The Holy Spirit and the Stewardship of His Saints

Stewardship Conference April 2016

Presented by James J. Bitting Jr. M.A.

Relationship between stewardship & discipleship • “Once one chooses to become a disciple of Christ…Stewardship is not

an option”

• A steward is also a disciple of Christ

• Discipleship pertains to the identity of the Christian

• Stewardship pertains to the active life of the Christian

Actio Sequitur Esse

• Who are you? What is your identity at its deepest?

• God has revealed His identity, the deepest secret of His inner life. God is a communion of persons, a Family whose life is Love. • “God in His deepest mystery is not a solitude, but a family, since He has in

Himself Fatherhood, Sonship, and the essence of the Family, which is love” -St. JPII

It is in the Mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man becomes clear (GS 22)

Who is the Holy Spirit?

• "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." The Creed of the Church from the Council of Constantinople confesses: "With the Father and the Son, he is worshipped and glorified.“ (CCC 245)

• We know Him in the movement by which He reveals the Word to us & disposes us to welcome Him in Faith (CCC 687)

Names, Titles, Symbols of the Holy Spirit

• “Holy Spirit” is the proper name…Revealed by Christ (Mt 28:19)

• Spirit (ruah in Hebrew) = breath, air, wind of God

• Paraclete (Greek)= he who is called to one’s side = ad-vocatus (Latin)

Symbols of the Holy Spirit

• Water – • Baptism (gestation & birth) – Living Water(Jn 4:10-14;7:38)

• Anointing – • David was a “Christ” by adoption;

• Jesus is Christ by nature. From His conception we see His anointing with the HS

• Fire – • transforming energy of the Spirit’s actions

• Elijah calls down fire to consume the sacrifice

• John says, Jesus will baptize with the HS & fire

• Jesus says, “I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled” (Lk12:49)

• Cloud & Light • Moses on Mt. Sinai

• The Tent of Meeting & Wandering in the Wilderness

• Solomon & the dedication of the Temple

• *Overshadowed Mary at the Annunciation

• Overshadowed Christ, Moses, Elijah, Peter, James, & John at the Transfiguration

• The Hand • Jesus & the Apostles heal the sick

• The Apostles give the HS by the imposition of hands (Acts 8:17-19; 13:3; 19:6)

• The Finger • Jesus casts out demons by the “finger of God” (Lk 11:20, CCC 700)

• You are a letter from Christ… 2 (Cor 3:2-3)

• The Dove (see Gen 8:1,8-12 dove sent three times out of the Ark perhaps foreshadowing the three ages OT, Life of Christ, Expanse of the Church)

Where do we encounter Him?

• - in the Scriptures he inspired;

• - in the Tradition, to which the Church Fathers are always timely witnesses;

• - in the Church's Magisterium, which he assists;

• - in the sacramental liturgy, through its words and symbols, in which the Holy Spirit puts us into communion with Christ;

• - in prayer, wherein he intercedes for us;

• - in the charisms and ministries by which the Church is built up;

• - in the signs of apostolic and missionary life;

• - in the witness of saints through whom he manifests his holiness and continues the work of salvation.

• Jesus revealed to us the mystery of God: he, the Son, made us know the Father who is in Heaven, and gave us the Holy Spirit, the Love of the Father and of the Son. Christian theology synthesizes the truth of God with this expression: only one substance in three persons. God is not solitude, but perfect communion. For this reason the human person, the image of God, realizes himself or herself in love, which is a sincere gift of self. • Pope Benedict XVI

Your Identity = Adopted Sons & Daughters in the Son

• 4 Dimensions of the Christian Life

• “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers” (Acts 2:42) • Creed

• Sacraments

• Morality

• Prayer

The Big Picture: What does the HS Do?

• In order to understand your role as stewards you must see the big picture. All doctrine is situated with in the context of Salvation History.

• What has the Holy Spirit been doing since creation?

• What was He doing before creation?

• What will He do for all eternity?

• SEE CCC 683-747

• Gods Pedagogy of Divine Condescension • The OT reveals the Father more clearly and the Son obscurely

• The NT (especially the Gospels) Reveals the Son but we only glimpse the Holy Spirit

• The Life of the Church reveals the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit in Salvation History CCC 703-741

• In Creation (Gen 1:2; Ps33:6)

• Spirit of the Promise (In Abraham’s Descendent we will be blessed and receive the Spirit)

• Theophanies (manifestations of God) • Patriarchs, Moses, Joshua, Prophets

• The Law • The Law is a pedagogue leading us to Christ…it enkindles a desire for the HS because it

cannot save man

• The Kingdom • the promise to David is a work of the HS (2 Sam 7, Ps 89, Lk 1:32-33) unlike the kingdoms of

the world it is for the blessed poor, the humble and meek who rely solely on God.

• Expectation of the Messiah & His Spirit (the Prophets) • The HS will engrave a new law in our hearts (Jer 31:31-34)…& the Blessing of poverty.

The HS In the Fullness of Time

• John the Baptist • Filled with the Holy Spirit before birth (Lk 1:15)

• Completes the cycle of prophets through whom the HS spoke.

