10-DAY HOLY SPIRIT CHALLENGE (13 – 23 May 2021)
INTRODUCTION: WHAT’S THIS ALL ABOUT?
As St. Luke (an early Christian and author of 2 New Testament
books: Luke’s Gospel & Acts of the Apostles) tells the story,
this was precisely the reaction of those who were on hand that day in Jerusalem
when the first followers of Jesus “received the Holy Spirit”:
“All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What
does this mean?” (Acts of the Apostles 2.12)
Jesus
lives? You may have experienced similar perplexity
after having spoken to Christians. You
might have noticed that they have a way of talking about Jesus as if he was
still alive. They talk about Jesus
in the present tense, as if they spoke to him on a regular basis, as if he was
a part of their daily lives. That might
have struck you as a bit weird. I mean, everyone
who has been to the movies in the western world knows that Jesus’ life ended with
him being nailed to a Roman cross. Strangely
enough, Christians seem to celebrate Jesus’ crucifixion; in most churches,
there is a graphic depiction of the death of Jesus hanging above the altar – front
and center – sometimes, as large as life.
Indeed, from a historical perspective,
it’s hard to dispute the fact that Jesus “of Nazareth” (his hometown) was
publicly executed by the Roman authorities in Jerusalem shortly after the
beginning of the 4th decade of the 1st century AD
(CE). But all our evidence of the first
Christians indicates that from the very beginnings of the “Jesus movement”, Jesus’
followers experienced him as being alive and present with them, both
personally and corporately.
What
happened? Here’s how St. Luke explains what happened:
“After his suffering [Jesus] presented himself alive to [the
apostles] by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days …
While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait
there for the promise of the Father. “…you will be baptized with the Holy
Spirit not many days from now … you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has
come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
When [Jesus] had said this, as they were watching, he was
lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight…
Then they returned to Jerusalem … When they had entered the
city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John,
and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of
Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were
constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women,
including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers… together the crowd
numbered about one hundred twenty persons.” (Acts of the Apostles 1.3-15,
extracts)
The gift
of the Spirit. The event in the middle of this passage is
called the “Ascension” of Jesus, the last time his followers saw him after his
resurrection from the dead. Beginning on
the 3rd day after his crucifixion, and continuing until the 40th
day, reports started to spread among the disciples that Jesus’ tomb had been
found empty and that Jesus himself had been seen – alive – by different people
(e.g. Gospel of St. Luke, chapter 24).
Luke tells us that the risen Jesus, just before his ascension, promised
his followers that they would soon receive the power of the Holy Spirit.
Throughout the Bible, there are stories of
the “spirit” (i.e. “life-breath”) of God being given to people who were
entrusted by God with a mission. Most of
the time, it was prophets, priests and kings who received God’s Spirit
to empower them for their task of speaking for God, leading the
worship of God or ruling the people of God. Jesus tells his followers that they will
receive power so that they can act as “witnesses” of his resurrection
throughout the world. Jesus tells them
to wait in the city of Jerusalem until they have been “baptized” in the Holy
Spirit.
Pentecost.
And so, the apostles and over a hundred other followers gathered in a
room near the Temple precincts and spent their days in prayer and anticipation
of what Jesus had promised. As they
gathered in the upper room, the Jewish Festival of Weeks (Pentecost) was only 10
days away. This 7-week-long celebration
begins right after Passover (festival during which Jesus was crucified) with
the barley harvest and ends with the wheat harvest. It eventually came to be associated with an
event which occurred after the Israelites’ “exodus” (during the first Passover)
from the land that had enslaved them many centuries before. This way, Pentecost at the time of Jesus
marked the arrival of the Israelites at Mt. Sinai, on the summit of which God
met with Moses and gave him the 10 Commandments and reaffirmed his commitment
towards the nation of Israel whom he had chosen to be his own people, entrusted
with the mission of showing all the other nations of the world how to live.
