By receiving Holy Communion we also receive the Holy Spirit along with Christ. We know that it is the Risen Christ that we really receive in Holy Communion in the signs of the Consecrated Bread and Wine. We are not so familiar that we also receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit with Christ. In a beautiful passage from the Catechism we are taught:
"When the Father sends his Word, he always sends his Breath. In their joint mission, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct but inseparable." (#689)
The Word is the Son of God (see John 1) and the Breath of God here means the Holy Spirit. The Son and the Spirit are always working together. Recall it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that the Son took flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mother to become Jesus the Christ. His very title means "The Anointed One" (in Greek, Christos, in Hebrew Messiah); the One who ‘anoints" him, i.e., consecrates him for his mission is the Holy Spirit. The Son and the Spirit are distinct but they are inseparable. Therefore we receive the Holy Spirit with Christ in Holy Communion.
We first received the Holy Spirit in our Baptism. From the Rite of Baptism for Children:
"We pray for this child: set him (her) free from original sin, make him (her) a temple of your glory, and send your Holy Spirit to dwell with him (her)."
And the grace of the Holy Spirit is increased in us through the Sacrament of Holy Communion.
I like to recall here the teaching of the Gospel of John that the Holy Spirit is the Paraclete, the Helper. The Holy Spirit is "the Best Friend" of the Son and of his Body the Church. As "best friends" are inseparable, so with the Son and the Spirit. (See my entry on this HERE) The Holy Spirit is our Helper, our Advocate, our Counselor, our Comforter, our Defender, our Friend. As St. Paul reminds us, "The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us." (Romans 5:5)
The Holy Spirit is at work with Christ in the celebration of the Mass.
The Catechism teaches that "In the liturgy of the New Covenant every liturgical action, especially the celebration of the Eucharist and the sacraments, is an encounter between Christ and the Church. The liturgical assembly derives its unity from the ‘communion of the Holy Spirit’ who gathers the children of God into the one Body of Christ." (#1097)
Recall that the first act of the Eucharist is to gather together the Body of Christ, the Church. Also in the Eucharistic Prayer (at the Epiclesis) we saw how the Holy Spirit is invoked to come, with the Word of Christ, to transform the Bread and Wine into the true Body and Blood of the Risen Christ, the whole Christ. (See Epiclesis HERE, Catechism #706 HERE)
Every celebration of the liturgy, especially the Eucharist, is an outpouring (epiclesis) of the Holy Spirit upon the Church, the Mystical and Spirit-filled Body of Christ. (See Catechism #1104 HERE) Yet we become what we receive in the Eucharist by receiving the Spirit-filled Body and Blood of the Risen Christ in Holy Communion. We are given "Spiritual Food," i.e., the Spirit-filled and Consecrated Body and Blood of Christ."
Catechism #1392: "What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life. Communion with the flesh of the risen Christ, a flesh ‘given life and giving life through the Holy Spirit,’ preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism."
Next Week: The Communion Rite Part 4: Communion with the Trinity
