiding Spirit the Church is enabled to be faithful to the faith received from Christ (2 Tim 1:14; Lk 24:49; Acts 2:4; 4:31). The apostolic succession is the chief factor that preserves the fellowship of the Church. The apostles are what they are through the Holy Spirit received from the Saviour Christ (Acts 1:2,13:14). The Holy Spirit made them evangelists (Acts 13:3-4), directed their decisions and made them mature (Acts 15:28); lent power and life to the proclamation of the word (1 Pet 1:12); enabled them to preserve the faithful (Acts 20:28; 1 Thes 1:5; Acts 4:7-33; Heb 2:3-4). Thus the apostles confessed and taught that the origin and extension of the Church were through the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:7;4:33;9:31). To put it in another way, the apostles were aware that their work was the work of the Spirit abiding within them (Acts 3:4-8). The book of Acts makes it very clear that this external origin of the Church, and its growth were due to the combined activity of the Holy Spirit and the apostles (Acts 2:4;4:31;5:55; 9:17;1 3:2,9; 16:7,10:19;11:12; 14:22;2:28).

Pope John Paul II states that the apostolic activity began with the Pentecost and is continued indestructibly in the Church by the Spirit of God. It is chiefly through the apostolic ministry that the Spirit pours out his gifts and charisms in the believers. It is by the activity of the Holy Spirit through the apostles that the salvation won by Christ is experienced by believers. All through the ages, through the indwelling of the Spirit in the Church, the teaching on faith and morals is preserved without any error. That is, the official apostolic decisions are not to be made automatically. Rather, they should be fulfilled as a result of penance and prayer in the Holy Spirit. Such a Church will be a replica on earth of the Trinitarian fellowship. In the opinion of Eurgon Moltuman, it is through the apostolic nature of the Church that her unity, holiness and universality are made visible in history.

By the term apostolicity is meant that the Gospel and commandments of the Church have been inspired by the Holy Spirit and established by the apostles and are also continued in the Church through their preaching.
 
 

The Holy Spirit and the Universal Church

A chief characteristic of the nature of the Church is its universality. This catholicity can be seen on two levels, according to the view of Congar - spiritual and temporal. The Church is universal spiritually through Christ, who is her source. This is so because Christ, who is her head, is able to give her power and life and to unite everything in heaven and on earth in him. Secondly, the inner power of the Church, which is the Holy Spirit, is present all over the world. Says Congar, "the Spirit who came in the midst of various nationalities assembled together, signified the universality of the Church on that very day" (Acts 2:41). Thirdly, the Spirit has given the Church the grace to nourish diversity and dwell in unity. Fourthly, the Church is able to make decisions and work with one heart standing firm in fraternal love in the Spirit. On the personal plane the Church is universal in that she is able to share the gifts, charisms and graces received in the respective cultural, traditional and social backgrounds of believers with other believers.

The universality of the Church is expressed also in the fact that the Spirit unites the yesterdays, todays and tomorrows which are all sources of salvation.

The Church is universal from the temporal point of view. In the first place, the Church is spread all over the world geographically. Secondly, she is universal because she includes all kinds of people within herself. Thirdly, the Church is universal in regard to time, because hidden in the mystery of God, and appearing in the fullness of time, she will remain in God to the end of the ages.

The universality of the Church reflects mercy and mission. The catholicity of the Church requires us to respect and welcome the goodness in other people, cultures and religions. Congar states thus: "For centuries the Christian Church has confronted other cultures and religions. But what is necessary is to confront them in a new manner, to acknowledge them and welcome them. Today the Church is called to be the Church of the people in a new way". The Church that has evolved and developed against an agricultural background in a monarchical system, has now to adapt itself against an industrial background, meet the challenge of consumeritic culture and be transplanted into a democratic setup in the political arena and acknowledge the positive aspects of modern technology like the computer , television and internet. When the signs of the times are read, discerned, purified and accepted, the universality of the Church given by the Spirit of God attains maturity. While the apostolicity of the Church stabilises her basic thrust, universality requires of her to be open to change and adaptation. Since both proceed from the same Spirit, there is no need of fear to grasp the greatness of the spirit of development with one hand, while with the other hold fast to the values of tradition.

Change is part of creation and the aim of the Creator. Wherever the revelations of the Holy Spirit have taken place, there the Church will go on existing (1Cor 12:7). Wherever created things glorify God with liberty, there is unity between man and man, man and creation, man and the Creator. Wherever people accept their sufferings in union with the cross of Jesus, wherever the kingdom of God exists, wherever the human heart searches for God, there the revelations of the Holy Spirit, public or private take place. That is, the Holy Spirit is present there. The Church, therefore, is also present there. As the Holy Spirit is universal, the Church which is the temple of the Holy Spirit is also present all over the world. Likewise, as Christ, the head of the Church is present in all the world, his mystical body, which is the Church, becomes universal. By her very missionary mandate to include everything and everyone, the Church becomes universal.