Baltimore Cathecism

by Rev. Thomas L. Kinkead

Lesson 9
ON THE HOLY GHOST AND HIS DESCENT UPON THE APOSTLES



94 Q. Who is the Holy Ghost?
A. The Holy Ghost is the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity.


*95 Q. From whom does the Holy Ghost proceed?
A. The Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son.


*96 Q. Is the Holy Ghost equal to the Father and the Son?
A. The Holy Ghost is equal to the Father and the Son, being the same
Lord and God as they are.


97 Q. On what day did the Holy Ghost come down upon the Apostles?
A. The Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles ten days after the
Ascension of Our Lord; and the day on which He came down upon the
Apostles is called Whit-Sunday or Pentecost.


We have seen already that the Apostles fled and were very much afraid
when Our Lord was taken prisoner. Even Peter, the chief of the Apostles,
who said he would die rather than leave Our Lord, shamefully denied Him;
and St. John, the beloved disciple, stood near the Cross, but offered no
resistance to Our Lord's enemies. After the Crucifixion of Our Lord, the
Apostles, afraid of being put to death, shut themselves up in a room.
Ten days after Our Lord's Ascension they were praying as usual in their
room, when suddenly they heard the sound as it were of a great wind, and
then they saw tongues the shape of our own, but all on fire, coming, and
one tongue resting on the head of each Apostle present. (Acts 2).


This was the Holy Ghost coming to them. The Holy Ghost, being a pure
spirit without a body, can take any form He pleases. He sometimes came
in the form of a dove; so when you see a dove painted in a church near
the altar, it is there to represent the Holy Ghost. You could not paint
a spirit, so angels and God Himself are generally represented in
pictures as they at some time appeared to men.


"Whit-Sunday," or White-Sunday; probably so called because in the early
ages of the Church converts were baptized on the day before, and after
their Baptism wore white robes or garments as a mark of the soul's
purity after Baptism.


"Pentecost" means the fiftieth day, because the feast comes fifty days
after the resurrection of Our Lord. After His resurrection He remained
forty days upon earth, and ten days after He ascended into Heaven the
Holy Ghost came, thus making the fifty days.


After the Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles they were no longer
timid men. They went forth boldly into the streets and preached Christ
crucified, telling the people how the Son of God--the true Messias
promised--had been put to death. Many who heard them believed and were
baptized. The first time St. Peter preached to the people three thousand
were converted (Acts 2:41); so that when all the Apostles preached the
number of Christians increased rapidly, and the Christian religion was
soon carried to distant parts of the world.


At the time Our Lord was put to death the Jews were celebrating a great
feast in Jerusalem. The Jews were not like us in this respect. We have
many churches, and in all of them sacrifice, that is, the Holy Mass, is
offered. The Jews had only one temple where sacrifice could be offered,
and that was in Jerusalem. They had synagogues or meeting houses
throughout the land in which they assembled to pray and hear the Holy
Scriptures read; but they could not offer sacrifice in them. Three times
a year they went to Jerusalem to celebrate their great feasts. One of
these feasts was called the Pasch, or Passover, and it was during the
celebration of that feast that Our Lord was put to death; so that there
were many persons from all parts of the nation present at the sad
execution. I must now tell you why they celebrated the Pasch. We
generally celebrate a feast to commemorate--to remind us of--some great
event; and the Jews celebrated this feast to remind them of their
deliverance from the slavery of the Egyptians, in which their ancestors
had been suffering for about two hundred years. At the end of that time
God sent Moses to deliver them. You should know, then, who Moses was and
what he did to deliver his people, and you should know also something of
the history of his people--the Israelites--and how they came to be in
Egypt.


