On Sunday we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles. It is often considered the ‘birthday of the Church’ because it is when the apostles first went out and began preaching the Good News.

The apostles experienced the Holy Spirit in an intimate and powerful way on Pentecost, but how often have you felt the same? While it is easy to have that intimate and powerful experience of Jesus in the Eucharist, the Holy Spirit can often become the ‘forgotten person’ of the Holy Trinity.

Fr. Daniel Schuster stopped by The Inner Life™ to discuss the Holy Spirit, and how we can get to know and develop of a relationship with the Third Person of the Trinity.

On why people often develop a personal relationship with Jesus, but a less personal relationship with the Holy Spirit, Fr. Schuster said, “This happens sometimes because Jesus has such a personality in the Scriptures. We’re hearing it in the Gospels and we have images of Jesus … and then we think, well, I don’t see the Holy Spirit, it’s not bodily, it’s kind of invisible, and I’m just going to think more about Jesus.”

“If the Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit also has a personality,” he continued. “And that is something that we can meditate upon, look at in our lives. What is the personality of the Holy Spirit? And then maybe we’ll start to recognize and befriend this great gift of the Consoler.”

If the idea of the Holy Spirit having a personality is new to you – that’s OK! There’s no time like the present to begin the relationship.

Fr. Schuster offered some ways to get to know the Holy Spirit, saying, “I think the personality of the Holy Spirit is first revealed in Scriptures the same way that the personality of Jesus is revealed to us. And so we have to go back there and see what was said, see what Jesus is trying to tell us about the Spirit.”

Getting to know someone often begins with asking questions, so Fr. Schuster suggested some questions we can ask the Spirit – and ourselves – to better understand and develop a relationship with the Holy Spirit.

“First we have to see the deeds of the Spirit. What are they? And how did the Spirit work then? And then we have to look at our own lives and see how the Spirit works. The Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. How is the truth present in my life? How do I make decisions? How do I find strength, comfort, and consolation? Because that really is the Spirit.”

Listen to the full conversation below:

The Inner Life airs weekdays at noon Eastern/9:00 a.m. Pacific on Relevant Radio® and the Relevant Radio App.