Elija Mission

Joan was born on January 6, 1412, in Domrémy, France, the fourth child of Jacques d’Arc and his wife Isabelle. She grew up in humble peasant circumstances, could neither read nor write, learned to spin and sew, and sometimes tended to the household. Her parents were considered devout Christians. Her mother instructed her in the faith.

When, in 1456, as part of the process to vindicate Joan (King Charles VII had ordered an investigation into the truth of the church trial against Joan), witnesses from the village of Domrémy were questioned about her, they gave unanimous testimony in her favor. She was regarded as a devout girl who enjoyed going to church and helping others. May the testimony of the farmer Simonin Musnier from January 30, 1456, stand for many similar testimonies:

“I grew up with Joan, whom they called the Virgin. I lived near her father’s house. Truly, I know how good she was, how simple and pious! She revered God and His saints. She often and gladly went to church and to holy places, comforted the sick, and gave alms to the poor. I experienced this myself: when I was little, I was unwell, and Joan came to comfort me….”

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It was May 30, 1431, in Rouen, France, one day after the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity.

A large crowd had gathered that morning in the old market square near the Church of Our Savior. In addition to the gathered people and clergy, many soldiers were present. However, these were not French soldiers. They were English, as Rouen was still under English rule during the Hundred Years’ War between France and England.

A scaffold had been erected, and standing on it was a young woman, nineteen years old. The people had gathered to see this woman—both clergy and laymen.

All eyes were fixed on this young woman.

Who was she? Why was she standing there?

Then Nicolaus Midi, Doctor of Sacred Theology, delivered a sermon to the entire assembly on verse 26 of the First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians, chapter 12:

“If one member suffers, all suffer together.”

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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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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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