How Does God Give the Holy Spirit?

Prof. Curtis Mitch, co-author of The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, gives a powerful and thoughtful reflection on the readings for mass on April 15, 2021.

Acts 5:27-33
Ps 34:2 and 9, 17-18, 19-20
Jn 3:31-36

[theclapaolini]

Thank you for these heart opening insights into our loving God.Always so helpful and rich for our soul.

[annemarysmith]

Thank you for unpacking this profound reading. It is so helpful for those of us here watching. Always send us off with much to ponder. God bless!

[Jonathan-kcts]

God Bless You too, Mr. Mitch.
Thank you.

[patriciabhat]

Thank you Prof Curtis for drawing us into a deeper understanding of the Scripture reading for today. No one can out-give God in His generosity. If only we humble ourselves and ask for His graces and His Holy Spirit we will surely receive. Our heavenly Father so ardently desires to pour out upon us His Holy Spirit and if we have the same yearning and desire to receive then God will not withhold this marvellous gift from us. What a marvel the Lord has done for us in and through Christ Jesus our Lord, indeed we are glad!

[beverlyvillalobos]

Thanks a lot Prof Curtis for lovely explanation and reflection. May the Holy Spirit always empower in you.

[josepadilla]

Thank you Curtis. That was a great reflection. Blessings from Puerto Rico!🙏🇵🇷

[CB-ougc]

Love these videos to start the day with!!! Thank you.

[Michael-jonv]

Thank you, professor Mitch for this wonderful explication.

[mazikode]

Thank you ana God bless you professor. I look forward to the next one

[deusvult]

Edifying as far as it goes, but i would have liked to hear more about that HOW in the title, aside from its abundance. For instance how to increase our receptiivity to that abundance, through sacraments and especially deep prayer and sustained meditation, invoking the Eternal Father through Christ's name to give us the greatest gift of all, the HOLY SPIRIT.

[claudiozanella]

How? The Father - who is a spirit - is outside and will enter that person. He will then be outside and inside " He will dwell with you and will be in you". "Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Well, if the Father is the Father and the Son is the Son, the Holy Spirit MUST BE A "THIRD GOD"! This is what the fathers of the Church thought. Unfortunately this is not correct. Who is the Holy Spirit? Jesus tell us that "God is a spirit". Well, that God can be called "the Spirit of God" AKA "Holy Spirit". But the almighty God is the Father, this means that the FATHER IS A SPIRIT AND IS CALLED THE HOLY SPIRIT. What happens with the "Comforter"? In a very smart manner we can skip the whole difficult "Comforter Chapter" to REALLY SEE who will be inside the apostles: "the Spirit of your Father". This means that the Holy Spirit inside the apostles is the "Father who is a spirit", as expected. Jesus also directly confirms that the HOLY SPIRIT inside Him IS THE FATHER: “The words I say to you, I say not on my own but from the FATHER who DWELLS IN ME.” What happened when Jesus was baptized ? Simply the Holy Spirit - who is the Father in form of a spirit - SAID "...you are my beloved Son...". Just Father and Son there. But of course, they are just TWO, this is clearly stated by Jesus " I am not alone because the Father is with me". You can also see that in heaven there is NO PLACE for "the Lord who gives life" (an omnipotent God absolutely unknown in the scriptures). In fact many christians still believe that the Holy Spirit is a kind of magical dust falling down the sky which gives them awesome powers. Well, if the Holy Spirit IS THE FATHER IN FORM OF A SPIRIT, who is "THE FATHER" in the baptismal formula? Jesus tells us who is "THAT FATHER" too: "the world has not known you". That is different from the present tense "the world does not know you". Since the verse is in the past instead, it indicates for the world a MISSED PAST OPPORTUNITY. The reason is a LACK of TEMPORAL OVERLAP: He only existed "BEFORE the foundation of the world". Jesus does have that temporal overlap instead. John 17:24-25 " ...for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; ". We thus see that the Father - in the form of a spirit - who is HERE : "My Father works now, so I work." is DIFFERENT from the Father mentioned before that we NEVER KNEW. This means that the "Father" in the baptismal formula is simply THE "NORMAL" FATHER, who is NOT a spirit. He is the SOURCE of the Holy Spirit: the Holy Spirit - the Father who is a spirit - DERIVES FROM HIM.
Only the Father in the form of a spirit - the Holy Spirit - and the Son are thus here ("I am not alone because the Father is with me"). No "third God" exists.