Any religion begins with a God/faith-experience, which is felt and articulated within the given cultural framework. The experience of the Holy Spirit was a prime reality of Christian existence for the early Church. The Holy Spirit is the messianic gift par excellence. His presence is manifested through gifts and charisms. Yet, unfortunately, the importance of the experience of the Spirit was not sufficiently emphasized in the later Church.
William James defines experience in terms of “uneasiness and its solution”. Human being experiences his finitude and a sense of insecurity (“wrongness”). Only the High Power/God can save us from this sense of dread and anguish. Only he can give us an answer to the mystery of existence and of the world, the mystery of the human being.
Today there is a new emphasis on the awareness and experience of the Spirit, the continued presence of God, the Risen Lord, in us. There is a rediscovery of the pneumatological dimension of Christian life. In spite of scientific-technological and philosophical progress, man is still unhappy with his existential experiences and is craving for more. There are different kinds of attempts, both in the psychological and religious fields. In this line of thought, the new Pentecostal movement is legitimate and
relevant, though exaggerations are a threat to it.
The third part of the Apostles’ symbol, “I believe in the Holy Spirit”, is the continuation of the history of Christ on earth after his Ascension and the Pentecost, through the “time of the Church”. Jesus departed from Judea to be present everywhere and for all. This dynamic presence of Jesus in the Church and in the world, has been interpreted in the Christian living Tradition as a Person, the Holy Spirit. We have here the Revelation of the activity of the Holy Spirit among men, in the Church and in the world at large. It is the gift of God to men and to the community of those who believe in Christ.
We know God not in himself, but in his relationship towards us. The profession of faith does not speak of a God above, outside and beyond our history, but of a God of love turned towards humanity, a “God-with-us”, IMMANUEL (Mt 1:23; 28:20; cf.Is 7:14), “Trinity-with-us”. Jesus revealed us his Father, who is the biblical God, YAHWEH, the God of Abraham, Jacob and Isaac, accessible to us in and through the Spirit.
“If you only knew the gift of God…” (Jn 4:10) is an invitation for us today to know better the gift of the Risen Lord, the Spirit (cf.Jn 7:37).
I shall deal with the functions and personality of the Spirit of God, who is the “principal agent of the New Evangelization”. My aim is to inspire and lead the readers to be imbibed with the power of the Spirit of God and show forth the fruits with existential faith and happy living.
Let me first jot down a few remarks regarding the task of the New Evangelization (Chapter One). Then, in the next two chapters, I shall dwell on the biblical texts of the Old and New Testaments on the Spirit of God. Based on the biblical reflection, I shall give in the remaining twelve chapters practical considerations and suggestions on the relevant issues of today’s Church and society, and on the pivotal areas of Christian existence.
Scribbling 