Showing all posts by Elija

Beloved Holy Spirit, with today’s meditation we conclude this preparation for the great feast of Your coming. May Your fruits grow and ripen in us, for in this way we can glorify the One from whom everything comes and bear witness to You before the world!

For this we need patience, for these fruits ripen more with each passing day. We need patience even more with other people, so that they can receive what God has prepared for them.

How much patience God has with us! How he tries to reach us again and again, and the whole of humanity, which often takes such erroneous paths!

Even as we wait with longing for the return of Christ and prepare ourselves day by day, whether for the hour of death or the parousia at the end of time, we know:

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Beloved Holy Spirit, You want us to live in faithfulness – and this in a time when infidelity is almost becoming a way of life. You will have a lot of work to do, because many people no longer understand the meaning of fidelity, whether it is in the marital relationship or in promises made or even in religious vows. We often need to learn anew what faithfulness, responsibility, constancy and stability mean.

But we have a wonderful example before us. It is the faithfulness of God. God is faithful – and He never gives up this faithfulness! The whole of the Old Testament testifies to this; in contrast to the frequent unfaithfulness of the people of Israel.

If we look into our own time, there are unfortunately more and more people who fall away from the faith and become unfaithful to the Lord. It then becomes more difficult to remain faithful to one another.

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What ornament, O Holy Spirit, is a modest soul; a soul in which Your fruit, dwells! In her, the disorderly desire is restrained and has come to rest. She does not think for herself constantly and is easily satisfied with everything. She does not want to be the centre of attention, but wants to take the place that You have intended for her. Therefore the precious gift of gratitude and also the fruit of humility is effective in her. Such a soul radiates contentment, makes no fuss about herself and is free from any presumption. But in terms of love this soul wants to be great, in the love for You and for people, and with a little faith she is not satisfied!

What mild splendour we can perceive in such a soul! How gladly you, and we too, can enrich her with gifts! She realizes the word of St. Paul:

“Give the same consideration to all others alike. Pay no regard to social standing, but meet humble people on their own terms. Do not congratulate yourself on your own wisdom”  (Rom 12:16).

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Holy Spirit, with Your gifts that You sink into our souls, You want to bring forth all the fruits that we contemplate in these days before we celebrate the feast of Your coming in the Church. They are true fruits that make our lives bright, they are expressions of Your love and help us to relate to each other as human beings in the incomparable way that Jesus said to His disciples:

“May they all be one, just as, Father, you are in me and I am in you, so that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me. I have given them the glory you gave to me, that they may be one as we are one. With me in them and you in me, may they be so perfected in unity that the world will recognise that it was you who sent me and that you have loved them as you have loved me”  (Jn 17:21-23).

We should live as human beings, Holy Spirit, in true unity with You and with each other. But obviously we are not really able to do this, as one can easily see if one does not close one’s eyes and dreams instead. Therefore, we must advance to the source of love and goodness and drink from it: You Yourself are this source!

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Holy Spirit, today I come to you with a special request which darkens the lives of many people.

The sense of chastity has been lost and for too many people it seems to be a relic of times gone by. If one speaks of it, one is often met with complete incomprehension, and even in ecclesiastical circles it not infrequently evokes a pitiful smile. Yet chastity is a fruit of life with You and a glorious gift that strengthens the dignity of the person immensely!

Why, O Holy Spirit, are we so little receptive to the beauty of chastity? Do we no longer have eyes to perceive the dignity of chastity? Have we already become so sexualised and thus indifferent to perceive its nobility, its inner strength, the integrity of a virgin?

Chastity does not mean a tense relationship to the sphere of sexuality, a fearful blocking of all natural impulses or the absence of any attraction to this vital area, but it does mean the ability to deal with it in a sensitive way.

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