Anoint us with your Holy Spirit

I have had difficulty writing my reflection for this Third Sunday of Epiphany. When I first started to look at the Collect, I thought it would be good to write on the phrase I’ve chosen, “anoint us with your Holy Spirit”. And I’ve been convinced since that it is what I should be writing on. But I’ve had no idea what to write.

Part of my problem, I think, stems from the Church tradition I come from; part has been a lack of concentration. In our tradition we don’t ignore the Holy Spirit, but we don’t actually talk much about the Spirit either. I know from what I’ve been reading, and listening to other people over the years, that other traditions dwell much more on the personage of the Holy Spirit than we do. Yet we are staunchly Trinitarian, and think of the Holy Spirit as equal to God the Father, and God the Son. Actions and words seem somewhat disjointed. But, given all of that, I was really surprised when I realized that, though I’ve been writing this blog for just over a year, I hadn’t tagged one post with “Holy Spirit” or “Holy Ghost”. Ouch!

The “anoint” part of the phrase I had less problem with. When we hold a healing service at Godmanchester, anointing with holy oil is always offered. It’s also offered at healing services in Walsingham. I find it quite a powerful experience. But not as powerful as when I was anointed when I was extremely ill in hospital; or when my mother was anointed a few days before her death. My Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church tells me that “anointing” means: “A ceremonial action performed on persons and things to separate them from profane use and obtain on their behalf the infusion of Divine grace”. And that would certainly fit with my experiences of anointing.

But what do we mean when we say, “Anoint us with your Holy Spirit”? And here, I have to hold my hands up and say, “I don’t know”. I did a search in Google, but all the results seemed so extreme, so alien to me, that I was put off; and yet I realize “extreme” and “alien” don’t mean the same as “wrong”, and perhaps I should go back to some of those web pages.

Before I do that, though, I would like to ask for your help. What do you understand the phrase, “anoint us with your Holy Spirit”, to mean? Please, I genuinely want to understand this, and would appreciate some help. Thank you.

Fortunately my lack of understanding won’t be a problem at Church on Sunday. We’ll be celebrating “The Conversion of Paul”. But, as there isn’t an Additional Collect for that I’m sticking with The Third Sunday of Epiphany on this blog. This post might have been easier to write had I chosen otherwise, or even chosen another phrase from the Collect I have used; but then I might have missed a learning opportunity.

God of all mercy,
your Son proclaimed good news to the poor,
release to the captives,
and freedom to the oppressed:
anoint us with your Holy Spirit
and set all your people free
to praise you in Christ our Lord. Amen.

Additional Collect for The Third Sunday of Epiphany
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council