Credo 36 – With the Father and the Son He is worshipped and glorified…

The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. Thus He is intimately part of the eternal Triune Godhead. As such He is rightfully and necessarily worshipped and glorified with the Father and the Son. This worship is proper to the Holy Spirit because of His role in the action of the Triune Creator. The Second Vatican Council taught that the Holy Spirit was sent for the continued sanctification of the Church, and thus, all those who believe have access through Christ in one Spirit to the Father. This is the Spirit of Life, a ‘fountain of water springing up to life eternal’. To those dead in sin, the Father brings life through Him, until He brings life to their mortal bodies in Christ. (Lumen Gentium, 4).

The Spirit dwells in the Church and in the hearts of the faithful, as in a temple. ‘With sighs too deep for words’, the Holy Spirit prays on their behalf, and bears witness to their adoptive sonship. By the power of the Gospel he makes the Church keep the freshness of youth. Eternally, he renews her and leads her to perfect union with her Spouse. The Spirit and the Bride both say to Jesus the Lord, ‘Come’. (Lumen Gentium 4).

The Spirit is due equal worship with the Father and the Son because of His equality with them as the third person of the Triune God. He is the Advocate which the Father has bestowed on the Church through Christ to lead her and guide her towards the glory of eternal life.