Holy Spirit

[MelanieM]

If the Catholic Church is the one true Church, then why does the power of the Holy Spirit work through Protestant & other Church’s?

[DavidObeid]

Hi Melanie,

That’s a hard question to answer in a short post, but I’ll give it a shot :)

The thing is, the full answer has to do with a lot of things all coming together, including Catholic anthropology (what man is, both before and after the Fall), ecclesiology (what the Church is) and the very nature of God Himself (theology).

The Holy Spirit is called the spirit of truth, and where there is truth, He must be present in some way. St. James tells us of the demons in Hell who believe the truth that God exists. That truth (not the blasphemies that accompany it, but the kernel of truth being expressed) is “governed” (t hat’s a clumsy word, but the best I can come up with right now) by the Holy Spirit in some way. Where there is any truth then, the Holy Spirit somehow has a hand in it, and when He is called on in love, why wouldn't He respond? Look at Cornelius in Acts 10. He was a pagan, but loved and gave to the poor etc, so his response from the Holy Spirit was big! It's almost like the Holy Spirit is looking for love (the fruit of His truth) and then rewarding it with His grace.

The question often comes, if people are seeing the power of the Holy Spirit move within their non Catholic Church, why would they want to leave it for the Catholic Church?

The Holy Spirit didn’t come to Cornelius to say “Nice job, stay the course!” And when non-Catholics have an experience of the Holy Spirit (through a perceived miracle or a conversion from a life of sin to one of closer fidelity to Christ, the Holy Spirit isn’t saying “Well done, you’ve done enough!” Point to Cornelius’ story and show them that God is ALWAYS calling them to a greater and more intimate union with Him, and that is best had in the Church He left behind for our sanctification.

[Maiden Dame]

At present, there is the Fullness of Faith Tour and one of the Guest Speakers is Steve Ray and he elaborates on this well. If and when, its once published, get your hands on Steve Ray's Conversion Story - Fullness of Faith speech that he did in Liverpool Catholic Club.
Just summarising he says that the Protestant, Evangelicals, Penticostal and other Christian Churchs do have some truths in there ways. That for us to be United in one Church we must stand on 3 grounds; Faith, Worship and Government. We share faith, however we are not united on the 2 others which means they do not have the FULL truth.
The Holy Spirit can and is called by many, and it fulfills its role to come to those who seek it. But like Mr Obeid says, just because it came it doesnt mean that the person should think of in that moment they were 'saved' and they are converted and thats all there is to it. They need to continually search for the truth, for the origin of the Holy Spirt and the 2 other Divine Natures it has (The Trinity).
They are our brothers and sisters in Christ Matt 12:30 "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters". Saying this, it does mean they are ALL saved, i am saying that they can only be held accountable for what they know. It is our responsibilty to educate them on the FULLNESS of Faith and let God do the rest (and pray for them).
"There getting to Heaven with a scooter, and were getting there in Range Rovers" Deacon Alex Jones
Some 'communities' only have 33.33% of the truth, how are they going to pass to get into heaven - we are not to judge them, thats God's job.
This is the first time ive written a theological response so correct me or add to it.
:D p.s "The Holy Spirit is called the spirit of truth, and where there is truth, He must be present in some way" = I really like this!! It pretty much does some it up once you read what ive added. Because they do have some truth to it, the Spirit will be present.

[Matthew]

That for us to be United in one Church we must stand on 3 grounds; Faith, Worship and Government. We share faith, however we are not united on the 2 others which means they do not have the FULL truth.

Hi Sandy,

Since the protestant communities are not in agreement with us on all the dogmas of the Catholic Church (that is those teachings that are proposed to us to give the assent of faith) we do not share one faith with them. If we had the same faith we'd all be the same religion.