The Holy Spirit — Comforter, Advocate

The promise before the Cross: 'I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever — the Spirit of truth' (John 14:16-17). At Pentecost the promise arrived: a sound like a violent wind, tongues of fire, and 'all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them' (Acts 2:1-4). This moment is the origin point of the charismatic tradition — the Spirit as immediate, demonstrable, present in gifts. Paul catalogues the gifts: 'to one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom... to another gifts of healing... to another the working of miracles... to another prophecy... to another speaking in different kinds of tongues' (1 Corinthians 12:7-11). And in weakness: 'The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans' (Romans 8:26). The Comforter who was sent so that you would not be left alone.