The Holy Spirit in Christian Life
The Holy Spirit in Christian Life
The Holy Spirit in Christian Life
Fall 2015
Recommended Citation
Ugwu, B. I. (2015). The Holy Spirit in Christian Life. Spiritan Horizons, 10 (10). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/spiritan-
horizons/vol10/iss10/9
This Wellsprings is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Spiritan Horizons
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Bonaventure Ikenna Ugwu,
C.S.Sp.
The Holy Spirit in
Christian Life
Introduction
Believers see themselves as people related to the Holy Spirit
in a very distinctive manner. They understand their vocation and
mission as a call to live, work, suffer, and die with Christ under the
direction and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately,
Bonaventure Ikenna the full implications of this normative belief are for the most
Ugwu, C.S.Sp. part marginal and sometimes forgotten or neglected in the life of
Fr Bonaventure Ikenna Ugwu, many Christians. Being unaware of the place and importance of
C.S.Sp. is a Spiritan from the the Holy Spirit in their lives, a good number of Christians live
Province of Nigeria, South East and die without ever experiencing the worship of the Holy Spirit
and lectures at the Spiritan in his distinctiveness as the Third Divine Person.
International School of Theology
(SIST), Attakwu, Enugu, Nigeria.
His doctoral thesis in dogmatic
My aim is to highlight the place and importance of the
theology from Gregorian Holy Spirit in the lives of Christians. I wish to promote deeper
University, Rome was on The awareness and appreciation of him such as to reflect significantly
Holy Spirit as Present and Active in the daily existence and activities of Christ’s faithful. I discuss
in Cosmic Turmoil and Human the credentials of the Holy Spirit that qualify him for the exalted
Suffering: A Dialogue between place in question and shed light on steps to take to promote
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and
greater interest, understanding and experience, love, study, and
Jürgen Moltmann (Rome, 2004).
He is currently the Director of devotion to him.
Spiritan Formation at SIST. He is
deeply committed to promoting Essentials of Christian Life and the Credentials of the
the study of and devotion to the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit through lectures,
Christians are followers of Christ called by him, incorporated
talks, conferences, retreats,
and publications, and most into his life, and sealed by the anointing of the Holy Spirit for
importantly by the spreading of the purpose of living and witnessing to the reality and benefits of
the Confraternity of the Holy the Paschal Mystery. Christian life starts with a new birth when
Spirit, particularly in Nigeria. a person makes a faith response to the invitation of Christ to
follow him. This faith response is done in the most symbolic way
in the celebration of the Sacraments of Initiation — Baptism,
Confirmation and Eucharist. This initiation “constitutes the
Christian’s most basic ‘features’ and serves as the basis for all the
vocations and dynamism of the Christian life….”1 I highlight
some implications of this mystery, underscoring how the Holy
Spirit comes into play in this process.
It is the Holy Spirit Christian birth through the Holy Spirit has never been
who constitutes the doubted in the history of Christianity, but the implications for
believers have been played down or allotted a secondary position.
baptized as children of It is easily forgotten that “It is the Holy Spirit who constitutes
God and members of the baptized as children of God and members of Christ’s Body”2
Christ’s Body... and that in Baptism, we are not only united to Jesus Christ and
his mission but also “anointed in the Holy Spirit.”3 Just as the
Church traces its birth to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit,
Pentecost stands as “the model of every Christian’s initiation
into Christ.”4 The “historical foundation of this new birth is
concretely located in the death and resurrection of Christ,”5 but
“the medium of regeneration is the Holy Spirit.”6The Holy Spirit
is the “Principle of life,”7 “Giver of life,”8 and Vivifier of life.9 All
these point to the Holy Spirit as the source or wellspring of life.10
29
Bonaventure Ikenna Ugwu, Christian faith teaches us that the Holy Spirit is the principle
C.S.Sp. of communion both in God and outside of God. Naturally, there
is a chasm between the all holy, divine, infinite, and supernatural
...the Holy Spirit God and his mortal, finite, temporal, and sinfulness creatures.
