I know that there is one true God and that he is represented by the Holy Trinity - God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I know that the sign of the cross is "in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit". I know these things from my good Christian upbringing!
But when I pray, I very seldom pray to the Holy Spirit - only prayers in church might include this third member of the trinity. When I pray on my own, I really only talk to God and to Jesus. So (being the math major again!) I'm now wondering if I am only getting two thirds of the value on my praying!
Well, my grandmother would be very disappointed in me for not getting the full value so today I decided to do a little research on the Holy Spirit. If I know more about him then maybe I will allow Him to actively become a part of my spiritual life! I use "Him" because my research tells me that the Holy Spirit has all the same characteristics as God - loving, kind, gracious, generous, caring and spiritual. So we should think of the Holy Spirit in the same way that we reflect on God.
As I said before, the Holy Spirit is part of the Holy Trinity. So He is the spirit of God. Did you know that His Spirit has been with us on earth as early as Genesis? And that this spirit has been faithful to God's people all throughout the Old Testament and is still here with us today! I know I will be including the Holy Spirit in all my prayers starting today!
Have a good rest of today....
PS: Here is some more information I found about how we symbolize the Holy Spirit and it includes some scripture references. I got it from this link Symbols (but I also cut and paste it here in case you don't want to go elsewhere!)
In our churches, religious art, and liturgical prayers, we use a variety of symbols to represent the Holy Spirit, all of which come from the Bible. Here are some of those symbols.
One of the most common symbols of the Holy Spirit is a dove. It comes from the story of Jesus' baptism, when Jesus saw “the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him.” (Mark 1:10) The other three Gospel writers use similar wording to describe the event (see Matthew 3:16, Luke 3:22, and John 1:32).
Fire is another popular representation of the Holy Spirit. The fire that appeared on Pentecost (Acts of the Apostles 2:3) was reminiscent of the burning bush on Mount Sinai from which God spoke to Moses. (Exodus 3:2) During the Exodus, the people of God were led by a pillar of fire at night. (Exodus 13:21) Fire calls attention to the strength and force of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is also represented by wind. In fact, the original Hebrew and Greek words for “Spirit” can be translated as “wind.” The wind that appeared on Pentecost (Acts of the Apostles 2:2) was reminiscent of the wind that blew over the waters at the beginning of Creation. (Genesis 1:2) The wind calls attention to the Holy Spirit breathing life into the Church.
Water signifies birth and life. From a faith perspective, it represents the cleansing and life-giving action of the Holy Spirit at Baptism. (Matthew 3:11; John 3:5) The symbolism of water is addressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (#694):
As "by one Spirit we were all baptized," so we are also "made to drink of one Spirit." (1 Cor 12:13) Thus the Spirit is also personally the living water welling up from Christ crucified (Jn 19:34; 1 Jn 5:8) as its source and welling up in us to eternal life. (Cf. Jn 4:10-14; 7:38; Ex 17:1-6; Isa 55:1; Zech 14:8; 1 Cor 10:4; Rev 21:6; 22:17)
The cloud is used as a symbol of the Holy Spirit because clouds provide life-giving water. In the Old Testament, God often leads his people with a cloud or appears to them in a cloud. (Exodus 16:10) The image of a cloud is often combined with the image of light to symbolize the God who is hidden and mysterious but also revealing and luminous.
Anointing with oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit's uniting us with Jesus, the Messiah, the Anointed One. (Acts of the Apostles 10:38; 1 John 2:20-27)
Official documents in the past (Nehemiah 9:38; Esther 8:8), and some documents today, were sealed with hot wax. Then an imprint was made on the wax with the official seal of the person sending the document. In a similar way, we are “sealed” by the Holy Spirit to show that we are forever part of God's family. (Song of Songs 8:6; John 6:27)
No comments:
Post a Comment