“Moses went up to God; the Lord called to him from the mountain,
saying, “…tell the Israelites: You have seen …how I bore you on eagles’ wings
and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my
covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed,
the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a
holy nation.” (Exodus 19.3-6)
Wait
& pray. And so, these 120 Jesus-followers gather in
their nation’s capital, next to their national shrine, and wait and pray. We can only imagine what was going through
their minds during those 10 days spent in that room – memories of Jesus, what
he had said and done, what he had said to them personally, horrific memories of
the crucifixion… and then the shock of hearing that Jesus was alive again (some
had seen him for themselves), and now the prospect of a world-wide mission – it
was a lot to take in. One thing was
certain – nothing had happened as they had expected, from the moment they first
encountered Jesus until now… The God of the Exodus, the God of Sinai, the God
of Jesus was about to do something new.
They could only wait and see what that would mean – for their nation and
for them…
A 10-day
“challenge”
Over the next 10 days, we will “join”
those 120 apprentices of Jesus as they wait and pray in the upper room. Each day, we will meditate upon words of
Jesus, spoken to a variety of people – about the Spirit – both before his
crucifixion and after his resurrection. Our
“challenge” is to experience Jesus, through these words and through receiving
the Holy Spirit for ourselves. May the
risen Jesus make himself real to you through his Holy Spirit, both during the
next 10 days and for the rest of your life.
Day 1: “Wait for what my Father
promised”
Day 2: “Put
out into deep water”
Day 4: “You will never be thirsty again”
Day 5: “You must be born again”
Day 6: “I will not leave you orphaned, I will come to you”
Day 7: “My peace I give to you”
Day 8: “The Spirit will lead you into all truth"
Day 9: “The
Spirit of the LORD is upon me”
Day 10: “You will receive power"
Day 1 (Ascension: May 13, 2021):
“Wait for what my Father promised”
Scripture
text: Acts of the
Apostles 1.4-11
Who enjoys
waiting? I get restless when I must wait
in line at the grocery check-out. Often,
we feel like it’s up to us to figure things out, and quickly! But in today’s scripture, the risen Jesus
tells his disciples to wait. He
also tells them that they will soon go out on a mission, but for now, they are
to wait until they are equipped by the Father for the work they are
called to.
Today, we
celebrate the moment when Jesus was exalted “to the right hand of the Father”
after entrusting his followers with a mission to make disciples of all nations;
that is to say, today is the feast of the Ascension. The risen and glorified Jesus can now only
speak through our mouths, can only touch through our hands, and only go to the
places we dare to go. That’s what Jesus’
ministry was all about – through, and as, Jesus, the Creator spoke words of
eternal life (Jn. 6.68), healed lepers with a touch of his hand (Lk. 5.12-13)
and went to the darkest places to set captive souls free (Mk. 5.1-13). Now that Jesus has been enthroned at God’s
right hand, he continues his work through his Spirit-filled followers. Before the incarnation (the birth of Jesus),
God had equipped certain people with the Holy Spirit at certain times for
certain tasks. Most of the time, it was prophets,
priests and kings who received God’s Spirit to empower them for their task
of speaking for God, leading the worship of God or ruling
the people of God. The risen Jesus tells
his followers that they will receive power so that they can act as “witnesses”
of his resurrection throughout the world.
Jesus tells them to wait in the city of Jerusalem until they have been
“baptized” in the Holy Spirit.
Centuries
before Jesus, God had made a promise to his people through the prophet Joel:
“Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all
flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female slaves,
in those days, I will pour out my spirit.” (Joel
2.28-29; cf. Ac. 2.14-18)
God promised that he would “pour out” his Spirit on
each and every member of his people – young and old, women and men. The result of this downpour of the Spirit
would be that each member of the people of God would become a “prophet”, that
is to say, a spokesperson for God. This
is precisely what happened on the day of Pentecost. The Spirit was poured out on the apostles and
over a hundred other followers of Jesus, and they all began to proclaim “God’s
deeds of power” (Ac. 2.11).
Wait. Wait and pray. If you are willing, God will fill you with
his Spirit, fill your mouth with his words and set your heart aflame with his
love. The world waits to hear your testimony.
Prayer to the Holy Spirit:
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful. And
kindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And
you will renew the face of the earth.
Lord, by the light of the Holy Spirit you have taught
the hearts of your faithful.
