Category Archives: Pentecost,

The Way of Gratitude

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Holy Spirit by carolle powell

The Holy Spirit, art by Carole J. Powell

 

How can we cooperate with the Holy Spirit and let joy, and thus him, for he is joy, fill us?

There is a king’s highway that leads directly to the goal, and that is gratitude. It is unthinkable that one could be grateful and unhappy at the same time. The remarkable thing about gratitude is that it naturally and almost automatically grows and tends toward an ever greater unselfishness. It begins rather egocentrically: I have received a gift that makes me happy. My gratitude is kindled by the fact that one of my needs has been satisfied, that one of my wishes has been fulfilled.

But as soon as I begin to give thanks, my attention, which was at first fixed on myself, turns toward my benefactor, God. The emphasis, which before was on me, is transplanted little by little into God. I thank you because you have given me. I thank you because you are so good to me. I thank you because you are so good that it could occur to you to think of me. I thank you because you are so wonderful.

I become more and more freed from myself and ever more fascinated by God’s love and beauty.
It begins with me and ends with you. “Behold, you are beautiful, my love, behold, you are beautiful!” (Song 4:1).

Again, it is the Eucharist that gives us a splendid example of this progressive shift from man to God, from the gift to the Giver. We begin the Eucharistic Prayer thanking God for creating us, for in his mercy coming to help of all people, for sending his Son To save us.

But it always ends with the great doxology (praise), in which man, in total forgetfulness of himself, is completely absorbed in God’s glory: “Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, for ever and ever.”

 
~ A Meditation of Father Wilfrid Stinissen, O.C.D.

 

 

“Come Holy Spirit, come,
and enkindle in us the fire of your love.”

 

 

A blessed Pentecost Sunday to you all!
❤

 

 

An Inner Fire

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Dove with rose

Art source unknown

 

Every human being has an innate longing for an inner fire. The fire we long for is the Holy Spirit. Once the Spirit begins to burn in us, all the old, bad habits will successively be driven out. For this reason, the fire will create conflict. It isn’t our purpose to create conflict, but we must not be afraid of it when it comes. Conflicts, be they exterior and interior, are signs of health if they are a consequence of the Spirit burning within us.

Do not be afraid of the anxiety that the arrival of the Spirit may bring. Don’t go back to the lifeless peace which may have characterized your life up till now. Let yourself be shook up by the Spirit. The peace Jesus promised presupposes a complete reorganization of your life. Don’t be afraid to leave old habits behind; it’s natural at first to feel insecure and unsure. Don’t be afraid of the truth, even if it is uncomfortable.

Do not be afraid of becoming a sign of contradiction either. If the Spirit burns in you, you necessarily become a different person. You become a stranger in the world, a pilgrim on the earth. You will disappoint some people; others will consider you naïve. But you are not seeking the world’s peace. Jesus says: “…my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.” (Jn 14:27).

~ A Meditation by Fr. Wilfrid Stinissen, O.C.D.

 

Come, Holy Spirit, come! 

 

 

Happy & Blessed Pentecost Sunday!
❤

 

 

 

The Sanctifier: God’s Spirit Is Your Spirit

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Pentecost2

Pentecost, art by Ladislav Záborský

 

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9). These words are usually interpreted as if they exclusively spoke about life in heaven following death, but they are primarily about the everlasting life we carry within us here on earth. This everlasting life begins when Christians are filled with the Holy Spirit.

Every Christian must experience Pentecost, which is when he or she enters into the holy of holies, into God’s own life, and for ever after feels at home there. When the Spirit fills you, you learn to think God’s thoughts and love with God’s love. Everything Jesus has done and taught is given insight from within, because the same Spirit who filled and led Jesus in everything he did now fills you as well and has become your Spirit, too.

“As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you,” writes Saint John, “and so you do not need anyone to teach you…his anointing teaches you about all things” (1 Jn 2:27). It isn’t possible to say that the words of Jesus are too difficult to understand or comply with. You have an inner teacher who explains everything while giving you the strength to live what Jesus has said.

You are capable of so much more than you think; you have received God’s own life…God’s Spirit, who lives his life in you, if only you let him. “All mine is yours,” says God when he gives you his Spirit. The divine life is no longer something foreign to you. It is the air you breathe.

~ A Meditation by Fr. Wilfrid Stinissen, O.C.D.

 

O Holy Spirit, teach me to know You, to want You, to love You, and to prepare myself to second Your action in my soul.
~ Father Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen, O.C.D.

 

 

In the presence of the Holy Spirit by signesnadelin

In the Presence of The Holy Spirit, art by Signe Sandelin


Holy Spirit, I see You coming down into the soul like the sun which, finding no obstacle, no impediment, illumines everything; I see You descending like a fiery thunderbolt which, in falling goes to the lowest place it finds and there it reposes, never stopping on the way nor resting on the mountainous or high places but rather in the center of the earth. Thus You, O Holy Spirit, when You come down from heaven with the fiery dart of Your divine love, You do not repose in proud hearts or in arrogant spirits, but You make Your abode in souls that are humble and contemplative in their own eyes.

 ~ By St. Mary Magdalen dei Pazzi, Carmelite nun and mystic  

 

Wishing all of you a very joyful and blessed Feast Day of Pentecost! ❤