Acts of Philip the Deacon

Today, we read of the story of Philip the Deacon. After the martyrdom of Stephen, Saul actively persecuted the church in Jerusalem. Philip went down (up?) to Samaria to preach. He was able to back up his preaching with exorcism and healings. Many Samaritans were baptized. Among them was Simon the Magician. Simon used to command great awe among the Samaritans but he was dwarfed by Philip. So Simon also got baptized and followed Philip. He was amazed by the miracles performed by Philip (Acts 8:13). When the apostles in Jerusalem heard about what Philip had achieved in Samaria, they sent Peter and John over to strengthen the believers in Samaria with the Holy Spirit because Philip was not empowered to administer the sacrament of Confirmation as we know nowadays.
Then they (Peter and John) laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:17).
Before Samaria, the Holy Spirit came down as He wished. He was free and elusive like the wind.
The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit (John 3:8).
But from now on, the Holy Spirit has given up part of His freedom and comes down whenever authorized people lay their hands on people. Of course, He is still free to descend on people even without the apostles' invocation, like the case of Cornelius in Acts 10. Yet, He needs to believe in man, trusting that they would not abuse their authority. God allows Himself to be manipulated by man. What a mystery! Once more, it reminds me of the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Some brands of Christians insist that the Holy Eucharist is only a remembrance (Luke 22:19). It is not truly the body and blood of Jesus. For those of us, Catholics and Christians who firmly believe that the Eucharist is Jesus, the Holy Eucharist is a mystery which we will never fully understand. It is a sign of God's love for us. Not only did He incarnate to become a man, but He also confines Himself inside a loaf of helpless bread to nourish our body and soul. Again, in the sacrament of Confirmation, the Holy Spirit is willing to descend on the recipients with the laying of the hands of apostles and their successors. I don't know how to measure the degree of freedom God has lost. I only know that this willingness to be manipulated by men is an unspeakable act of love. Simply read what follows, the case of simony (Acts 8:18-24), and we will appreciate the potential dangers involved!
Then, Philip continued his mission on a road to Gaza (Acts 8:26). He met an Ethiopian eunuch who was reading Isaiah. Then we hear the Holy Spirit speak to Philip like a person.
And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go up and join this chariot." (Acts 8:29)
The Holy Spirit is not simply the power of God. He is a person. Elsewhere, I have written a paper about the evolution of the perception of the Holy Spirit in the early Church to explain why the Holy Spirit is more than mere power of God. But there, I missed Acts 8:29. On page 9 of the paper, I located the first utterance of the Holy Spirit in Acts 10:19. It was an oversight. But the main thesis remains. The Church evolves to better discern the voice of the Holy Spirit as a person distinct from Jesus. The Christian God is one. There are three Persons in One Christian God.

Dear Holy Spirit, like Jesus, You are willing to sacrifice Your divinity to be manipulated by men. We are only Your unworthy creatures. May we grow day by day to be better able to discern Your voice and carry out Your will. Amen.

Appendix:
As a sheep led to the slaughter or a lamb before its shearer is dumb, so he opens not his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken up from the earth. ὡς πρόβατον ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ἤχθ η καὶ ὡς ἀμνὸς ἐναντίον τοῦ κείραντος αὐτὸν ἄφωνος, οὕτως οὐκ ἀνοίγει τὸ στό μα αὐτοῦ.
Ἐν τῇ ταπεινώσει [αὐτοῦ] ἡ κρίσις αὐτοῦ ἤρθη· τὴν γενεὰν αὐτοῦ τίς διηγήσεται ; ὅτι αἴρεται ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἡ ζωὴ αὐτοῦ. (Acts 8:32b-33, Isaiah 53:7b-8a)