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. Read More
Meditations on the Holy Spirit (7/14): THE KINDNESS
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! Read More
Meditations on the Holy Spirit (6/14): THE JOY
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. Read More
Meditations on the Holy Spirit (5/14): THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD
Beloved Jesus, what a joy it must have been for You to return to the Father after having accomplished Your work! You were “for a short while made less than the angels” (Heb 2:9), but now You return to the fullness of glory, with which You will return at the end of time. Read More
Meditations on the Holy Spirit (4/14): THE SELF-CONTROL
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) Read More
Meditations on the Holy Spirit (3/14): GENTLENESS
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. Read More
Meditations on the Holy Spirit (2/14): A PURE HEART
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. Read More
Meditations on the Holy Spirit (1/14): LONGANIMITY
“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). Read More
Different ways in which the Holy Spirit works
Act 16:1-10
From there Paul went to Derbe, and then on to Lystra, where there was a disciple called Timothy, whose mother was Jewish and had become a believer; but his father was a Greek. The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him, and Paul, who wanted to have him as a travelling companion, had him circumcised. Read More
The authority of the Church
Act 15:22-31
Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose delegates from among themselves to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas, known as Barsabbas, and Silas, both leading men in the brotherhood, and gave them this letter to take with them: ‘The apostles and elders, your brothers, send greetings to the brothers of gentile birth in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. Read More