We believe in the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit was with the Father and with the Word of God in the first moments of the foundation of the world, hovering over the water in the beginning of the account of Genesis 1. 

The Holy Spirit was in the prophets of the Old Testament, from Abraham to Malachi. 

The Holy Spirit participated in the first moment of the incarnation of the Word of God, coming upon Mary after the visit of the angel Gabriel. 

The Holy Spirit came down on Jesus at his baptism, in perfect collaboration with the Father who spoke of his approval of his son. The Holy Spirit led Jesus in the wilderness, to be tempted by the devil for forty days, so that he could be successful in this temptation. 

The Holy Spirit was with the apostles and many others at Pentecost in the first moments of the birthing of the Church. 

In the same way, Jesus promised his disciples that we simply had to ask the Father for the Holy Spirit, and that we would receive him/her (read Luke 11:13). 

(in Hebrew the term ‘Spirit’ is sometimes masculine, sometimes feminine, and in Greek it is neutral - neither masculine nor feminine, so we can speak of the Holy Spirit as Him or Her. I don’t feel comfortable to speak of the Holy Spirit as ‘it’, although technically the Greek language would allow that). 

Not only did Jesus promise that the Father would send speedily the Holy Spirit to those who ask him, but he also promised that it would be better than having Jesus physically with us! (listen to John 16:5-7). How could that be? Well, when Jesus was on earth, he could be in only one location at a specific time, while the Holy Spirit has the capacity to be in many locations at the same time.

The picture shows a dove and fire, reminding us of two key images used in the Bible for the Holy Spirit (the dove at the baptism of Jesus in Mark 1:10, the tongues of fire at Pentecost in Acts 2:3-4). 
The dove remind us of the manifest presence of God, and that like a dove the Holy Spirit has a will and wants to guide us. 
The tongues of fire mentioned in Acts 2 remind us that God wants to speak to us and through us (tongue), and the fire help us remember that the Holy Spirit wants to purify us and empower us.

The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to make of us temples of God, filled with him/her (1 Cor 3:16, 6:19), so that s/he can fill us with the love of God (Romans 5:5) and allow this love to flow freely to God and to our neighbors (John 7:37-39, Mark 12:28-31). 

What is needed for the Holy Spirit, for the love of God, to flow freely in us and through us? We can find key parts of the answer to this question as we meditate on the purpose of a temple. A temple is a place where the presence of God is manifest, and where people can come and receive answers from God to their questions. This was what happened in the days of the temple in Jerusalem, where people came to be reconciled with God (sacrifices), to experience his presence and to hear him speak (therefore the Urim and Tumim of the high priests, as read in Numbers 27:21). 

Today, we don’t need anymore a physical temple of stone or gold, because God wants our body to be this temple (1 Corinthians 6:19), and Jesus is now the perfect High Priest (read Hebrews 5:1-10). If we had to summarize, the purpose of the Holy Spirit is to bring in us God’s presence and God’s guidance or voice. The Holy Spirit will not speak to us independently from the Father or from Jesus, because he will remind us what Jesus said and will teach us everything (read John 14:26 concerning this amazing promise that Jesus made to us). By the way, for us to learn implies that the Holy Spirit is able to communicate with us in simple and understandable ways. 

Presence and communication, two fundamental facets of love. The first and foremost purpose of the Holy Spirit is indeed to bring love in our hearts (Romans 5:5), so that we can communicate this holy love to God and to others.

The relationship between being filled with the Holy Spirit and hearing God is exemplified in many texts in the Old Testament and the New Testament. Hearing God and communicating what he says is at the heart of the gift of prophecy, as described in the Bible. When God shared some of the Holy Spirit that was on Moses with seventy elders, the first sign was that they prophesied (Numbers 11:25). When the Holy Spirit came on the King Saul, he prophesied (1 Samuel 10:6). In the same way, in the promise of Joel that Peter mentioned on the day of Pentecost we can read:

“And it shall come to pass afterward, 

that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; 

your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, 

your old men shall dream dreams, 

and your young men shall see visions. 

Even on the male and female servants 

in those days I will pour out my Spirit.” (Joel 2:28)

This is why, as we are filled with the presence and love of God, as we let this love flow in us and from us, the natural direction is to expect two-way communication with God. That is why Paul emphasized in 1 Corinthians 14:1, “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.” If Paul exhorts all the Christians at Corinth to earnestly seek prophesy, it is not a question of status or pride, but a question of becoming always more a channel of God’s love. For this to take place, we need to hear from God, to be really guided by God through the Holy Spirit. This is what God promised for all children of God through Joel (Joel 2:28). This is the way Jesus taught us (John 14:26), this is the way he exemplified for us (see for instance Mark 1:12). 

The Holy Spirit is all about communication, communication of God’s love (Romans 5:5), communication of God’s guidance and teachings (John 14:26).

How can we experience the Holy Spirit’s presence in us? 

To receive the Holy Spirit, we have to repent, so that we can ask God’s help to be cleansed of any impure and unholy spirit that we have let come in ourselves. This is part of the purification (= sanctification) that God wants us to experience, so that we can welcome fully the Holy Spirit in us, so that we can welcome fully God’s love in us and overflow with this love to others. This is the holy and blessed joy that is sometimes called entire sanctification. 

Then, as temples of the Holy Spirit, we are invited to experience every day of our lives both the presence of God in us and the communication with God. We have to remember that when Paul said that ‘you are temples of the Holy Spirit’ (1 Corinthians 3:16), he was speaking with a ‘plural you’ - you all - and that therefore God will speak to us individually but also through other brothers and sisters in Christ, that is the beauty of the work of the Holy Spirit, so that we would not become haughty and self-sufficient. On one side, Jesus promised to be with us always (Matthew 28:18), but on the other side he encouraged us to not stay alone but to become his body on earth, the church, so that when two or three are united in his name, he would be in the midst of them (Matthew 18:18-20).

Therefore, let us remember that God, through the Holy Spirit in us, wants to fill us with his love and presence, that he wants to speak to us and with us every day, all the time (thus the call to pray without ceasing, stressed by Jesus in Luke 18:1-8 and emphasized by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:17). Let us remember that God can use different ways, different means for His amazing grace, to communicate with us. It can be through the still small voice in our hearts, through other believers, through non-believers or through His creation (Psalm 19:1-2). Once God even spoke through a donkey (see Numbers 22:27-30). Let us not put the Holy Spirit in a box, let us avoid compartmentalizing our lives and thus keep control over God. Let us stop being masters of foolishness in our attempts to control our lives, so that we can become servants of humility, friends of his love for this wonderful creation. This world desperately hungers for the revelation of the children of God, believers filled with the Holy Spirit, with the pure love of God and sharing this love with many.