The Holy Spirit and Mary
one
Trinity
a. The Father is the source and origin of the whole divinity.
i. He is the giver. He has only one gift to give, that of his divine being.
ii. The Father generates the Son, giving divine being to the Son
b. The Son receives divinity from the Father
i. He is begotten by the Father
c. The Father and the Son give themselves to one another
d. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son by receiving the one divine being from both
i. In the Trinity the Holy Spirit is a pure capacity to receive divine being
two
What the Son and the Spirit do in the Trinity, they do in a similar way in the world. The Son gives and the Spirit receives.
a. God created the world to give humans a participation in his divine nature through the one joint mission of the Son and the Spirit
b. The mission of the Son is to give divine life
c. The mission of the Holy Spirit is to confer the capacity to receive divine life
d. CCC 702 During the Old Testament the joint mission of the Son and the Spirit remain hidden…” but we should be watching for their visible manifestation at some point in time.
e. Therefore, we can expect a visible mission of the Son and the Spirit
f. The mission of the Son is manifest, becomes visible in Jesus.
g. So where do we see the Spirit?
i. The dove at the baptism of Jesus
ii. the tongues of fire on the day of Pentecost
iii. But those are hard to relate to personally
three
The Holy Spirit is a pure capacity to receive divine life.
a. At the level of the visible world, many things have the capacity to receive: a warehouse can receive things; a computer has the capacity for information.
b. However, because the human being is the greatest degree visible creation, the highest form of a visible mission of the Holy Spirit (without the Holy Spirit becoming incarnate) would be a woman who is both virgin and mother (virgin since a human father cannot give the divine life)
c. In other words, if we should be looking for a visible manifestation of the Holy Spirit whose distinctive characteristic is receptivity.
d. What would the highest form of receptivity be?
i. A warehouse can hold a lot of stuff
ii. A computer can hold a lot of information
iii. But the greatest capacity is to receive new life
iv. And that would be a woman, a mother
four
At the level of the visible world, a woman and mother is the most perfect form of receptivity or capacity
a. Therefore, the highest form of a visible mission of the Holy Spirit (without the Holy Spirit becoming incarnate) would be a woman and mother
b. And since the CCC teaches that the mission of the Spirit will be manifest in the fullness of time, where do we find it? In other words, if we should be looking for a visible manifestation of the Holy Spirit whose distinctive characteristic is receptivity, then it must be a woman and mother.
i. It can’t be a an angel or disembodied soul, since these are not visible and the highest sign can’t be inferior to a human person as in the case of the cloud, or fire, breath or a dove.
CCC 721 says “Mary, the all-holy ever-Virgin Mother of God, is the masterwork of the mission of the Son and the Spirit in the fullness of time.”
c. She is the dwelling place of the Son and the Spirit
i. The mission of the Son is made visible through Mary in the Incarnation
ii. The mission of the Spirit is made visible in Mary
1. In Mary we the most perfect visible mission of the Spirit
2. The mission of the Spirit is the capacity to receive divine life.
a. Mary is therefore, the perfect human expression of the Spirit’s mission to receive divine life.
b. Mary is the sacrament of the Spirit
five
In the One Joint Mission of the Son and the Spirit
a. The Son gives his divine life through the death and resurrection of Jesus made present in the liturgy
b. The Holy Spirit receives the divine life
i. In and with and through Mary
1. In the Incarnation
2. In souls
a. The Holy Spirit and Mary create a capacity within us to receive Jesus by
i. Consecration to Mary
ii. Living in union with her
iii. By prayer – especially the Rosary – the School of Mary