Catherine Marshall: The Helper, An Introduction to the Holy Spirit

May 26, 2026 joanna seibert

Catherine Marshall: The Helper

“When we try it on our own, we are seeking to usurp the Helper’s place. Attempting in the flesh to convict another of sin results in wreckage—defensiveness, anger, estrangement, loss of self-worth, defeatism, and depression—whereas when the Spirit does this corrective work, it is ‘good’ hurt, the kind that leaves no damage, never plunges us into despair or hopelessness, and is always healing in the end.”—Catherine Marshall in The Helper (Chosen Books, 1978), pp. 214-215.

Almost fifty years ago, when our medical practice at Children’s Hospital was just starting, my husband and I were not as busy, so we could go downtown for lunch and perhaps browse Cokesbury Bookstore before returning to the hospital.

One day, I saw a book by Catherine Marshall, titled The Helper, on the front sales table for $2. I remembered she had written A Man Called Peter about her husband, a Scottish immigrant who became the chaplain of the United States Senate but died prematurely. I particularly loved the movie, so I could not resist the bargain. I paid the two dollars, and it changed my life.

I did not understand the Holy Spirit. Then, suddenly, I was presented with a part of God I could relate to—one who was always with me. However, I had great difficulty relating to God, the Father, and Jesus. One was a kind older man with a beard in the sky, and the other was a television evangelist flipping through the Bible who wanted to save me.

For years, I held on to the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Helper, always beside me, guiding me whenever I chose. This sustained me for a long time until I could develop a deeper relationship with the other two members of the Trinity.

I am constantly amazed by how God, the Holy Spirit, works: a Presbyterian minister’s daughter I would never meet, who grew up in Keyser, West Virginia, with my father, the son of the Methodist minister in the area; a slow time in our practice; a Methodist bookstore; a bargain table; a New York Times bestseller; a movie; and two dollars.

My favorite story by Catherine Marshall was about answered prayer. She prayed for patience, and God gave her the slowest possible housekeeper. I wept upon hearing of Catherine Marshall’s death at age sixty-eight on March 18th, 1983, just before Holy Week.

Thank you for supporting our camp and conference center, Camp Mitchell, on top of Petit Jean Mountain, by purchasing this book from the daily series of writings for the liturgical year, A Daily Spiritual Rx for Ordinary Time: Readings from Pentecost to Advent. All proceeds from book sales benefit Camp Mitchell. If you enjoy this book, please take a moment to write a brief recommendation on its Amazon page at https://smile.amazon.com/Daily-Spiritual-Ordinary-Time-Pentecost/dp/B08JLTZYGH/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=joanna+seibert+books&qid=1621104335&sr=8-1

More thank-yous than we can say!!!

Joanna. https://www.joannaseibert.com/

The Fire of Pentecost Is Still Present

May 25, 2026 joanna seibert

Pentecost Continues

“When he had said this, he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” — John 20:22.

We are now in the season of Pentecost: remembering and celebrating that the Spirit was given to us on the Day of Pentecost. If you want to see what happened that day when the Spirit moved through a large room of people who had no idea what was happening, watch the video of Bishop Michael Curry’s sermon at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on the morning of Pentecost Eve, May 19, 2018.

Usually, the minister’s words at a wedding are called a homily, a short sermon. But as one of the British commentators puts it, Curry’s message is an actual sermon—and it is all about love. He first reminds us that when two people fall in love, nearly the entire world shows up, as it did that Saturday morning. That is how important love is.

Bishop Curry reminds us that love has the energy of fire, and his enthusiastic, passionate words are comparable to the Pentecost flames that ran through St. George’s Chapel that day. It appears as though Bishop Curry is so filled with the Spirit that he must keep holding on to his lectern to stay in place.

His body language signals that he wants to move out and approach the young couple and his congregation more directly. As you watch people’s faces, you can tell they do not know how to respond to him or his barnstorming message. They look mystified, amused, indignant, comical, and questioning. Some look down at their programs so others cannot see what they think. Others glance at their neighbors for a clue about what is happening. Some almost fall out of their chairs! Some look at Curry as if they are mesmerized.

Perhaps the ones who seem to understand his message best are the royal wedding couple themselves—especially Meghan, who beams a radiant smile with an occasional twinkle throughout the sermon.

Bishop Curry’s presentation and delivery are not in the British style, but his message of love is true to his Anglican and African roots. He speaks out of his African American tradition, drawing on his ancestors’ experiences of slavery and on his training in an Episcopal style that Americans adapted from the Anglican form. Bishop Curry speaks his truth, which comes from deep within him—as these traditions mesh and kindle tongues of fire from the power of love that flames around the world.

Bishop Curry is a beautiful role model of what it means to be filled with the Spirit. With Pentecost fire, we have no choice but to speak the truth. Many people will not understand what we are saying, but everyone who receives us will be changed.

Bishop Curry also reminds us that the truth from God should always be about love: loving God, loving ourselves, and loving our neighbor. Period.

I have greatly enjoyed our journey together through Lent and Easter, and I look forward to our adventures in the season of Pentecost.

Joanna https://www.joannaseibert.com/

Pentecost

May 24, 2026 joanna seibert

Pentecost

“When the Day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. Suddenly, from heaven, a sound like the rush of a violent wind came.”—Acts 2:1-2.

“ … [Jesus] breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” —John 20:22.

Barbara Brown Taylor1 describes two versions of Pentecost: the gentle breeze in John, as Jesus breathes on the few disciples gathered in fear on the night of his resurrection, and the violent wind of Pentecost described in Acts, as the Holy Spirit sweeps in, with tongues of fire hovering over at least a hundred people.

The disciples at Pentecost, where the Spirit comes as a gentle wind, are commissioned to take the Spirit out into the world. The ministry assigned to the disciples of the violent wind is to fan the Spirit already present in the world. Taylor challenges us in our congregations to emulate the disciples in both Pentecost stories: those of the gentle breeze and those of the violent wind. Both groups are commissioned to find the Holy Spirit within themselves and others and to take it out of their churches and into the world.

The same is true of the Spirit, the Christ, within us. We are called to connect with that Spirit within us and then go out to connect with the Christ in others. If we don’t, we are like the disciples in John’s scenario—locked in a dark room, afraid of losing what we have. Only when we connect our Spirit to the Christ in others do we know the peace, joy, and love we seek. Our view of God also grows as we become aware of the magnitude of God’s creation and love.

Barbara Brown Taylor, “God’s Breath” in Journal for Preachers, Pentecost 2003, pp. 37-40.

Happy Pentecost.

Joanna joannaseibert.com

More thank-yous than we can say!!!