It is always the special work of the Spirit not only to sanctify but also to unify. Amid the bliss of that relational love, that is the essence of God, it is the Holy Spirit who forever unites the Father to the Son, and the Son to the Father. But with endless mercy and truly incomprehensible condescension, that same Spirit in this time of grace, also unites those who bear the name of Christ to the One True Triune God. The Holy Spirit is therefore the living Soul of the Church which is sanctified and unified as the very Body of Christ by the same Spirit.
As the Psalmist once rhapsodized: How good and pleasant it is, where brothers live together in unity, It is like fragrant oil running down Aaron’s beard, even to the collar of his robe. It is like the dew of Hermon falling upon the mountains of Zion. There the Lord has lavished blessings.
Or as Saint Paul taught: The Body is one and has many members but all the members many though they are, are one Body.
All of us have been given to drink of the one Spirit. That is why the Catholic Church is rightly called holy, why the Sacraments are holy, why the Priesthood ordained for service in the person of Christ the Head is holy, and why the People of God constitute a Holy Nation, a Royal Priesthood, a People set apart. It is the Spirit of the most Holy Trinity that lives in our hearts and makes us holy temples of His glory, and holy vessels of His grace.
