Preparatory Prayer and Petition: Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Lord, you send out your Spirit and things are created, and you renew the face of the earth. O God, you taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending them the light of your Holy Spirit. In that same Spirit give us right judgment and the joy of your consolation. 

Gospel Passage Jn 14, 15-21.25-27 

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him. [...] I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. 

1. "No one can say, 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor 12:3) 

Often the Holy Spirit seems to be the forgotten member of the Trinity. The "Our Father" is frequently on our lips and in our hearts. What Christian does not know that God is his Father? Who does not pray to him? It also goes without saying that we all pray to Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Savior. But the Holy Spirit? How present is he in our daily prayers, in our thoughts? How often do we direct our petitions and sufferings to him? When was the last time I told the Holy Spirit how much I love him? 

And yet the Holy Spirit is the fountain and source of our faith and our relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ. "God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father! '" (Gal 4:6). Without his presence in our hearts, we would not be Christians; we would be incapable of believing in Jesus Christ. Without him, I would never know I have a loving Father in heaven. I might believe in a Creator and divine vengeful Judge, but I would never be capable of praying "Our Father." The Holy Spirit teaches us the full warmth of the love and paternal relationship that God the Father has and wants with us. Christ sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts so we could call God, "Abba!" When we live the closeness, trust, and intimacy with our heavenly Father implied in this name, we will realize how much we owe the Holy Spirit present in our hearts and souls. 

We cannot overemphasize how much we need the Holy Spirit to discover Jesus and live in him, or how much the Church depends on his power in order to make the sacraments effective, and to preserve its fidelity to Christ in its teaching. The Catholic Church in its structure, hierarchy and sacraments is truly the Church of the Spirit. 

2. The Holy Spirit is Love 

Most importantly the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Love. His very essence in the Holy Trinity is love. God the Father begot the Son from all eternity, and, struggling to give human words to the sheer mystery of God we say that the Father's love for the Son and his for the Father is so intense, real and perfect in its self-giving that it is a divine Person, the Holy Spirit. 

How is that possible? We don't know and are incapable of fathoming it. It is a mystery of Faith, a truth that God in his infinite wisdom and love has revealed to us for our salvation and happiness. God has revealed his Spirit to us and revealed that his Spirit is love. 

Indeed, "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (Rom 5:5). All of us have been dead or at least wounded through sin, and the first effect of God's love has been his forgiveness of our sins. The Sacraments restore us to the divine likeness lost through sin by the power of the Holy Spirit. The love of the Holy Spirit is the source of new life in Christ, made possible because we have received him into our souls and he has made his dwelling there. 

The Holy Spirit dwelling in each one of us binds us together in unity. We have all received the one and same Spirit and that makes us one, building up the Body of Christ, the Church. Though we are many, the Spirit is one and undivided. We are Christians because Christ has sent us his Spirit. We are united and bound in a divine alliance to love God especially in those who are in most need of his love and forgiveness. 

Questionnaire: This optional questionnaire is intended to help you to examine your life, in the light of the inspirations God just gave you in these moments you shared with him. 

1. Do I pay enough attention to the Holy Spirit? Do I try to progress in my Christian life without asking his help?  

2. What place do I give him in my search for my vocation? Do I ask him to show Jesus to me, and help me know him?  

3. Do I pray for the unity of Christians, and particularly for love and unity in the Catholic Church, centered on the Vicar of Christ?