The Missions of the Holy Ghost

by Fr. William Rock, FSSP

On the Feast of Pentecost, the Church celebrates the descent of the Holy Ghost on the Apostles and Disciples following the Lord’s Ascension.  While this is an extremely important moment in the Church’s history, it ought to be noted that this is not the first visible mission of the Holy Ghost, but the fourth.

To begin with, a visible mission (Latin: missio, “sending”) of a Divine Person is a sensible manifestation which expresses the supremely important spiritual realities being brought about outside of the Divinity by a Divine Person Who was sent by another Divine Person (or Persons) in a manner which is able to be known by man, whose knowledge begins with his senses.  With respect to the Holy Ghost, these missions were “directed to Christ, to the apostles, and to some of the early saints on whom the Church was in a way founded” (S.T. I, q. 43, a. 7, ad 6).

In the first place there was the visible mission of the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove at the Lord’s baptism (Matt 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22).  As St. Thomas explains in his theological Summa: the form of a dove, “a fruitful animal…show[s] forth in Christ the authority of the giver of grace by spiritual regeneration; hence the Father’s voice spoke, This is My beloved Son (Matt 3:17), that others might be regenerated to the likeness of the only Begotten.”

The second visible mission of the Holy Ghost was in the form of the bright cloud at the Lord’s transfiguration (Matt 17:1-13; Mark 9:1-7; Luke 9:28-36).  According to St. Thomas, this manifestation in the form of a bright cloud represented “the exuberance of doctrine; and hence it was said, Hear ye Him (Matt 17:5).”

On the evening of the Resurrection, the Risen Lord breathed on the Apostles and said to them “Receive ye the Holy Ghost” (John 20:22). This is the third visible mission.  The fourth visible mission, as was mentioned, occurred at Pentecost and was manifested by the sound of a mighty wind and by tongues of fire (Acts 2:2-3).  St. Thomas explains these missions as follows: “To the apostles the mission was directed in the form of breathing to show forth the power of their ministry in the dispensation of the sacraments; and hence it was said, Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven (John 20:23): and again under the sign of fiery tongues to show forth the office of teaching; whence it is said that, they began to speak with diverse tongues (Acts 2:4).”

It should be noted that the visible mission of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost is unique in that it is the only time the Holy Ghost had a visible mission without a manifestation of either of the other two Divine Persons.  At the Baptism and Transfiguration, all three Divine Persons were manifested.  On the day of the Resurrection, the Son was also manifested.  The visible manifestation of the Holy Ghost alone at Pentecost indicates the beginning of a new era, the era of the Church, which the Holy Ghost guides as history unfolds.

In the last two visible missions, the Holy Ghost manifests that what had been indicated previously with regards to the Son has been entrusted to the Apostles.  There is a connection between Christ’s Baptism and the Breathing of the Holy Ghost in that the former shows Christ as the “giver of grace” and the pattern of the regenerated Faithful, while the latter shows the entrusting to the Apostles of the Sacraments which are the primary means by which Christ gives grace and conforms the Faithful to Himself.  There is also a connection between the Transfiguration and Pentecost in that the former expresses that Christ is teaching a divine doctrine, and the latter expresses that the Apostles were entrusted with a teaching office to preach the same doctrine.  These connections show that the Apostles, and, by extension, their successors, were empowered by the Holy Ghost to continue the work of Christ, teaching and sanctifying in the world with divine power.  But this also means that the second two visible missions of the Holy Ghost cannot be fully understood without referencing the first two.

Fr. William Rock, FSSP was ordained in the fall of 2019 and is currently assigned to St. Stanislaus Parish in Nashua, NH.

In support of the causes of Blessed Maria Cristina, Queen, and Servant of God Francesco II, King