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Chapter 9. Receive the Holy Spirit • 107
across a wide spectrum of Christian believers. In the Catholic Church, a
devotion to the Holy Spirit is evident in movements such as Charismatic
Renewal, Marriage Encounter, Cursillo, TEC (Teens Encounter Christ),
and similar outpourings of faith.
Catholic parishes regularly witness and celebrate the transfor-
mative power of the Holy Spirit at the conferral of the Sacrament of
Confirmation and in the parishes’ support for the journey of candi-
dates in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. In a special way, the
immediacy of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church is remembered on
1. What is our faith regarding the Holy Spirit?
To believe in the Holy Spirit is to profess that the Holy
Spirit is one of the persons of the Holy Trinity, consub-
stantial with the Father and the Son: “with the Father and
the Son he is worshiped and glorified.” (CCC, no. 685, cit-
ing the Nicene Creed)
2. What are images of the Holy Spirit in Scripture?
In Scripture, some of the images of the Holy Spirit are fire,
cloud and light, seal, hand, finger of God and dove (cf. CCC, nos.
696-701).
3. How are water and anointing, symbols of the Holy Spirit?
Water
: . . . signifies the Holy Spirit’s action in Baptism,
since after the invocation of the Holy Spirit it becomes the
efficacious sacramental sign of new birth. (CCC, no. 694)
Anointing
: The . . . anointing with oil also signifies the Holy
Spirit. . . . In Christian initiation, anointing is the sacra-
mental sign of Confirmation, called “chrismation” in the
Churches of the East. (CCC, no. 695)
FROM THE CATECHISM