“If you remain united to your Father through prayer, you can do everything” (Inner Word).
What a wonderful invitation! It reminds us of St. Paul’s exhortation to pray without ceasing: “Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.” (Eph 6:18).
Sacred Scripture exhorts us time and again to persevering prayer, and the saints and masters of the spiritual life never tire of speaking of its importance.
Come, Holy Spirit, enlighten us, for You are the light that makes our darkness bright. Take away from us all our spiritual blindness, so that we may better recognise You and perceive reality in Your light. There is a big difference between recognising You in the work and only seeing the natural reality.
You know, Holy Spirit, we actually understand very little!
For us, life is made up of many different impressions, with which we try to build a coherent picture of reality. Sometimes we notice an inner line, and in faith we also know that such a line exists. But we easily lose this line during the day when we are involved in different activities and are too absorbed by them.
So how can we stay in touch with You and become more aware of You in our lives?
Prayer, talking to You and even more listening to You are very helpful.
Maybe we are not so used to it. We talk more with Jesus or with our Heavenly Father or also with Mary, the Mother of God.
“Cast off all your chains—they have long since been broken—and walk ahead in Me.” (Inner Word)
What is holding us back from moving forward on the path of following the Lord? It often seems as though invisible chains still bind us. Perhaps they are things we have long since brought before God, yet they still linger and seek to hold us back. Perhaps they are merely erroneous thoughts and fears that weigh down our path.
Beloved Holy Spirit, one of Your wonderful gifts is peace. It is a peace that the world cannot give (cf Jn 14:27), but neither can it take. This points to a peace different from the peace we usually know – it is a peace that lasts.
The world talks so much about peace, but cannot find it! There is always war somewhere, and the peace achieved is often fragile. But where is peace to come from? With all good will, one does not reach that dimension of peace of which Jesus speaks.
Peace is not only the absence of the concrete war, important as it is. Peace is more: It is the conformity of life with the truth of being and gets its creative power from there.
In these reflections we come to deeper questions, Holy Spirit, for it is true when it is said that peace must first begin with us!
So where does peace come from?
Holy Spirit, it is said of You that You are a kind and human loving Spirit, and that a fruit that You make grow in the human soul is kindness!
Kindness is an agreeable attitude of man by which one easily wins the other person and makes him feel loved and acknowledged! And if this kindness is without falsehood – which it is without doubt, if it matures in the soul as a fruit of Your work – then it is a sun in the life of man! It reflects the attitude with which God meets us, because God does not only want us to recognize Him as our Father, but He also wants to be our trusted friend!
“As his Creator and Father, I feel the need to love man.” (Message from God the Father to Sister Eugenia Ravasio).
When we ask ourselves what the most concrete reason is for God’s great love for us, our Father gives us a wonderful answer in this phrase from the message to Mother Eugenia Ravasio. Since God is complete in Himself and does not need us for His own satisfaction, His love for us comes solely from His status as Father and Creator. As He Himself affirms, loving us is a necessity for Him. Thus, when God turns toward us, He always does so with the intention of loving us, communicating with us, and helping us understand that we are loved.
Beloved Holy Spirit, one of the most wonderful gifts that You can make grow in us as fruit is joy. It is that joy which, like love, makes everything easier and overcomes the weight that life so often brings with it. A joy that is contagious, and gives a ray of light and some comfort to the other person, as long as they are not closed.
Your friend, St. Paul, even tells us to rejoice at all times (cf. Phil 4:4). Read More
“I look with favor upon everything done for My glory: prayers, fasting, vigils, and other works of spiritual discipline. But nevertheless—even if it does not seem so to those of little faith—I am with greater affection toward My chosen ones, who, in their human weakness and frailty, trustingly seek refuge in My mercy.” (Words of the Lord to St. Gertrude of Helfta)
Once again, the theme of human weakness and limitation is addressed, which draws the Lord’s loving attention in a special way. Without diminishing the good works of ascetic practices—works the Lord regards with favor—His love inclines even more toward those who, in their inner distress, seek His mercy and trust in it.
“Just remain faithful to Me, and do not lose heart in times of weakness. I will put even these to good use.” (Inner Word)
It may not be easy for us to understand these words. How we would love to be strong and overcome all of life’s challenges. This may be especially true for people with a strong fighting spirit. But then our weaknesses emerge, serving as a constant reminder of the limitations of our human nature. We fall short of what we set out to do and are disappointed in ourselves.
Holy Spirit, in the beginning you hovered over the waters (cf. Gen 1:2) and brought order to the chaos. You also want to bring order to the chaos caused by sin, order in our inner and outer life. So much has been confused with original sin and the sins that follow it, that even your friend Paul lamented that a different law dwells in his spirit than in his body and – worse still – that he follows the law of the flesh (cf. Rom 7:23). With him we lament: Who will deliver me from this body? (cf. Rom 7:24)
But let it not remain so!
We must regain control over ourselves and not be slaves to our passions and feelings! It was so wonderfully ordered by our Heavenly Father: The Spirit enlightened our human spirit, it put the will into force and the natural drives were at work.
But, dear Holy Spirit, now, unfortunately, they are rebelling against us and are therefore a reflection of the fallen creation, which is rebelling against God, and in addition, the fallen spirits, who are trying to disturb the ways of salvation of God, also want to confuse us.
But it should not remain that way!
