Paraclete: the Greek word means the one called to your side, an advocate, a defender, a comforter. That is how Jesus speaks of the Spirit in John’s Gospel. In Hebrew the Spirit is ruach: breath, wind, the air in your lungs. No single word quite suffices, and there is no Holy Spirit emoji either: the 🕊️ on your keyboard is a generic dove, far more often sent for peace than for Pentecost.
Scripture, though, gives us plenty to draw. At Jesus’ baptism the Spirit descends “in bodily form, like a dove”. At Pentecost, after a sound like a mighty rushing wind, it rests on the apostles as tongues of fire. In St Peter’s Basilica, Bernini set an alabaster window above the Chair of Peter, where a dove flies in a burst of gold and daylight shines straight through it: the world’s largest stained-glass emoji, more or less.
The challenge is a sign that is neither a peace dove nor a fire-hazard icon. A dove wrapped in soft light, a breath that bends a flame, seven tiny sparks for the seven gifts: send us yours, and let yourself be inspired.
Amen !by AI Generator
Amen !by AI Generator
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