Youcat commented through CCC. Question n. 38 – Part II.

YOUCAT Question n. 38 - Part II. Who is the “Holy Spirit”?

(Youcat answer - repeated) The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Holy Trinity and has the same divine majesty as the Father and the Son.    

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 245) The apostolic faith concerning the Spirit was confessed by the second ecumenical council at Constantinople (381): "We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father" (Nicene Creed; cf. DS 150). By this confession, the Church recognizes the Father as "the source and origin of the whole divinity" (Council of Toledo VI (638): DS 490). But the eternal origin of the Spirit is not unconnected with the Son's origin: "The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is God, one and equal with the Father and the Son, of the same substance and also of the same nature… Yet he is not called the Spirit of the Father alone,… but the Spirit of both the Father and the Son" (Council of Toledo XI (675): DS 527). The Creed of the Church from the Council of Constantinople confesses: "With the Father and the Son, he is worshipped and glorified" (Nicene Creed; cf. DS 150).    

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) When we discover the reality of God in us, we are dealing with the working of the Holy Spirit. God sent “the Spirit of his Son into our hearts” (Gal 4:6), so that he might fill us completely. In the Holy Spirit a Christian finds profound joy, inner peace, and freedom. “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship [in whom] we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ (Rom 8:15b)”. In the Holy Spirit, whom we receive in Baptism and Confirmation we are permitted to call God “Father”.    

(CCC Comment)    

(CCC 117) The spiritual sense. Thanks to the unity of God's plan, not only the text of Scripture but also the realities and events about which it speaks can be signs. 1. The allegorical sense. We can acquire a more profound understanding of events by recognizing their significance in Christ; thus the crossing of the Red Sea is a sign or type of Christ's victory and also of Christian Baptism (Cf. 1 Cor 10:2). 2. The moral sense. The events reported in Scripture ought to lead us to act justly. As St. Paul says, they were written "for our instruction" (1 Cor 10:11; cf. Heb 3-4:11). 3. The anagogical sense (Greek: anagoge, "leading"). We can view realities and events in terms of their eternal significance, leading us toward our true homeland: thus the Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem (Cf. Rev 21:1-22:5). (CCC 118) A medieval couplet summarizes the significance of the four senses: The Letter speaks of deeds; Allegory to faith; The Moral how to act; Anagogy our destiny (Littera gesta docet, quid credas allegoria, moralis quid agas, quo tendas anagogia. Augustine of Dacia, Rotulus pugillaris, I). (CCC 203) God revealed himself to his people Israel by making his name known to them. A name expresses a person's essence and identity and the meaning of this person's life. God has a name; he is not an anonymous force. To disclose one's name is to make oneself known to others; in a way it is to hand oneself over by becoming accessible, capable of being known more intimately and addressed personally.       

(This question: Who is the “Holy Spirit”? is continued)