Gospel Commentary: Giver of Life

By Fr. John De Celles
Herald Columnist
(From the issue of 6/5/03)

The Gospel of John tells us that in the evening of the first Easter, while the disciples were hiding behind locked doors, Jesus suddenly came to them and greeted them. Then He did something very significant, "he breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’" This seems a rather strange gesture on Christ’s part, until we remember that in Scripture the word "Spirit" is used to translate the Hebrew word "ruah," which is also translated as "wind" or "breath." So we begin to understand that whenever Scripture refers "wind" or "breath" there is usually also a subtle reference to the "Spirit."

For example, if we go back to the very beginning of the Bible, in Genesis, chapter two, we find the very first time God breathed out His Spirit on man: when God created Adam from dust and "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being" [Gen. 2:7] The Spirit then is truly, as we proclaim every Sunday at Mass in the Creed, "the Lord, the giver of life."

But the Sprit of God doesn’t bring only natural mortal life — the breath of God brings the life of God Himself, which is supernatural and eternal. While man lost eternal life through Adam’s original sin, the new Adam, Jesus [1 Cor 15:45], offers to restore us to this life, inviting us to be "born again of water and the Spirit" [Jn 3:5].

But how does He breathe His Spirit into us when He has ascended bodily to heaven? Just as God created Adam’s body from the common dust of the earth, He also created another "body" — His Church — from the common men of the earth — fishermen, tax collectors, sinners, etc.. And just as God breathed life into Adam’s body, He also breathed life into His Church on the first Christian Pentecost as the Spirit, in the form of "a strong driving wind" [Acts 2:2], blew the into the house where the disciples were hiding and changed them into the vigorous living mystical "Body of Christ" [1 Cor 12:27].

Through the Church, His Body here on earth, Christ continues to breathe the Holy Spirit into each of us, giving us a share in the supernatural and eternal life of God Himself. He does this in various ways, but most especially through the sacraments He gave the Apostles. For example, in Baptism the Church breathes Christ’s life into the neophytes as they are "born again" and joined to His "one Body" [1 Cor 12:13]. In Confirmation the Church breathes into us the fullness of the Spirit’s gifts that we need to live as "mature" Christians in the "full stature of Christ" [Eph 4:13]. In Penance the Church breathes fresh life into the dying life of sinners, with the power Jesus breathed on the apostles on that first Easter: "Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them." But we find the life-giving activity of the Spirit most magnificently in the Eucharist, as the Father sends the Spirit to transform lifeless bread and wine into the real life-giving Body and Blood of Christ.

In the beginning God breathed His Spirit into Adam and gave life to His body. Over 2,000 years ago, God breathed His Spirit into to the Church on Pentecost and gave life to His Mystical Body on Earth. Today His Church breathes His Spirit on each of us giving us eternal life. The Holy Spirit is truly "the Lord, the giver of life."

Fr. De Celles is Parochial Vicar of St. Michael Parish in Annandale.

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