At the time I am now going to speak of the old patriarch Jacob,
Abraham's grandson, had eleven sons--for Benjamin, the twelfth son, was
born afterwards--and the youngest was called Joseph. Joseph was the
favorite of his father, and his brothers were jealous of him. The
brothers were shepherds, and used to take their flocks to feed at a
great distance from home, and did not return for a long time. One day
the father sent Joseph to his brothers to see if all were well. They
hated Joseph because his father loved him best; and when they saw him
coming they agreed never to let him return to his father. (Gen. 37).
They intended to kill him. While they were debating about how they
should put him to death--he was then only sixteen years old--some
merchants passed on their way to Egypt; so, instead of killing him, they
sold him as a slave to the merchants. Then they took Joseph's coat and
dipped it in the blood of a kid, and sent it to their poor old father,
saying they had found it, and making him believe that some wild beast on
the way had eaten Joseph. When the merchants arrived in Egypt, Potiphar,
one of the king's officers, bought Joseph, and brought him as a slave to
his own house. While there, Joseph was falsely accused of a great crime,
and cast into prison. While Joseph was in prison the king had a dream.
(Gen. 41). He saw in the dream seven fat cows coming up out of a river,
followed by seven lean cows; and the lean cows ate up the fat cows. He
saw also seven fat ears of corn and seven lean ears of corn; and the
seven lean ears ate up the seven fat ears. The king was very much
troubled, and called together all his wise men to tell him what the
dream meant, but they could not. Then the king heard of Joseph, and sent
for him. Now Joseph was a very good young man, and God showed him the
meaning; so he told the king that the seven fat ears of corn and the
seven fat cows meant seven years of great abundance in Egypt, and that
the seven lean ears and the seven lean cows meant seven years of famine
that would follow, and all the abundance of the previous seven years
would be consumed. So he advised the king to build great barns during
the years of plenty, and gather up all the corn everywhere to save it
for the years of famine. The king was delighted at Joseph's wisdom, and
made him after himself the most powerful in the kingdom, giving him
charge of everything, so that Joseph himself might do what he had
advised. Now it happened years after this that there was a famine in the
country where Joseph's father lived, and he sent all his sons down into
Egypt to buy corn. (Gen. 42). They did not know their brother Joseph,
but he knew them; and after forgiving them for what they had done to
him, he sent them home with an abundance of corn. Afterwards Joseph's
father and brothers left their own country and came to live near Joseph
in Egypt. The king gave them good land (Gen. 47), and they lived there
in peace and happiness. Learn from this beautiful history of Joseph how
God protects those that love and serve Him no matter where they are or
in what danger they may be placed; and how He even turns the evil deeds
of their enemies into blessings for them.


After the death of Joseph and his brothers, their descendants became
very numerous, and the new king of the Egyptians began to persecute
them. (Ex. 2). He imposed upon them the hardest works, and treated them
most cruelly. He ordered that all their male infants should, as soon as
born, be thrown into the River Nile. Now about that time Moses was born.
(Ex. 2). His mother did not obey the king's order, but hid him for about
three months. When she could conceal him no longer she made a little
cradle of rushes, and covering it over with pitch or tar to keep out the
water, placed him in it, and then laid it in the tall grass by the edge
of the river, sending his little sister to watch what would become of
him. Just then the king's daughter came down to bathe, and seeing the
little child, ordered one of her servants to bring him to her. At that
moment Moses' little sister, pretending not to know him, ran up and
asked the king's daughter if she wished to procure a nurse for him. The
king's daughter replied in the affirmative and permitted her to bring
one; so Moses' own mother was brought and engaged to be his nurse: but
he was not known as her son, but as the adopted son of the king's
daughter. When Moses grew up he was an officer in the king's army; but
because he took the part of his persecuted countrymen he offended the
king, and had to fly from the palace. He then went into another country
and became a shepherd.


During all this time the persecuted Israelites were praying to the true
God to be delivered from the slavery of the Egyptians, who were
idolaters. One day Moses saw a bush burning; and as he came near to look
at it, he heard a voice telling him not to come too near, and bidding
him take off his shoes, for he was on holy ground. (Ex. 3). It was God
who thus appeared and spoke to him, and He ordered him to take off his
shoes as a mark of respect and reverence. When we want to show our
respect for any person or place, we take off our hats; but the people of
that country, instead of their hats, took off their shoes. It was the
custom of the country and did not seem strange to them.


Then God told Moses that He was going to send him to deliver His people
from the Egyptians and lead them back to their own country; and He sent
Aaron, the brother of Moses, with him. Then Moses said to God, the king
of Egypt will not let the people go, and what can I do? God gave Moses
two signs or miracles to show the king, so that he could know that Moses
was really sent by Him. He gave him power to change a rod into a
serpent, and back again into a rod; power also to bring a disease
instantly upon his hand, and to heal it instantly. (Ex. 4). Do these,
said Almighty God, in the presence of the king. Then Moses and Aaron
went to the king and did as God commanded them; and when the rod of
Aaron became a serpent, the king's magicians--that is, men who do
apparently wonderful things by sleight of hand or the power of the
devil--cast their rods upon the ground, and they also became
serpents--not that their rods were changed into serpents, but the devil,
who was helping them, took away instantly their rods and put real
serpents in their place--but Aaron's serpent swallowed them up. (Ex. 7).
After these signs the king would not let the people go with Moses; for
God permitted the king's heart to be hardened, so that all the Egyptians
might see the great work God was going to do for His people.


