The Breath of Our Father
By Father Brendan Williams
When I was a kid my Dad always cut my hair. It was a special event, an intimate moment between us. I would give him a litany of instructions and then he would proceed with caution. His voice would grow soft and personal as he assured me how good I would look on Sunday morning. His powerful, callused hands, that had mastered the physically demanding tasks on the farm, were now applied with tenderness and delicacy to the all-important concern of my hairstyle. It was a special moment when Dad was all mine. I had his total, undivided attention. I savored his gentle touch and the warmth of his breath on my cheek. He loved me and cherished me and wanted me to look my very best. Today, as I recall these special memories, those feelings of intimacy and love return. I thank God, our Father, for my Dad who was a reflection of His divine Fatherhood. I would later make that connection.
When I experienced the baptism in the Holy Spirit I was enveloped in my Heavenly Father's love. It was so real. It was so intimate that I was overwhelmed in tears. Later, when I reflected on the account of Jesus' baptism in the Jordan I would relate my experience to it. When the Holy Spirit came down on Jesus, His Father spoke and said: "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased" (Mk. 1:11). I had sensed the intimacy of my Heavenly Father's breath that effected my creation in my mother's womb and my recreation in grace at my Baptism. This is the Holy Spirit's doing as St. Paul attests: For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ--if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him (Rom. 8:15-17).
Scripture uses symbols such as potter and clay, combining both power and intimacy, to show us how God, our Father, unraveled His divine plan for both creation and salvation.
The word Spirit takes us back to the Book of Genesis where it means breath of life (in Hebrew, neshamah or the more common, ruah).
We find this symbol of breath in the second account of creation given us by the Yahwist author, beginning 2:4b. The Yahwist lived and wrote in the time of Solomon (965-926 B.C.), and gets his name from his favorite title for God -Yahweh. Scholars generally agree that his tradition is interlaced with other traditions through the first four books of the Bible from Genesis 2:4b through Numbers 24:25.
The Yahwist sees God as a potter who shapes man from the dust of the earth. Man is but lifeless clay until God breathes into his nostrils the breath of life. As revelation developed in Israel, the Priestly tradition, that came several centuries later, would see all things coming from nothing through the creative word of God. Yet there would be no sign of life more visible to man than his breath. Where there is breath there is life, and that breath is surely God's sacred gift to man.
It is interesting to note in the Yahwist tradition, which portrays God as potter, that no other living creature is formed exactly like man. God made the plants to grow and He formed all kinds of animals, but in no instance did He breathe life into their nostrils. From this we can deduce that God gave to man something unique, something of Himself, a breath and form of life that He did not share with the plants or animals. As the potter crafts each piece of pottery individually and leaves his distinctive mark in it, so, in a most intimate and personal way, God has crafted us and brought us into being.
Developing revelation in Israel would find new forms of expression. The concept of God as Potter would give way to that of Creator: Existence and life would be communicated by word rather than breath. Yet the revelation of a loving God intimately communicating life, that in man would reflect His presence and image, is clearly the common thread in both accounts.
The word ruah is translated as either breath or spirit. However, at this early juncture we are not talking about the Holy Spirit but the breath of life that is God's special gift to man. The Latin word for this in-breathing is inspirare, which gives us the English word inspire.
From this Yahwist background depicting God molding man from clay and bestowing human life through His breath, we can now understand more clearly the significance of the new order of creation of Pentecost coming through the divine Breath - the Holy Spirit. In the Gospel of John, Jesus breathes on the disciples and they receive the Holy Spirit (20:22-23). The disciples were spiritually transformed and began to boldly proclaim the Gospel. They were propelled by a fire of enthusiasm and conviction and empowered with wonderful gifts of preaching, healing and deliverance. If at man's human origin God bestowed life that was somehow reflective of His own image, how much more will the new Breath communicate the divine nature to God's new creation, the Church?
The Holy Spirit then is the very life breath of the Church. As the soul is to the body, the Holy Spirit is to the Church. The soul, because it is a spirit, is present totally in the whole of the body and totally present in each part (tote in toto et tote in omnibus partibus). The soul is the life principle that gives purpose, power to operate and a cohesive unity to every member or the body. When the soul departs in death, there is no longer a body, just a remains with elements that no longer have life, purpose, or dynamic interconnection. All that is left for these remains is to decay and return to dust. Without the Holy Spirit there is no life: There is no Church.
The Holy Spirit is totally present in the whole Church and totally present to each one of the baptized who remain in grace. He is our life, our unity, our inspiration, our teacher and our driving force to be light to the world and salt to the earth (Mtt. 5:13-14). As was the divine breath of life at the dawn of humanity, the Holy Spirit is total gift to us coming from Christ to incorporate us into the very life of the Holy Trinity in an intimacy of love, unity and dynamic living. Our daily journey in the spiritual life is one of surrender to the Holy Spirit so that the divine life may become more and more a transforming power within us. Jesus encourages us to ask for the power of the Holy Spirit and promises that we will receive: Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Lk. 11:11-13).
Clearly, St. Luke gives focus to our prayer that is much more specific than Matthew's version of these words of Christ (Mtt. 7:11). The context assumes that we already have the Holy Spirit, yet we are called to pray daily for His anointing as the Lord's Prayer calls us to pray for our daily bread. Let it be our constant prayer that the Holy Spirit, the breath of our Father, will daily intensify the life of the Holy Trinity within us. Growing in holiness is a progressive journey: We go from our having the Holy Spirit to the Holy Spirit having us. Our yearning for our Father's love is expressed in Philip's request of Jesus: "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied" (Jn. 14:8). Our hearts cry out for our Father's love, His affection, His undivided attention. We yearn for the comfort of His strong arms around us and the intimacy of His breath on our cheek. We long for His admiration, His affirmation and His delight, His loving advice and direction. My childhood experiences with my Dad reflect the inner longings of my soul that find their fulfillment in my Heavenly Father's arms.
As we voice all these longings, let us remember Jesus' response to Philip: " Whoever has seen me has seen the Father" (14:9). In other words, when the Holy Sprit reveals to us the Risen Lord Jesus, He is at the same time revealing our Father in is awesome and infinite power, yet in His personal and intimate love.
As we prepare for the Year of God the Father in 1999, Pope John Paul II reminds us in Tertio Millennio Adveniente (As the Third Millennium Approaches) that we are to see things in the perspective of Christ, coming from and returning to the Father. In fact our whole Christian life is "a pilgrimage to the house of the Father, whose unconditional love for every human creature, and in particular for the 'prodigal son' (cf Lk 15:11-32), we discover anew every day" (Par. 49).
So, let us pray: Come, Holy Spirit. Breathe on us a new outpouring of life and love from the Holy Trinity. Reveal to us anew the Lordship of Jesus and allow us to experience the glow of His Sacred Heart. Through His Heart lead us more deeply into the arms of our Father. Purify us and unite us in divine fire; bathe us in divine light. Empower us and instruct us in Your plan for the salvation of the world. Bring the spirit of renewal more vibrantly to the heart of the Church from whence will go forth fire and light that will lead all your children into one fold, cared for by one Shepherd. Amen.
"The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised
Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright (c) 1993 and 1989
by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.. Used
by permission. All rights reserved."