April 5, 2011 – Catechism 797-801

The Holy Spirit is the spirit of the Church.  They are so connected that you cannot have one without the other.  It reminds me of James 2:26 – “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”  The Church is dead without the Holy Spirit.  Is has no life, no authority, no anything, without the Spirit living and breathing in it.  The Church relies on that to grow and evangelize and reach out to the world to bring Christ light to darkness.  But we need to remember that there are two sides to the coin.  The Holy Spirit needs the Church.  Not for its existence, because it is God and does not need anything for its existence, but to be effective in the world.  Much like our spirits need our mortal bodies to live our human lives in this world, the Holy Spirit lives in the Church here in this world.  The Church is the Spirits body while this world needs it.  In the fullness of time, the Church won’t be needed or will be used in a different way that we cannot understand, much like our Resurrected Bodies will be something we cannot really comprehend.  But while this world is here, while there is still a need for Redemption, until that time when Heaven and Earth become one and all is made whole, the Spirit needs and body, an instrument, to do it will.  That is what the Body, the Church, is here on Earth.