THE P RTAL
September 2013
Page 11
The A - Z of the Catholic Faith
by Fr Stephen Wang
H is for…
Holy Spirit
The
Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, and is worshipped and glorified with them. He is true God, equal with the Father and the Son, possessing the fullness of the divine nature with them. We know him through his activity in creation and in salvation history. He inspires the Old Testament prophets, the apostles and evangelists of the New Testament, and those who wrote the Sacred Scriptures. The Holy Spirit is revealed above all when Jesus breathes upon the apostles after the Resurrection, and when he is poured out upon the whole Church on the day of Pentecost. He continues to guide the Church into all truth, and to inspire the baptised - filling our hearts with grace through the sacraments, and helping us to pray and to live our faith in the world. The Holy Spirit is seen as a dove that descends on Christ at his baptism; as living water that springs from the wounded heart of Christ, to give healing and new life; as fire that purifies and transforms; as a cloud in which the glory of God is revealed; and as sacred oil that anoints us for ministry and mission. have the last word. Our hope is renewed above all through the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy, when we are given a foretaste of the eternal joys that await us. We fail in hope whenever we give in to despair (“I’m beyond help; there is nothing God can do…”) or to presumption (“I don’t need God’s help; I can save myself…”). In both cases, we put the focus on ourselves – on our weakness or strength – instead of putting the focus on God and what he wishes to do for us. A wellknown prayer sums up the meaning of hope: “O God, I hope in you, for grace and for glory, because of your promises, your mercy, and your power”.
Human Beings
Human beings have a distinctive place in cr eation. Our openness to truth and beauty, our freedom and moral conscience, cannot be explained in purely natural terms. They are spiritual gifts that reflect something of God’s own likeness and give us a special dignity.
We are ‘persons’ and not just ‘things’, who can form relationships of love, friendship and communion. This is seen in a particular way in the marriage of man and woman, where the masculine and the feminine complement and bless each other and allow for the creation of new life. We are called to know and love God; to offer our lives to him in service and thanksgiving; and to enter into eternal life with him in heaven. Only in Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of God, do we see the deepest reality of what it means to be human. Human nature is both material and spiritual; we are body and soul in a profound unity. The soul, being spiritual and immortal, is created by God at the moment of our conception and not by our parents. It will not perish at death, and will be reunited with our body in the Final Resurrection at the End of Time.
Hope
Hope is an attitude of mind and heart that allows us to trust in God’s promises, to long for eternal life, to persevere in faith and love whatever the difficulties, and to depend on God’s grace and goodness rather than on our own achievements. It is a sheer gift, given by the Holy Spirit; but it is also something we must respond to and cultivate. Hope gives us confidence in what the Lord has done for us, and what he will do for us. It does not, however, make us passive. It expresses itself in repentance, when we recognise that his mercy is greater than our sins and failures; in prayer, when we remember our utter dependence on his goodness and love; and in our work for justice and peace, confident that evil will not