Then God sent the ten plagues upon the Egyptians, while the
Israelites--God's people--suffered nothing from these plagues.


The first plague was blood. All the water in the land was converted into
blood. (Ex. 7). The king then sent for Moses and promised that if he
would take away the plague he would allow all the people to depart.
Moses prayed to God, and the plague was removed. But after it was taken
away the king's heart was hardened again and he would not keep his
promise. Just as people in sickness, distress, or danger sometimes
promise God they will lead better lives if only He will help them, and
when they are saved they do not keep their promises, so did Pharao; and
therefore God sent another plague. The second plague was frogs. Great
numbers of them came out of the rivers and lakes, and filled all the
houses of the Egyptians, and crawled into their food, beds, etc. Again
the king sent for Moses and did as before; and again Moses prayed, and
all the frogs went back into the waters or died. (Ex. 8). But the king
again hardened his heart and did not keep his promise. The third plague
was sciniphs (Ex. 8)--very small flies, that filled the land. Imagine
our country filled with mosquitoes so numerous that you could scarcely
walk through them; it would be a dreadful plague. As it is, two or three
might cause you considerable annoyance, and pain: what then if there
were millions doubly venomous, because sent to punish you? So these
little flies must have greatly punished the Egyptians. The fourth plague
was flies that filled the land and covered everything, to the great
disgust of the people. The fifth plague was murrain--a disease that
broke out among the cattle. The sixth plague was a disease--boils--that
broke out on men and beasts, so that scarcely anyone could move on
account of the pains and suffering. The seventh plague was hail, that
fell in large pieces and destroyed all their crops. The eighth plague
was locusts. These are very destructive little animals. They look
something like our grasshoppers, but are about two or three times their
size. They fly and come in millions. They come to this country in great
numbers--almost a plague--every fifteen or twenty-five years, and the
farmers fear them very much. They eat up every green blade or leaf, and
thus destroy all the crops and trees. When the locusts came upon Egypt,
Moses, at the king's request, prayed, and God sent a strong wind that
swept them into the sea, where they perished in the water. The ninth
plague was a horrible darkness for three days in all the land of Egypt.
The tenth plague, the last, was the most terrible of all--the killing of
the firstborn in all the land of Egypt. (Ex. 12). God instructed Moses
to tell the Israelites in the land that on a certain night they were to
take a lamb in each family, kill it, and sprinkle its blood on the
doorposts of their houses. They were then to cook the lamb and eat it
standing, with their garments ready as for a journey. (Ex. 12). The lamb
was called the paschal lamb, and was, after that, to be eaten every
year, at about what is with us Easter-time, in commemoration of this
event. That night God sent an angel through all the land, and he killed
the firstborn of man and beast in all the houses of the Egyptians. That
is, he killed the eldest son in the house; and if the father was the
firstborn in his father's family, he was killed also; and the same for
the beasts. This was a terrible punishment. In the house of every
Egyptian there were some dead but not one in the houses of the
Israelites; for when the angel saw the blood of the lamb on the
doorposts, he passed over and did not enter into their houses, so that
this event, called Passover or Pasch, was kept always as a great feast
by God's people. This paschal lamb was a figure of our blessed Lord, for
as its blood saved the Israelites from death, so Our Lord's blood saved
and still saves us from eternal death in Hell.


After that dreadful night Pharao allowed the people to depart with
Moses; but when they had gone as far as the Red Sea, he was sorry he let
them go, and set out with a great army to bring them back. There the
people stood, with the sea before them and Pharao and his army coming
behind them; but God provided for them a means of escape. At God's
command, Moses stretched his rod over the sea, and the waters divided
and stood like great walls on either side and all the people passed
through the opening in the waters, on the dry bed of the sea. (Ex. 14).


Pharao attempted to follow them, but when he and his army were on the
dry bed of the sea, between the two walls of water, God allowed the
waters to close over them, and they were all drowned. Then the
Israelites began the great journey through the desert, in which they
travelled for forty years. During all that time God fed them with manna.
He Himself, as a guide, went with them in a cloud, that shaded them from
the heat of the sun during the day and was a light for them at night.
But you will ask: Was the desert so large that it took forty years to
cross it? No, but these people, notwithstanding all God had done for
them, sinned against Him in the desert; so He permitted them to wander
about through it till a new generation of people grew up, who were to be
led into the promised land by Josue, the successor of Moses. From this
we may learn a lesson for ourselves: God will always punish those who
deserve it, even though He loves them and may often have done great
things to save them; but He will wait for His own time to punish.