The universe is constituted of a multitude of fragmented,
is the principle of disunited, and sometimes antagonistic things and persons. The
communion both in Church is “a fraternity of persons” and “each one is an original
God and outside of and autonomous principle of sensitivity, experience, relationships
God. and initiatives.”13 As it were, “Nothing less than the Spirit of
God is needed to bring all these different elements to unity and
do so by respecting and even stimulating their diversity.”14 The
Holy Spirit is qualified to do this because “He is the extreme
communication of God himself, God as grace, God in us and, in
this sense, God outside himself.”15 Moreover, he is “the mutual
love of Father and Son”16 who forms the basis for the intra-
Trinitarian unity. By virtue of these qualities, the Spirit is able to
bring about communion in the Church and among its members,
also in the whole of creation.
31
Bonaventure Ikenna Ugwu, to the open, the dumbfounded lips began to speak and their
C.S.Sp. minds were opened to understand the Scriptures. The people
were amazed at their boldness and testified to it (cf. Acts 4:13).
...the Holy Spirit is at So far, it is obvious that the Holy Spirit is at the foundation,
center, and end of Christian life. It is thus surprising that he is
the foundation, center,
the neglected, forgotten, or the least known of the three divine
and end of Christian persons. Thanks to the combined influence of the Second Vatican
life. Council, Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, magisterial
teachings and the work of some theologians, this situation is
changing - there is gradual growth of awareness of the place
and importance of the Holy Spirit in Christian life. Beyond
emphasis on charismatic gifts, a more integral approach to our
understanding and relationship with the Holy Spirit is needed.
Worship of Devotion
The worship of the Holy Spirit through devotions should
be promoted as a way of re-positioning Christian life in relation
to the Holy Spirit. Against different dissenting voices, the First
Council of Constantinople (381 C.E.) defended the divinity of
the Holy Spirit by drawing support mostly from Scripture and
Christian liturgical practices. The Holy Spirit is divine because he
is co-worshipped and co-glorified with the Father and the Son;
equality of honor and worship imply equality in divinity. Leo
XIII in 1897 issued an Encyclical Divinum Illud Munus, On the
Spirit in the World, where he directed that “devotion towards the
Holy Spirit may be increased and intensified” (no. 5) and that “we
should direct towards the Holy Spirit the highest homage of love
and devotion” (no. 17). It is common knowledge that Pope John
XXIII convoked the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) with the
intention that it be a kind of new Pentecost for the Church.26
Pope Paul VI noted that a “new study” and “new devotion” to
the Holy Spirit are needed to complement the Christology and
Devotion to the ecclesiology of the Council.27 Theologians are responding to this
Holy Spirit intends call by gradually undertaking more studies on the Holy Spirit,28
but not much is being done in the area of devotion.
profound affection,
dedication, Devotion “refers to an earnest attachment to a thing, a
attachment and cause, or a person which entails a deep dedication or even
consecration, built on consecration to the object of one’s devotion.”29 It is “the feeling
side of Christian faith.”30 Devotion to the Holy Spirit intends
faith and love for him.
profound affection, dedication, attachment and consecration,
32
built on faith and love for him. Many Catholics are not brought
H o r i z o n s
up with the consciousness and habit of personal or public
devotion to the Holy Spirit. It is rare to find pious societies that
are primary devotions to the Third Divine Person in parishes.
The Charismatic Renewal has contributed much towards the re-
awakening of interest and love for the Holy Spirit, but just as the
name indicates, its primary focus is more on the gifts of the Spirit
than the Giver of the gifts.
36
H o r i z o n s him. The suffering of the Spirit leaves us with the message that
nothing is created or saved without self-oblation, self-donation,
self-humiliation and self-sacrifice.53
Conclusion
We reiterate in very strong terms that Christian life is Spirit-
started, Spirit-oriented, Spirit-directed, Spirit-controlled and
Spirit-focused. The Holy Spirit is not simply an agent among
other agents, but the Lord of Christian life; the knowledge and
love of him expressed in obedient worship and collaboration
in his mission on earth constitute the essence of our call as
disciples. Through the Spirit we are born, with him and in
him we live and work, and by his active presence in us, he
guarantees our participation in God both now and in eternity.
