The Holy Spirit is often called "the forgotten God". As humans, we can identify with God the Father through our knowledge and experience of human fathers. Jesus is familiar through the accounts of His words and deeds in the Bible. History also shows numerous works of art which attempt to capture the His image as He appeared during His life on earth.
However, the Holy Spirit is only presented in symbolic form in the Bible: a dove (Mark 1:10), fiery tongues (Acts 2:3), or as a violent wind (Acts 2:2). In truth, the Spirit is invisible; He is, as His name implies, a spirit.
When the Holy Spirit enters the soul at Baptism, the invisible penetrates the visible and the Spirit of God indwells the human soul. The Holy Spirit confers on the new Christian His particular gifts : wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. (Is 11:1-3)
To appreciate these gifts, one need only consider the events of Pentecost and the radical change in the behaviour of the Apostles before and after the descent of the Holy Spirit. Preceeding the coming of the Holy Spirit, Peter and the others had locked themselves in an upper room, fearful that they might suffer the same fate as Jesus if they dared to show their faces in public.
Amazingly, after they received the Spirit, they thundered down the stairs, threw open the door, burst out into the street and began preaching to the crowds about Jesus. At that time there were many visitors in Jerusalem, and even more surprisingly, each person heard the Apostles speak in his or her native language.
It must be remembered that these Apostles were, for the most part, poorly-educated fishermen who probably lacked the ability to speak their own tongue, Aramaic, well. Yet they preached so effectively that day, that three thousand people were converted and baptized. (Acts 2:1-42). Such is the power of the Holy Spirit.
In addition, the Spirit can lead the Christian in more subtle ways. He can be the unsettling voice of conscience cautioning us that a proposed word or deed is contrary to the will of God.
He can be a persistent urge to perform some action immediately, although our mind tells us there is really no hurry. He can cause the correct answer to an exam question to suddenly pop into a student's mind.
Jesus promised, "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will remind you of all that I have said to you.`` (John 14:26)
Nor is the Spirit limited as to whom or by what means He can inspire. Sometimes the answer to a nagging problem will appear in a dream, or through the advice or random comment of a friend or acquaintance.
Have you ever been sitting in church when the words of the homily or sermon seemed to be addressed directly to you? The Holy Spirit is at work again. Some people claim that, when they open their Bible at a random page, they always find something relevant to their present situation in life.
When necessary, the Holy Spirit can orchestrate situations to work to our advantage. Have you ever been unavoidably delayed leaving home, only to receive an important phone call that you would have missed had you left on time? There is no limiting the power and resourcefulness of the Holy Spirit.
What must we do to merit His presence and help in our lives? First of all, we must be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.Then, as we become mature Christians, we must do our best to follow the two great commandments given by Jesus: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind... Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:37-40)
As we strive to do so, we can rest assured that the Holy Spirit will do His part to enable us to obtain our goal, eternal happiness in heaven. In the words of St. Paul: "We know that all things work together for good, for those who love God..." (Rom 8:28)
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