Raise your hand if you remember the poor guy left sitting on Apollo 11 when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin played golf on the moon and posed for that MTV promo!
Anyone? Bueller?
Like so many three person groups, the Holy Spirit is all too often the forgotten member of the Most Holy Trinity.
I think part of the problem we have trouble remembering the Holy Spirit is that he’s the hardest of the Godhead to visualize.
The Father is obviously an older man with long white hair and thick beard. (Right?) The Son has his 70s style, shoulder-length locks and kindly face. And the Holy Spirit – “Uhhhhh…Some kind of a ghost?”
As hard as he is to picture, we have to remember that grace comes from the Holy Spirit. The only way we can pray to the Father is through the power of the Spirit.
In fact, the Catechism states that the only way we can even say “Jesus is Lord” is through the power of the Spirit. To totally misquote Bette Middler, he is the “wind beneath our wings” to heaven.
So don’t forget the all important third person. For Apollo 11, it was Michael Collins. For your spiritual life it’s the Holy Spirit. He deserves all the love we have to give…and more!
God bless!
Matthew