The rebirth, communion, missionary character, radicalism and
paradox which are essential to Christian life are all rooted in
Cut off from the Holy and sustained by the Holy Spirit. Cut off from the Holy Spirit,
Spirit, there is no there is no Christian life. For a Christian, therefore, believing
Christian life. in the Holy Spirit implies understanding one’s identity from a
Spirit perspective, living and acting on his side and creatively
supporting his operations in history even to the point of making
extreme sacrifices. Thus, we need to do more in terms of having
our Christian theology, formation, catechesis, liturgy, prayer and
devotion permeated more by the Holy Spirit.54
Endnotes
1
John Paul II (1988), Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, The Lay
Members of Christ’s Faithful People, Christifideles Laici, no. 9.
2
John Paul II, Christifideles Laici, no. 11.
3
John Paul II (1990), Encyclical Letter Mission of the Redeemer Redemptoris
Missio, no. 47.
4
John V. Taylor, The Go Between God (SCM Press, 1972; repr. 2004),
111.
5
Bona. I. Ugwu, The Holy Spirit as Present and Active in Cosmic Turmoil
and Human Suffering: A Dialogue between Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and
Jürgen Moltmann, (Rome, 2004), 198.
6
Jürgen Moltmann, The Spirit of Life: A Universal Affirmation, tr. M.
Kohl (London: SCM Press, 1992), 200.
7
Cf. Yves Congar, I Believe in the Holy Spirit. The Complete Three-
Volume Work in One Volume, tr. D. Smith (New York: The Crossroad,
1997). Vol. I, p. 3.
8
The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed’s preferred term for the Holy
Spirit.
9
Cf. the hymn, Veni Creator Spiritus (Come Creator Spirit).
37
Bonaventure Ikenna Ugwu, 10
Hence the trend among some contemporary theologians who apply
C.S.Sp. the symbolic image of “Mother” to the Holy Spirit. Among other
things, their argument is that since all those who are born of the Father
trace their birth to the Spirit, they should as well address the Spirit as
their mother. In support of this view, Jürgen Moltmann remarks that
“if believers are ‘born’ again from the Holy Spirit, then the Spirit is
‘the mother’ of God’s children and can in this sense also be termed a
‘feminine’ Spirit.” Cf. Moltmann, The Spirit of Life, 157.
11
The story of Adam and Eve (Gen 2:17), the Prodigal/Lost son (Luke
15:11-32) prove this point. For instance, when the lost son came back,
his father threw a feast for this reason: “let us celebrate with a feast
because this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost
and has been found” (Luke 15:23-24). This is why this parable could
as well be titled, “The Parable of the Dead Son” who came back to life.
12
In this Encyclical, he describes the earth as mother and sister which is
crying out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on it. Cf. Laudato
Si, nos 1-3.
13
Congar, I Believe in the Holy Spirit, Vol. II, 16.
14
Congar, I Believe in the Holy Spirit, Vol. II, 17.
15
Congar, I Believe in the Holy Spirit, Vol. II, 17, 18.
16
Robert P. Imbelli, “Holy Spirit” in Joseph A. Komonchak, Mary
Collins and Dermot A. Lane eds. The New Dictionary of Theology
(Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, 2006), 485. This was St
Augustine’s idea.
17
John Paul II (1988), The Lay Members of Christ’s Faithful People,
Christifideles Laici, no. 32.
18
Second Vatican Council (1965), “Decree on the Church’s Missionary
Activity, Ad Gentes Divinitus,” no. 2.
19
Cf. John Paul II (1988), The Lay Members of Christ’s Faithful People,
Christifideles Laici, no. 34, where it is stated that “The entire mission of
the Church is concentrated and manifested in evangelization.”
20
Paul VI (1975), Apostolic Exhortation, Evangeli Nuntiandi, no. 17.
21
John 20:21-23 where it is recorded that on the evening of Easter, the
disciples were all assembled in a room with its doors securely locked for
fear of the Jews when Jesus suddenly appeared and greeted them with
peace. Then he went on to say “As the Father has sent me, so I send
you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and
whose sins you retain are retained.’”
22
John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio, no. 21.
23
James Chukwuma Okoye (2006), Israel and the Nations: A Mission
Theology of the Old Testament (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books,
2006), 88.
24
Moltmann, The Spirit of Life, 51.
25
Congar, I Believe in the Holy Spirit, Vol. II, 33.
26
This intention appears vividly in the prayer he issued in 1959 for the
success of the Council.