In the same Spirit help us to relish what is right and
always rejoice in your consolation.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Day 2: “Put out into deep water”
Scripture text: St. Luke’s Gospel 5.1-11
You’ve most probably heard about Jesus – whenever
you find yourself in church, or maybe on TV or websites. Perhaps you think that Jesus is a good thing,
either for people who have time for prayer and religious stuff (like retired
folk) or for kids. Adult life is busy – perhaps
you’ve got a career, a family and many different responsibilities (and hobbies). You’ve got a life! Whether or not it’s going great, it may be
hard to see what anything in your life has to do with Jesus. Surely, you may think, Jesus is fine for
people who have nothing else to do, for kids who need to learn how to behave
and, of course, for priests who are full-time “Jesus-people”.
Today’s Scripture passage is about a man
named Simon (a.k.a. “Peter”), a fisherman from a village in northern Palestine
called Capernaum, located by the Lake of Galilee. Jesus inserted himself – unbidden – into
Simon’s life. Of course, Simon could
have chased Jesus off his boat, but despite his shock and anger at the
intrusion, he noticed that particular something about Jesus. It’s not that easy to get rid of him once he
steps into your boat. Jesus doesn’t
always take people away from their jobs, but when he does, it’s always in order
to give them something better – better for them and better for the world. Perhaps Jesus is calling you to follow him into
your workplace. Wherever Jesus may lead
you, know for certain that he is indeed calling you to follow him. This idea may strike you as a bit crazy. Imagine how Simon felt that day. The fisherman who probably never planned to
leave his Galilean village ended up, many years later, in Rome, the imperial
capital some 4,000 km. away. To
paraphrase Tolkien: “It's a dangerous business, following Jesus. You step onto
the road, and if you allow your steps to be guided by the Spirit, there's no
knowing where you might be swept off to.”
Jesus told Simon to “put out into deep water.” Jesus called Simon to an adventure, to a
journey of faith, to do seemingly foolish things trusting that God had a plan
which would not only produce surprising results but would also transform Simon
forever. Will you embark on the
adventure of following Jesus, and being swept along by his Holy Spirit?
Question:
what is holding you
back from committing to follow Jesus? What
do you have to lose? You may feel like
you have a lot to lose. Know that you
have much more to gain; there are better things ahead than any you leave
behind.
“Peter [said], “Look, we have left everything and followed
you.” Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or
brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and
for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this
age…and in the age to come eternal life.” (Mk. 10.28-30)
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I have a lot of
questions. I don’t understand why you
chose me, or what I have to offer that you might find useful. I don’t know what to do or how to respond to
your call. Please give me the courage to
say yes to you and to trust that you will show me what to do as I wait and
pray. Thank you for the promise of the
Holy Spirit. Amen.
Day 3: “Do you love me?”
Scripture
text: St. John’s
Gospel 21.1-19
Yesterday’s passage and today’s frame
Simon’s journey with Jesus like two bookends.
Today’s episode was one of the last times that Simon saw Jesus before
Jesus’ ascension (cf. Ac. 1.1-11). Of
course, a lot happened between these two moments, and Simon would have liked to
be able to forget several incidents.
Simon, you see, was a person who sincerely desired to do the right
thing, but often failed miserably to do what he had intended to do. Can you relate? Often, we are full of good intentions, but we
don’t follow through or worse, we end up betraying someone we care deeply
about. This is exactly what happened to
Simon…
During the Last Supper (the night before
Jesus’ death), Simon had promised Jesus that no matter what happened, he would
stay by his side, even if it cost him his life.
Before long, those words would come to haunt Simon. A few hours later, Jesus was arrested and
Simon followed, concealing himself in the shadows. As Jesus was on trial, people started to
recognize Simon as being a disciple of Jesus. Overcome with fear, Simon denied knowing
Jesus – three times. He who would
die for his master and friend, in the end, couldn’t even admit to being his
follower. Jesus went to the cross,
betrayed by one follower, disowned by another and abandoned by all.
And so, in today’s story, the risen Jesus takes
Simon aside. We can only imagine what
was going through Simon’s mind. But Jesus simply asks him a question – three
times. “Do you love me?” Simon responds, “Lord, you know all things.
You know that I love you.” Jesus does
know all things. He had known precisely who
Simon was the moment he called him away from his fishing boat. Jesus knew the wounds that made Simon fold
under pressure, but he also knew Simon’s desire to be brave and loyal. That desire was enough; the Spirit would
eventually fan that spark into a roaring blaze.
