April 15, 2026
After being part of a series of Confirmation talks to our “young church” over the last few weeks, not only did I witness the good that is alive in the youth of our church, but also how much the Holy Spirit is at work. Confirmation is a special time in which we are reminded why God sends His Spirit to act through us. Especially during the emotional journey of Lent, we sometimes must look beyond the pain of the cross with hope toward the Easter season and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
In the next week we will find strength in all that Jesus took on so we may be forgiven, however it is not always as much the flesh He offers when he died, but that He gives back to us His Spirit. As Jesus bows his head one last time, He utters the words “Father, Into Your hands I commend my Spirit” he doesn’t cry out “take my body Father!”. The life that was in Him was provided by this “bonding” part of the Trinity; the Spirit is the intermediary messenger between God as the Almighty Creator and God as flesh and blood. It is the same Spirit that lives through each one of us and provides the fruits that get us through each day.
As we focus on the power of the cross entering Holy Week, we must continue to rely on the gifts of the Holy Spirit given to us to use during all our days. They are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude (or courage), knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.
Still, I was curious to see what the explanation of the Holy Spirit is out in the world of the Internet, so I checked dictionary.com and Google… because where else does one go to have everything defined for them these days? So Dictionary.com gave me the definition – “n. the spirit of God”; to me that sums it up pretty well. So, now on to Google I go where it directs to where else but Wikipedia. Wikipedia defines the Holy Spirit as “a term introduced in the Hebrew Bible, though understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions”. Really?? A “TERM”?? … I beg to differ that the Spirit is a little more than a “term” … To me that statement could not be more off base and lends itself to downplay the overall power what this “term” does day in and day out.
Remember, the Holy Spirit is powerful and resilient, allowing us to share our emotions without uttering words, pick up the phone to make a call when our friends need us at THAT very moment, place us where we need to be to do the most good and also allows our brothers and sisters in faith to finish our sentences when we begin to speak. When we are open enough to listen, then the Spirit uses us as instruments to be Christ and to utter the words placed on our lips by Him. Never forget, the Spirit is the ultimate connection between Heaven and Earth.
And to close I will let you in on one of the most guarded secrets of my blogs: The Holy Spirit is actually the author of them all and just writes them through me… but you probably already knew that
“There are times when we might be tempted to seek a certain fulfillment apart from God. To turn away from him is only a futile attempt to escape from ourselves. It is embrace, not escape, that we seek! So the Holy Spirit gently but surely steers us back to what is real, what is lasting, what is true.” ~ Benedict XVI
Posted by Greg Wasinski