27
General Audience, 6 June, 1973.
28
This writer happens to be one of those who is contributing in little
ways to responding to the call for new study.
29
Bona. I. Ugwu, Confraternity of the Holy Spirit: What is It? (Enugu:
38
H o r i z o n s
Kingsleys, 2014) 5.
30
Carl Dehine, “Devotion and Devotions” in J.A. Komonchak, M.
Collins and D.A. Lane, eds. The New Dictionary of Theology, p. 283.
31
This is found at the inner side of the front page of The Spirit in the World,
being the Encyclical of Leo XIII, Divinum Illud Munus, published by
the Confraternity of the Holy Ghost, Kimmage Manor, Dublin, 1977.
32
Yves-Marie Fradet highlighted this in his article “Our Spiritan Identity:
We are Religious Missionaries Consecrated to the Holy Spirit,” Spiritan
Horizons, A Journal of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, 7 (Fall 2012),
14-32, here 19-20.
33
Bona. Ugwu, Confraternity of the Holy Spirit, 26.
34
Ibid., 18-23.
35
Catherine M. Lacugna, God for Us: The Trinity and Christian Life (New
York: Harper Collins, 1993), 320-368 offers a good reflection on the
meaning, content and purpose of worship and praise of God.
36
Ibid., 342.
37
Cf. Bona. Ugwu, Holy Spirit: Fire From Above, Enugu: SAN Press,
2008, 18.
38
Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, tr. Patrick Lynch,
Rockford, Illinois, Tan Books and Publishers, 1960), 259. Traditionally,
it is said that “the Holy Trinity takes up their abode in the soul with
divine grace and that this inhabitation is appropriated to the Holy
Spirit” (Michael O’Carroll, Veni Creator Spiritus, An Encyclopedia of the
Holy Spirit, 1990, 108). Progress has been made from this understanding
of indwelling to the point where it is affirmed that the Spirit dwells in
people in a personal, particular, and proper way and not simply by way
of appropriation. Scholars like Karl Rahner, Hans Urs von Balthazar
and Matthias J. Scheeben helped to bring about the renewal of the
understanding of the indwelling. Nonetheless, in a bid to avoid overly
individualistic tendencies associated with Pentecostalism, Catholics still
find it difficult to lay stress on the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the
believers.
39
Bona. Ugwu, Confraternity of the Holy Spirit, 19.
40
Bona. I. Ugwu (2012), “The Holy Spirit in Catholic Theology and
Life, and the Challenges of Spiritual and Occult Powers in the World
Today” in Charles A. Ebelebe ed. Spirits: Occultism, Principalities and
Powers, Acts of the 14th SIST International Missiological Symposium, 2011,
201.
41
Ibid., 202.
42
Bona. Ugwu, Spiritual Inferiority Complex: How to Overcome it (Enugu:
SAN Press, 2008) where I treated this feature of our Christian life in
detail.
43
Moltmann, The Spirit of Life, 234.
44
Pope Francis (2013), Apostolic Exhortation, On the Proclamation of the
Gospel in Today’s World, Evangelii Gaudium, no. 48.
45
Ibid.
46
Ibid., no. 50.
47
Ibid., no. 187.
48
Pope Francis, Laudato Si, no. 2.
49
Bona. Ugwu, “Holy Spirit, Father of the Poor,” African Journal of
Contextual Theology, 5 (2014) 141.
50
Ibid., 148.
39
Bonaventure Ikenna Ugwu, 51
Bona. Ugwu (2004), The Holy Spirit as Present and Active, 255.
C.S.Sp. 52
Bede U. Ukwuije, The Trinitarian God, Contemporary Challenges and
Relevance (Bandra, Mumbai: St Paul Press Training School, 2013), 177.
53
Taylor, The Go-Between God, 34 speaks of sacrifice as the third principle
of creativity. He calls this principle the “law of self-oblation”; it is a
characteristic of the Holy Spirit.
54
The Holy Spirit should not only be at the driving seat of theology,
but of every aspect of Christian life, Cf. Elochukwu, E. Uzukwu, God,
Spirit, and Human Wholeness: Appropriating Faith and Culture in West
African Style (Oregon: Pickwick Publications, 2012), 218.
40