Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Homily for Saturday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

The ordinary formula for granting a blessing is to invoke the name of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. St. Paul modifies this slightly by calling upon God to grant the Ephesians a spirit of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge – three things that we ordinarily think of as being gifts of the Holy Spirit.

St. Paul is asking God to bless the Ephesians with hope, with knowledge of God, and with an appreciation of God’s power. Hope springs forth from the Holy Spirit. Through the spirit we gain the wisdom and knowledge to come to an understanding of what faith in Jesus Christ means for those who believe. After Jesus returns to the Father, it took some time before the disciples realized that he had not abandoned them but that he had left them this great gift of the Holy Spirit.

In the Gospel text for today, the Holy Spirit is once again invoked as the one who will provide our defense against those who may accuse us because of our faith in Jesus. In this context, the famous quote of Jesus about blaspheming the Holy Spirit is mentioned. Much has been written about what that actually means. However, the argument that makes the most sense to me is that blaspheming the Holy Spirit comes down to an inability to accept God’s forgiveness. The Scriptures remind us that the Holy Spirit was poured out for the forgiveness of sins.

Hope, knowledge, and appreciation or understanding of the Holy Spirit will lead us to come to an appreciation of God’s gift of forgiveness. This forgiveness is a further gift given to us whenever we receive the Lord in the Eucharist.