The Israelites then, as I have said, went from every part of the land up
to the Temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the Pasch each year. It was
during one of these celebrations that Our Lord was put to death, and
during another feast that St. Peter preached to the people after Our
Lord's death. He spoke only in one language, and yet all his hearers
understood, for each heard his own language spoken. (Acts 2:6). This was
called the gift of tongues, and was given to the Apostles when the Holy
Ghost came upon them. For example, if each of you came from a different
country and understood the language only of the country from which you
came, and I gave the instructions only in English, then if everyone
thought I was speaking his language--German, French, Spanish, Italian,
etc.--and understood me, I would have what is called the gift of
tongues, and it would be a great miracle, as it was when bestowed upon
the Apostles.


In the first ages of the Church God performed more miracles than He does
now, because they are not now so necessary. These miracles were
performed only to make the Church better known, and to prove that she
was the true Church, with her power and authority from God. That can now
be known and seen in Christian countries without miracles. These special
gifts, like the gift of tongues, were given also to some of the early
Christians by the Holy Ghost, when they received Confirmation; but they
were not a part of or necessary for Confirmation, but only to show the
power of the true religion. Those who heard St. Peter preach, when they
went back to their own countries told what they had seen and heard, and
thus their countrymen were prepared to receive the Gospel when the
Apostles came to preach it.


*98 Q. How did the Holy Ghost come down upon the Apostles?
A. The Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles in the form of tongues of
fire.


99 Q. Who sent the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles?
A. Our Lord Jesus Christ sent the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles.


100 Q. Why did Christ send the Holy Ghost?
A. Christ sent the Holy Ghost to sanctify His Church, to enlighten and
strengthen the Apostles, and to enable them to preach the Gospel.


"Sanctify," to make more holy by the grace which He would give to the
members of the Church. "To enlighten." The Apostles did not understand
very well everything Our Lord taught while He was with them; but after
the Holy Ghost came upon them they understood perfectly, and remembered
many things which Our Lord said to them, and understood the true meaning
of all. The prophets foretold that when the Messias, Christ, would come,
He would bring all the world under His power. The prophets meant in a
spiritual sense; but most of the people understood that He was to be a
great general, with powerful armies, who would subdue all the nations of
the earth, and bring them under the authority of the Jews. We know they
thought that the great kingdom He was to establish upon earth would be a
temporal kingdom, from many of their sayings and actions. One day the
mother of two of Our Lord's Apostles came to ask Him if, when He had
established His kingdom upon the earth, He would give her sons honorable
positions in it, and place them high in authority. (Matt. 20:20). Our
Lord told her she did not understand what she was asking. This shows
that even some of the Apostles--much less the people--did not understand
the full nature of Our Lord's mission upon earth, nor of His kingdom,
the Church. Often too, when He preached to the people, the Apostles
asked Him on His return what His sermon meant (Luke 8:9). But after the
Holy Ghost came, they were enlightened, and understood all without
difficulty. "Strengthen." I told you already that before the Holy Ghost
came they were timid and afraid of being arrested, but that afterwards
they went out boldly, and taught all they had learned from Our Lord.
They were often taken prisoners and scourged, but it mattered not--they
were firm in their faith, and could suffer anything for Christ after
they had been enlightened and strengthened by the Holy Ghost. Finally,
they were all, with the exception of St. John, put to death for their
holy faith. St. Peter and St. Paul were crucified at Rome about the year
65, that is, about thirty-two years after the death of Our Lord. St.
James was beheaded by order of King Herod. St. John lived the longest,
and was the only one of the Apostles who was not put to death, though he
was cast into a large vessel of boiling oil, but was miraculously saved.


Certainly by dying for their faith the Apostles showed that they were
not impostors or hypocrites. They must really have believed what they
taught, otherwise they would not have laid down their lives for it. They
were certain of what they taught, as we saw when speaking of St. Thomas.


*101 Q. Will the Holy Ghost abide with the Church forever?
A. The Holy Ghost will abide with the Church forever, and guide it in
the way of holiness and truth.


"Abide" means to stay with us.