“Unless I go away, the Advocate
will not come to you;
but if I go, I will send him to you…
when he, the Spirit of truth comes,
he will guide you into the truth.”
John 16:7,13
How often do you go to the Holy Spirit for help? We pray constantly to Jesus and even to our Father, but we take all the help we get from the Holy Spirit for granted. The Holy Spirit helps me in so many ways. He is always there to guide me when I minister as a lector, teach Faith Formation, and work on planning or teaching Vacation Bible School. He helps me understand scripture if I am reading a passage that I am not familiar with. He sends grace and guidance when I need it most. He helps me when I am writing a blog post. The Holy Spirit helps us every day of our lives. There are many examples of what the Holy Spirit does in the Bible.
First, we should be thankful for the gifts the Holy Spirit gives us. In Isaiah it says:
“And the Spirit of the Lord shall
rest upon him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and might,
The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.”
Isaiah 11:3
When Jesus’ mother, Mary, questioned the angel Gabriel how she could get pregnant as she knew no man, he told her “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Lk 1:35)
Jesus told his apostles that he would send the Holy Spirit to them and guide them into the truth when he left. He also told them the Advocate—“the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me”. (Jn 15:26) Jesus told them the Holy Spirit would help them and be with them forever—the Spirit of truth. (Jn 14:16-17)
Also, when John the Baptist was baptizing people, he said, “I baptize you with water, but he [Jesus] will baptize you with the Holy Spirit”.(Mk 1:8).
I believe we must learn to ask the Holy Spirit for help and guidance when we need it. We also must thank him for all the work he is doing that we’re not even aware of. With his help, the apostles could testify in all the different languages of the people they were preaching to, languages they didn’t even know before the Holy Spirit came to them.
We celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit to the apostles on Pentecost, one of our most important feast days. My Quest Study Bible describes the role of the Holy Spirit as “our very own caseworker for adoption into God’s family as children and heirs. (Ro 1:16).” It says, “Even before we hear the gospel, the Holy Spirit is working to empower the message(Ro 1:16) and the messenger (1Co 2:304).” We need to appreciate all the help the Holy Spirit gives us.
