Saturday, January 23, 2016
Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 115 - Part II.
(Youcat
answer - repeated) The Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus in the form of a dove.
The first Christians experience the Holy Spirit as a healing ointment, living
water, a raging storm, or a flaming fire. Jesus Christ himself speaks about the
Counselor, Comforter, Teacher, and Spirit of Truth. In the sacraments of the
Church, the Holy Spirit is bestowed through the imposition of hands and
anointing with oil.
A deepening through CCC
(CCC 706)
Against all human hope, God promises descendants to Abraham, as the fruit of
faith and of the power of the Holy Spirit (Cf. Gen 18:1-15; Lk 1:26-38. 54-55;
Jn 1:12-13; Rom 4:16-21). In Abraham's progeny all the nations of the earth
will be blessed. This progeny will be Christ himself (Cf. Gen 12:3; Gal 3:16),
in whom the outpouring of the Holy Spirit will "gather into one the
children of God who are scattered abroad" (Cf. In 11:52). God commits
himself by his own solemn oath to giving his beloved Son and "the promised
Holy Spirit… [who is] the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire
possession of it" (Eph 1:13-14; cf. Gen 22:17-19; Lk 1:73; Jn 3:16; Rom
8:32; Gal 3:14).
Reflecting and meditating
(Youcat comment)
The peace that God
established in his covenant with mankind after the flood was indicated to Noah
through the appearance of a dove. Pagan antiquity, too, considered the dove to
be a symbol of love. And so the early Christians understood immediately why the
Holy Spirit, the love of God in person, came down in the form of a dove when
Jesus allowed himself to be baptized in the Jordan. Today the dove is
recognized worldwide as the sign of peace and as one of the great symbols for
the reconciliation of man with God (cf. Gen 8:10-11).
(CCC Comment)
(CCC 707)
Theophanies (manifestations of God) light up the way of the promise, from the
patriarchs to Moses and from Joshua to the visions that inaugurated the
missions of the great prophets. Christian tradition has always recognized that
God's Word allowed himself to be seen and heard in these theophanies, in which
the cloud of the Holy Spirit both revealed him and concealed him in its shadow.
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