The Mediating Mission of The Holy Spirit – Some Theological Models

Abstract

esus Christ, going to the Father, sent his disciples the Holy Spirit, who was to remind them and explain everything. The same Holy Spirit continues to act in the Church, sanctifying the Mystical Body of Christ. The first Paraclete is Jesus Christ himself, who undertook a salvific mission and became a mediator between God and people. The Holy Spirit sent by Christ is the second Paraclete fulfilling the mediating mission. The Holy Spirit works both in the Immanent Trinity (God’s inner life) and in the Economic Trinity (God’s saving action in history). Interesting in this context are the theological models developed by, among others, Heribert Mühlen, Joseph Ratzinger, Walter Kasper, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Matthias Joseph Scheeben, Maximilian Maria Kolbe and René Laurentin, whose concepts have been briefly presented in the above article. The mediating mission of the Holy Spirit is oriented Christocentric and is revealed during the most important salvation events performed by Jesus Christ (incarnation, baptism in the Jordan, proclamation of the Kingdom of God, death and resurrection). Moreover, the Holy Spirit sanctifies the Church, connecting people with God and people with each other. This action is inscribed in the ontic mediation of Jesus Christ, who has two natures – Divine and human, and in the functional mediation of the Savior (royal, prophetic and priestly functions). Undoubtedly, the last decades have been characterized by a great revival among theologians who deal with pneumatology, especially in the dimension of the mediating mission of the Holy Spirit.