The Holy Spirit in the Life of Jesus: The Mystery of Christ's Baptism

by Raniero Cantalamessa

Book Overview

In the New Testament, Jesus reassures the Apostles before he ascends to heaven by saying, You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses . . . to the ends of the earth." What of this Spirit? In what way was that Spirit manifested in Jesus' ministry on earth? What does it offer us? And ask of us?

These reflections by the preacher to the papal household coalesce biblical and doctrinal thought on the gifts...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814621287
• ISBN13: 9780814621288
• Release Date: March 1994
• Publisher: Liturgical Press
• Length: 64 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Baptism--immersion? or sprinkling from Above?

Father Rainiero Cantalamessa writes, "It is very important, while the struggle is still going on and the dragon [C'est moi!] seems to have the upper hand, that the Church should raise the triumph-shout of victory [...] this shout raised in the darkness makes Satan's throne tremble to its foundations"--almost like one of those vibrator-chairs you see these days in American furniture-stores (p. 35). And that is *so* true! Another interesting fact raised by Father Cantalamessa is that the Baptism did not "cause" the Transfiguration. No, the Transfiguration "was the surprise the Spirit had in store for him....it wasn't Jesus' intention" (p. 52). But Father Cant'lamessa is mistaken about one very important truth. He writes: "When we invoke the Spirit, we should not, so to say, look up to heaven or anywhere else; the Spirit comes not from there but from the cross of Christ" (p. 12). That's incorrect. The holy Ghost definitely comes from Up There, and not from any wooden timber crafted with human hands. Speaking of which, here's an interesting factoid that has been omitted both from the New Testament, and from Father Can't's account of the Baptism. This really happened, I was there, I saw it with my own eyes. The incident occurred on 11 January 29 CE, when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. John the baptizer was dressed that day in a ratty camelskin toga, which, when it got wet, smelled like July roadkill on an August afternoon. The audience--about forty of us--sat on the riverbank. Jesus and John stood in the Jordan up to their waists. The Lord was holding his nose, either in preparation for getting dunked or because He was offended by that stinking camel hide that John wore for a dress suit. On the whispered count of three, John immersed the Lord. He spoke a little mumbo-jumbo in Aramaic, then let Him up again. When Jesus arose, He stood there for a moment, dripping wet ... and waited, as if something were about to happen. Something did. Without warning, the sky opened, and down comes this large white Pigeon, like a meteorite, or like a bat out of Hell but from a totally opposite direction. Seriously, friends, you would have thought His tail feathers would catch fire on the way down. The holy Ghost slowed down just in time to avoid getting splattered in the sand like a ripe tomato on concrete. At the last moment, with wings outspread, the Ghost put on the brakes and fluttered down to perch on Jesus' shoulder, ever so gently, and sat there, parrot-style. It was a beautiful landing. But here's the thing. The Ghost did not just sit there on Jesus' shoulder and coo while the Father gave His speech, and then zoom back up into Outer Space. No, the Ghost perched on Jesus for a few seconds, and cooed while the Father gave His speech. But when He ascended to go back home, the Ghost took a slight detour. Judas Iscariot was sitting on the bank with the rest of the Disciples, along with the usual crowed of soon-to-be-retired prosti