Mitch Pacwa - The Holy Spirit: A Bible Study Guide for Catholics

The
Holy Spirit

A Bible Study Guide for Catholics

The
Holy Spirit

A Bible Study Guide for Catholics

Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.

Our
Sunday
Visitor

www.osv.com

Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division

Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.

Huntington, Indiana 46750

Nihil Obstat

Msgr. Michael Heintz, Ph.D.

Censor Librorum

Imprimatur

Kevin C. Rhoades

Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend

December 19, 2015

The Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur are official declarations that a book is free from doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.

Every reasonable effort has been made to determine copyright holders of excerpted materials and to secure permissions as needed. If any copyrighted materials have been inadvertently used in this work without proper credit being given in one form or another, please notify Our Sunday Visitor in writing so that future printings of this work may be corrected accordingly.

Copyright 2016 by Mitch Pacwa, S.J. Published 2016.

22 21 20 19 18 17 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

All rights reserved. With the exception of short excerpts for critical reviews, no part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without permission in writing from the publisher. Contact: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., 200 Noll Plaza, Huntington, IN 46750; 1-800-348-2440; .

ISBN: 978-1-61278-959-0 (T1726)

elSBN: 978-1-61278-961-3

LCCN: 2016944025

Cover design: Chelsea Alt

Cover art: Shutterstock

Interior design: Sherri L. Hoffman

Interior art: iStockPhoto.com

Printed in the United States of America

In Memoriam
To Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation (1923-2016), who came to love Jesus Christ with all her heart and gave herself to him and his service. She followed the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, who led her through so many adventures of faith so that she could lead millions of others to faith, love, and hope in Christ. She spoke prophetically and with courage, always loving Jesus and his people more than her own ideas, benefit, or comfort. May we all meet again in the heaven she hoped to enter.

Contents

How to Use this Study Guide in a Group

This is an interactive study guide. It can be read with profit either alone or as part of a group Bible study. Below are suggestions for the use of this book in a group.

What You Will Need for Every Session

This study guide

A Bible

A notebook

Before and to complete all the exercises in both. They should bring this study guide with them to the group session.

Begin the session with prayer (for example, see the Veni, Creator Spiritus prayer on page 167.)

Invite one person in the group to read one of the Scripture passages included in this sessions material.

Allow five minutes of silent reflection on the passage. This allows the groups members to quiet their inner thoughts and to center themselves on the lesson to be discussed.

Catechesis: Give all members a chance to share some point that they have learned about the Holy Spirit. Was this something new or a new insight into something? Was there anything that raised a question? (Allow fifteen to twenty minutes for this.)

Discussion: Use the discussion questions at the end of the session chapter to begin a deeper grasp of the material covered in the session. (Allow fifteen to twenty minutes for this.)

Conclusion: Have all members of the group summarize the key concepts they learned about the Holy Spirit in the session. Assign the next session as homework, to be completed before the next group session.

Symbols Used in this Study Guide

Acknowledgments

Unless otherwise noted, the Scripture citations used in this work are taken from the Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible (RSV), copyright 1965, 1966 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Where noted, other Scripture citations are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible Second Catholic Edition (Ignatius Edition), designated as RSV-SCE. Copyright 1965, 1966, 2006 by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Quotations from papal and other Vatican-generated documents available on vatican.va are copyright Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for use in the United States of America copyright 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Modifications from the Editio Typica copyright 1997, United States Catholic Conference, Inc. Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

English translation of the Nicene Creed by the English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC).

Excerpts from the English translation of The Liturgy of the Hours, 1973, 1974, 1975, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL). All rights reserved.

Introduction

O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling, and scatter there Thy cheerful beams.

St. Augustine

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that

Holy Spirit is the proper name of the one whom we adore and glorify with the Father and the Son. The Church has received this name from the Lord and professes it in the Baptism of her new children. (CCC 691)

This Bible study looks at the Holy Spirit in Scripture, beginning with the Old Testament and moving through the New Testament. In seven sessions, we examine: the role of the Holy Spirit in creation; how authority and power come from the Spirit; how the Spirit worked in the lives of the prophets; the Spirit as the giver of wisdom, guidance, and truth; the Spirit as part of the Trinity; empowerment and the Spirit; and finally, the Spirit in lives of Christian believers.

It is our hope that this Bible study will encourage all of us in the words of the Veni, Creator Spiritus, which dates back to the ninth century to ask the Holy Spirit, In our hearts take up Thy rest.

Session 1

The Holy Spirit in Creation