Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 114 - Part II.

YOUCAT Question n. 114 - Part II. What role does the Holy Spirit play in the life of Jesus?

(Youcat answer - repeated) Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot understand Jesus. In his life the presence of God’s Spirit, whom we call the Holy Spirit, was manifest in a unique way.        

A deepening through CCC  

(CCC 690 a) Jesus is Christ, "anointed," because the Spirit is his anointing, and everything that occurs from the Incarnation on derives from this fullness (Cf. Jn 3:34). When Christ is finally glorified (Jn 7:39), he can in turn send the Spirit from his place with the Father to those who believe in him: he communicates to them his glory (Cf. Jn 17:22), that is, the Holy Spirit who glorifies him  (Cf. Jn 16:14). From that time on, this joint mission will be manifested in the children adopted by the Father in the Body of his Son: the mission of the Spirit of adoption is to unite them to Christ and make them live in him: The notion of anointing suggests… that there is no distance between the Son and the Spirit.    

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) It was the Holy Spirit who called Jesus to life in the womb of the Virgin Mary (Mt 1:18), endorsed him as God’s beloved Son (Lk 4:16-19), guided him (Mk 1:12) and enlivened him to the end (Jn 19:30). On the Cross, Jesus breathed out his Spirit. After his Resurrection, he bestowed the Holy Spirit on his disciples (Jn 20:22). At that the Spirit of Jesus went over to his Church: “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you” (Jn 20:21).

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 690 b) Indeed, just as between the surface of the body and the anointing with oil neither reason nor sensation recognizes any intermediary, so the contact of the Son with the Spirit is immediate, so that anyone who would make contact with the Son by faith must first encounter the oil by contact. In fact there is no part that is not covered by the Holy Spirit. That is why the confession of the Son's Lordship is made in the Holy Spirit by those who receive him, the Spirit coming from all sides to those who approach the Son in faith (St. Gregory of Nyssa, De Spiritu Sancto, 16: PG 45, 1321A-B).    

(This question: What role does the Holy Spirit play in the life of Jesus? is continued)