Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on the Holy Trinity Sunday.
My dear Parishioners,
Peace! The eighth article of the Apostle’s Creed is “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” There are six (6) In Brief passages in the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding this article of the Creed. The following is a reflection on article 743.
God is eternal, without beginning or end (cf. Genesis 21:33; Psalm 55:19; Daniel 6:26; Romans 1:20; 16:26). But in Christ, God who made time, establishing the Sun and the Moon and the seasons, entered into time in the fullness of time to save us (cf. Galatians 4:4).
The creation marks the beginning of time, generally speaking. But the beginning is one reckoning of time. We are also able to mark the beginning of the Christian Era (CE) or the Year of the Lord (AD) which are ways of acknowledging the great mystery of the Incarnation, that God became like us in all things but sin as the Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary when she was overshadowed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Some have identified the time from the creation until the Incarnation as the “age of the Father”; the “age of the Son” from the Annunciation through the Ascension of the Lord; and the time between the Ascension of the Lord and His return in glory as the “age of the Spirit.”
The end of time is also called the “consummation” or “final consummation” meaning completion. Upon the Cross the Lord cried out “it is finished” which in Latin is “consummatum est” (John 19:30). When the Lord returns to judge the living and the dead it will the be the consummation of the ages. We wait on the Lord Jesus in hope thanks to the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit.
The eternal Father sent both the Son and Spirit into the world for our salvation. Christ the Lord was conceived in the Blessed Virgin Mary’s womb by the power of the Holy Spirit (cf. Luke 1:35). The Holy Spirit descended upon the Lord Jesus at His baptism in the Jordan in the form of a dove (cf. Matthew 3:16). We can only cry out “Jesus is Lord” thanks to the Holy Spirit sent into our hearts (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:3). When the Lord Jesus makes Himself present in the sacred liturgy throughout the ages it is thanks in no small part to the power of the Holy Spirit by whom the Sacred Scriptures are inspired (cf. John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13; Acts 2:18; 2 Timothy 3:16) and who allows us to hear and respond in faith. The Sacraments of the Lord each involve a calling down of the Holy Spirit, sometimes silently (Ordinations, Confirmation, Anointing of the Sick) and sometimes through invocation (Baptism over the waters, Eucharist over the bread and wine, over the husband and wife in Marriage, over the penitent in Penance).
May we all be faithful to the promptings of the Holy Spirit all our days, even until the consummation of the ages.
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr