This Sunday is the Solemnity of Pentecost, celebrating the empowering of the disciples after the Ascension of Jesus to heaven with the Gift of the Holy Spirit.
Of the three Persons of the Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—it is the Holy Spirit who seems the most mysterious. Whereas God the Father and God the Son are personal descriptions, many of the descriptions of the Holy Spirit are nonpersonal images like a dove, or wind, fire, or breath. Yet Jesus speaks about the Holy Spirit in personal terms, as an Advocate or Helper (4x in the Gospel of John). The word Jesus uses to describe the Holy Spirit literally means "someone called to your side to help you" (in Greek: parakletos)
It occurred to me some years ago that term could describe what a friend does. A friend comes to your side to help you. Out of this thought came the idea that the Holy Spirit is the "Best Friend" of Jesus. Moreover, this Best Friend is within us, Gift of our Baptism, to bring us also into intimate friendship with Christ Jesus. I also discovered that a number of others have developed this same idea.
Here I wish to expand on this idea of the Holy Spirit as Friend. On the 6th Sunday of Easter the Gospel was from John 14:15-21 and the Greek word parakletos was translated in the Catholic Lectionary as "Advocate." There is, however, a version of the New Testament which is a paraphrasing of the original Greek texts called The Message and it translates John 14:15-17 this way:
"[Jesus says:] I will talk to the Father, and he’ll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can’t take him in because it doesn’t have eyes to see him, doesn’t know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you!"
The idea of the Holy Spirit being the Best Friend of Jesus is consistent with the Catholic teaching that the Son of God, made flesh in Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are always together:
"When the Father sends his Word [the Son], he always sends his Breath [the Spirit]. In their joint mission, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct but inseparable. To be sure, it is Christ who is seen, the visible image of the invisible God, but it is the Spirit who reveals him." (Catechism#689)
Another aspect of the Holy Spirit as Best Friend of Jesus is the role of the "friend of the bridegroom." This term is actually applied to John the Baptist (see John 3:29). In the culture of Jesus’ day, the friend of the bridegroom had many duties in the wedding of his friend and the bride. He would be somewhat comparable to the "best man" at a wedding today. One role of the friend of the bridegroom was to go to the home of the bride and escort her to the home of the groom. There he presented her to his friend and the wedding began.
The Church is called the Bride of Christ (see Revelation 19:7), and the Friend of the Bridegroom, the Holy Spirit, brings this Bride (and us as members of the Church) to be united to Christ. The Catechism states: "the mission of the Spirit of adoption is to unite [us] to Christ and make [us] live in him." (# 690)
We have a saying "Any friend of yours is a friend of mine." The same can apply to the Best Friend of Jesus. If he is the Friend of Jesus, He is our Friend as well. Jesus calls his disciples "friends" (See John 15;15); and his Friend the Holy Spirit lives in us and cultivates both friendship within us for Christ and for others given to us as friends.
A few years ago, I discovered that Dr. Alan Schreck, a professor of theology at Steubenville University, wrote about the Holy Spirit as Friend in his book Your Life in the Holy Spirit: What Every Catholic Needs to Know and Experience. Here, then, is an excerpt of his book which I think is a useful meditation upon the friendship of the Holy Spirit in our lives:
"Jesus’ way of presenting the Holy Spirit made it evident that his followers were supposed to relate to the Spirit as a teacher, a counselor, a consoler—as someone who would help and guide them in their daily lives as Christians. In the Acts of the Apostles, we saw that Christ’s followers were in a dialogue with the Spirit, who actively directed and assisted them in their missionary activity [beginning with Pentecost]. They knew the Spirit as the gift of Jesus and the Father to help guide and strengthen them, and they knew how to call upon the Spirit for his assistance. May we hope for the same experience?
"Jesus taught us to relate to the Father as "Abba." The apostles and disciples—Peter, Mary and Martha, the "beloved disciple," and all the others—learned to relate to Jesus with warmth and friendship, each in his or her own way. How shall we imagine the person of the Holy Spirit in order to relate to the Spirit with the same depth of love and intimacy that we can have in our relationship with Jesus and the Father?
"Recall the meaning of the term "paraclete": one who is called to be at one’s side, a companion, a friend. Then, remember that, in John’s gospel, Jesus says that in some ways the Holy Spirit will be even closer to the apostles than he was—as a teacher, counselor, and witness within their hearts. On the basis of those characterizations, I would like to suggest a personal image of the Holy Spirit that embodies all that he is and does for us: the Holy Spirit is "the friend closest to our hearts."
"St. Cyril of Jerusalem taught that ‘the Spirit comes with the tenderness of a true friend and protector to save, to heal, to teach, to counsel, to strengthen, to console.’ The Catechism describes the Holy Spirit as ‘the interior Master of life according to Christ, a gentle guest and friend who inspires, guides, corrects and strengthens this life.’ (#1697).
"Our friend the Holy Spirit is close to our hearts in order to set them aflame with love for God and with zeal to witness to our faith. He is close to us to convince us of our sin and to cleanse and purify our hearts. He is a friend strengthening us with virtues and gifts for the good of others and the church. But most of all, this image of the friend closest to our hearts reminds us that the Holy Spirit is someone with whom we can speak and relate in an intimate, personal way....
"Just as we come to the Father and the Son in prayer, then, we can also pray to the Holy Spirit. The Catechism poses the question, ‘Since he [the Holy Spirit] teaches us to pray by recalling Christ, how could we not pray to the Spirit, too? That is why the church invites us to call upon the Holy Spirit every day, especially at the beginning and end of every important action.’ (#2670)....
May the Holy Spirit help us, then, to be faithful friends of Christ and true sons and daughters of God the Father!
