Showing all posts in Reflexion

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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Now you have come, beloved Holy Spirit. This time you came in a violent wind (cf. Acts 2:2), not as you did with your friend Elijah (cf. 1 Kgs 19:11-13). Then it was more hidden, as you usually work in the souls of the people who let you in. But today it was different as the Holy Scripture reminds us. How wonderful and convincing was Your work! The apostles spoke and proclaimed in their own tongue, but everyone else understood them in their own language.

“At this sound (a sound as of a violent wind) they all assembled, and each one was bewildered to hear these men speaking his own language. They were amazed and astonished. ‘Surely,’ they said, ‘all these men speaking are Galileans? How does it happen that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; people from Mesopotamia, Judaea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya round Cyrene; residents of Rome- Jews and proselytes alike – Cretans and Arabs, we hear them preaching in our own language about the marvels of God.’” (Acts 2:6-11) Read More

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.

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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?

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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!

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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

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!

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Beloved Holy Spirit, You gentle soul guest,

let grow in us the spirit of gentleness,

that spirit that permeates everything,

that transforms and softens our heart,

purifying it from all hardships;

that is as mild as Your wonderful Bride, our Mother.

“Blessed are the gentle: they shall have the earth as inheritance.” (Mt 5:4)

You do not need us, but rather lure us with Your love. You would rather let Your love taste like honey than give us bitter herb, even if we sometimes need it.

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Beloved Holy Spirit, come You, the eternal and pure light and penetrate us, so that nothing can remain hidden from You, no shadow can live on in our soul, every darkness may go away and everything be inflamed by Your love. Awaken us from all inertia and purify our heart so that it may love as God loves; love as You love, so that You and I may be intimately united in the praise of the glory of God.

“O God, create in me a pure heart, renew a right spirit within me” (Ps 51:10).

You, beloved Holy Spirit, are

“…intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, mobile, incisive, unsullied, lucid, invulnerable, benevolent, shrewd, irresistible, beneficent, friendly to human beings, steadfast, dependable, unperturbed, almighty, all-surveying, penetrating all intelligent, pure and most subtle!” (Wis 7:22-23)

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“You Holy Spirit, you kiss of the Father and of the Son, you sweetest and most intimate kiss” (Saint Bernard of Clairveaux), we want to know and love you better. Therefore, descend into our soul, “like the sun which illuminates everything where it finds no obstacle. Reach out like an arrow of flame to the deepest part of our soul. You do not rest in proud hearts and high spirits; rather you open your dwelling in humble souls” (St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi).

Enlighten us in these days in which we are preparing the Solemnity of Your coming, You who are our Comforter and Teacher, the Bridegroom of our souls, the One who makes us holy.

Love is longsufferin (cf. 1 Cor 13:4)

Longanimity is your wonderful fruit, which lives in those souls that listen to you and do not lose heart over long distances. It is similar to patience, but even more strongly related to the goods of the spirit. It carries the perseverance in itself and makes the soul strong and capable of suffering. Thus it grows as the fruit of an intimate relationship with you. It is divine in nature, as the Apostle Paul testifies:

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