• Rejoice Full of Grace. In Mary… • The HS prepares Mary by His grace

• He fulfills the Father’s plan of loving goodness

• He manifests the Son…she is the burning bush

• He begins to bring men into communion with Christ

Christ & the Holy Spirit CCC 727-730

• The Son is the one anointed by the Father’s Spirit since His Incarnation…Christ’s whole work is a joint mission with the Holy Spirit

• Christ promises the Holy Spirit…the HS will be given in answer to Jesus’ prayer to the Father

• After commending His Spirit to the Father and rising from the dead, Jesus breathes on the disciples giving them the Spirit and sending them out on mission: • “as the Father has sent me, even so I send you” (Jn 20:21)

The Spirit & the Church in the Last Days

• Pentecost (731) • Fulfillment of Christ’s Passover

• God’s Gift • Love

• Forgiveness

• Restoration of likeness to God

• Pledge (first fruits) of our inheritance

• Power to bear much fruit

• The Holy Spirit and the Church • See all He does for us! (737)

A Grateful Response…

• This is What the Holy Spirit does for us: • The Spirit prepares men and goes out to them with his grace, in order to draw

them to Christ.

• The Spirit manifests the risen Lord to them, recalls his word to them and opens their minds to the understanding of his Death and Resurrection.

• He makes present the mystery of Christ, supremely in the Eucharist, in order to reconcile them, to bring them into communion with God, that they may "bear much fruit."

The Holy Spirit,

• IN BRIEF

• 742 "Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!"' (Gal 4:6).

• 743 From the beginning to the end of time, whenever God sends his Son, he always sends his Spirit: their mission is conjoined and inseparable.

• 744 In the fullness of time the Holy Spirit completes in Mary all the preparations for Christ's coming among the People of God. By the action of the Holy Spirit in her, the Father gives the world Emmanuel "God-with-us" (Mt 1:23).

• 745 The Son of God was consecrated as Christ (Messiah) by the anointing of the Holy Spirit at his Incarnation (cf. Ps 2:6-7).

• 746 By his Death and his Resurrection, Jesus is constituted in glory as Lord and Christ (cf. Acts 2:36). From his fullness, he poured out the Holy Spirit on the apostles and the Church.

• 747 The Holy Spirit, whom Christ the head pours out on his members, builds, animates, and sanctifies the Church. She is the sacrament of the Holy Trinity's communion with men.

Inspires Sacred Scripture

Animates Living Tradition

Guarantees the Magisterium

You are His Saints: Called and Equipped

-“Everyone in the Church, precisely because they are members, receive and thereby share in the common vocation to holiness… ‘All the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity’. ‘All of Christ's followers are invited and bound to pursue holiness and the perfect fulfillment of their own state of life’ (LG 40 & 42). -The Sacrament of Confirmation in a certain way perpetuates the grace of Pentecost in the Church (CCC 1288)

-The Council “intended to bring about a renewal of the Christian life based on the Gospel…Men and women saints have always been the source and origin of renewal in the most difficult circumstances in the Church’s history” (CL 16)

The Holy Spirit and the 4 Dimensions

• Because the Holy Spirit is the anointing of Christ, it is Christ who, as the head of the Body, pours out the Spirit among his members to nourish, heal, and organize them in their mutual functions, to give them life, send them to bear witness, and associate them to his self-offering to the Father and to his intercession for the whole world.

• Through the Church's sacraments, Christ communicates his Holy and sanctifying Spirit to the members of his Body. (This will be the topic of Part Two of the Catechism.) (CCC 739)

• These "mighty works of God," offered to believers in the sacraments of the Church, bear their fruit in the new life in Christ, according to the Spirit. (This will be the topic of Part Three.) 740

• "The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with sighs too deep for words." The Holy Spirit, the artisan of God's works, is the master of prayer. (This will be the topic of Part Four.) 741

CREED

SACRAMENTS

MORALITY

PRAYER

The HS Builds up the Church in the 4 dimensional Christian Life • The Holy Spirit is "the principle of every vital and truly saving action in

each part of the Body."247 He works in many ways to build up the whole Body in charity:248

• by God's Word "which is able to build you up"

• by Baptism, through which he forms Christ's Body; by the sacraments, which give growth and healing to Christ's members; by "the grace of the apostles, which holds first place among his gifts";

• by the virtues, which make us act according to what is good; finally, by the many special graces (called "charisms"), by which he makes the faithful "fit and ready to undertake various tasks and offices for the renewal and building up of the Church."

Insert SS on Gifts of HS

Charisms = Gifts for building up the Church

• Within the communion of the Church, the Holy Spirit "distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank" for the building up of the Church.(CCC 951)

• Grace is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who justifies and sanctifies us. But grace also includes the gifts that the Spirit grants us to associate us with his work, to enable us to collaborate in the salvation of others and in the growth of the Body of Christ, the Church. There are sacramental graces, gifts proper to the different sacraments. There are furthermore special graces, also called charisms after the Greek term used by St. Paul and meaning "favor," "gratuitous gift," "benefit." …They are at the service of charity which builds up the Church. (CCC 2003)

The Blessed Virgin Mary is our mother & model

• Spouse of the Spirit

•Mother of the Son

•Daughter of the Father

STOP HERE