The Gospel of today is like a preparation for the approaching celebration of Pentecost. Just as Jesus Christ gradually prepared His followers for the coming of the Holy Spirit, so the Church prepares her children for the commemoration of that crucial event.
In the gospel today, Jesus said “the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of all I have said to you” (John 14:26). Who is the Holy Spirit and how does He act?
We believe that there are three persons in the one divine nature. The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit of God, yet these are not three Gods, but only one. It is a mystery we cannot fully grasp, but must accept it, humbly acknowledging the limits of our intelligence.
We also attribute different roles to each of these divine persons—the Father creates, the Son redeems and the Holy Spirit sanctifies.
They are like three stages that take place one by one. That is why in another passage, Jesus said, “If I do not go, the Advocate [Holy Spirit] will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7).
Now that Jesus is “seated at the right hand of the Father,” the Holy Spirit has been sent, and He is now carrying out His role of sanctifying Christ’s followers.
God is constantly acting. But He acts especially in the hearts of each of us through the Holy Spirit.
It is true that God uses external instruments to make his message reach us. That is why Christ commanded the apostles to preach and to administer the saving sacraments.
But that is not enough. Many people hear, but not all will listen. Many people are baptized, but not everyone lives up to the commitments of being a Christian. God also acts in the intimacy of each person, helping him to listen and to correspond. That is the action attributed to the Holy Spirit.
If we are more aware of the activity of the Holy Spirit, we would perhaps be more receptive to the saving word of God.
God sends “inspirations” to each of us. It could be a sudden realization of our need for conversion, or the desire to make a generous act of dedication to God.
That is the Holy Spirit acting in us. We still have to correspond to it because we are free. The Holy Spirit blows gently, almost imperceptibly. But His breath is effective if it meets a heart that is docile and receptive.