Certainly among the basic prayers of the Christian life, along with the Our Father and Hail Mary, is the Apostles’ Creed. Possibly going right back to the Apostolic Age when Christ’s first followers were still sorting out the full significance of Christ’s ministry here on earth, this primitive creed is a bare outline of the rich dogmas and doctrines that would guide the believing Church through history. While the creed is notably detailed about the Son of God, God the Father is credited only as “Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth. And the third Person of the Blessed Trinity is recalled simply by name: “I believe in the Holy Spirit.”
Over the course of the next three centuries, the beliefs of the Christian community would mature revealing more profound convictions about the nature and persons in God. The Nicene Creed (381 A.D.) would read: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified…” Although met with some controversy, the belief that the Holy Spirit “…proceeds from the Father and the Son…” is vital for understanding the true nature of the Persons in God and the true nature of the Christian life as it must be lived by every believer.
Centuries before the Christian era, the prophet Isaiah presented these thoughts from God: “So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.” (Is 55:11) So God is a giver — saving words would proceed from His mouth. But God is also a receiver — His word would return to him. In God there is a giving and a receiving, a going forth and a coming back, a mutual exchange of life, vision and resources. The First Epistle of John quite tersely makes the same point when it instructs: “God is love.” (4:16) Yes, God is the eternal interchange of giving and receiving between the Father and the Son on which all reality rests. And that enduring sharing is the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Holy Trinity, is quite simply the shared love between the Father and the Son. The Father gives himself entirely to the Son and the Son in turn gives himself entirely to Father. That enduring bond, that eternal union, that unending give and take, is the Holy Spirit. As the fathers at Nicea taught, the Spirit is the mutual love between Father and Son. The Spirit proceeds both from Father and from Son in an eternal bond of shared, reciprocal love. This eternal Divine interchange now must be happily reflected in the life of the Church as the events of Pentecost nobly reveal.
The early Church first powerfully received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost as the Acts of Apostles joyously records, “When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.” (2:1-5) So the early Church indeed received. The Spirit of God came upon them and they were internally renewed. As Sunday’s psalm relates, “When you send forth your spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.” (104:34)
But having been filled with Spirit, the first Christians now had to share the Spirit. The eternal Godly exchange in heaven had to be reflected through the Church’s ministry here on earth. St. Peter ably completes the task: “Peter testified with many other arguments, and was exhorting them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand persons were added that day.” (2:38-41) St. Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians today would make the same point about the receiving and giving that constitutes the Christian life: “To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.” (12:7) And Jesus of course offers the same instruction: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you,” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said…”Receive the Holy Spirit...” (Jn20:23)
The eternal life of the Trinity is shared love. The daily life of the Church must equally display a communal love. As the Spirit is mutual love in heaven, so the Spirit is the font of true love here on Earth.