Simon-Peter would go on to lead the Jerusalem community of Jesus
followers and later make his way to Rome where he would, yes, lose his life because
of his loyalty to Jesus. St. Peter’s
basilica now stands above the site of his grave. Nothing you can do can make Jesus love you
any more or any less. Jesus loves you
unconditionally. Let the Spirit
communicate the love of Jesus to you.
May Jesus’ love set you free from all fear and shame.
The
Thomas Merton prayer:
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see
the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. nor do I
really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not
mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please
you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am
doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know
that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing
about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in
the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will
never leave me to face my perils alone.
“The
Merton Prayer” from Thoughts in Solitude Copyright © 1956, 1958 by The Abbey of Our
Lady of Gethsemani. Used by permission of Farrar Straus Giroux.
Day 4: “You will never be
thirsty again”
Scripture text: Gospel of St. John 4.1-18
Last summer I spent a week hiking in the
Alberta Rockies with a friend. We each
had a couple of water bottles, which we filled whenever we came across a
stream. It was always a relief to hear
the sound of running water. Whenever we
found a stream, I would plunge my head under the water and then cup water in my
hand and rub the back of my neck – so refreshing. There was this one time when the distance
between streams seemed farther than usual; I had drunk all my water and I was parched. My throat was dry, the sun was beating down
on us, and my lips began to crack as I stumbled forward, feeling the weight of
my pack drag my shoulders down. Fortunately,
we came across some folks who were driving ATVs. They had water to spare and kindly shared
some with me. Every time I got the
chance to drink during that hike, I felt like my very life had been renewed,
that I had been reinvigorated.
The woman in this story was thirsty for
love. Just like she had to grudgingly make
the daily trek to the well and then haul the water back to her home, because
her thirst would return each day, so she had been frustrated again and again
looking for a man who would truly love her.
She was thirsty and unsatisfied. Jesus
offers her the living water of the Spirit and promises that the Spirit will eternally
quench her thirst, her deepest thirst – her longing to be loved completely and
unconditionally. It’s what we all
want. We all desire above all else to be
loved as we are, and not as we should be, because none of us are as we
should be. The Holy Spirit pours God’s
love into our hearts (Rm. 5.5). The
“raging, reckless fury” of the love of God (as one songwriter put it) does not
leave us unchanged. This woman’s encounter
with the love of God incarnate (Jesus) transformed her forever. Are you tired of drinking without being able
to slake your thirst? Jesus offers you a
spring of water, gushing up to eternal life.
Plunge your head in and drink!
Prayer of
St. Anthony of Padua:
Everyone longs to give themselves completely to
someone,
To have a deep soul relationship with another, To be
loved thoroughly and exclusively.
But God, to a Christian, says,
“No, not until you are satisfied, fulfilled and
content With being loved by Me alone,
With giving yourself totally and unreservedly to Me,
With having an intensely personal and unique
relationship With Me alone.
Discovering that only in Me is your satisfaction to be
found,
Will you be capable of the perfect human relationship That
I have planned for you.
You will never be united with another until you are
united With Me alone,
Exclusive of anyone or anything else,
Exclusive of any other desires or longings…
“Lord Jesus, help me to trust that you are willing and
able to satisfy my longing to be loved. Please pour out your Spirit into my
heart. Amen.”
Day
5: “You must be born again”
Scripture text: Gospel of St. John 2.23-25; 3.1-8
Do you know
where you’re going? Can you see your way
ahead? Often, life feels like an effort
to stumble forward in the dark, feeling your way as best you can, stubbing your
toes on innumerable obstacles and occasionally, whacking your head and getting
laid flat out on your back. If you had
the chance to start your life over again, would you take it? Maybe you would, on the condition that you
would be born into a different family. Of
course, that would mean losing all the memories you have made, but then again,
maybe there are things that you wouldn’t mind forgetting… Sometimes, we just feel lost, like we’re
trapped in a labyrinth, going down one dead end after another… Maybe we’ve made it, perhaps we’ve
experienced a certain level of success, but now we’re wondering if there’s
more. Was that it? Was that accomplishment what my life was all
about? But I’m still here… what do I do
now? Has my life served the good, have
all my efforts to “win” benefitted anyone besides myself?
Nicodemus,
the main character of today’s passage, was in a similar situation. He had attained respectability and notoriety
within the religious institutions of Judaism.
And yet, as St. John tells us, he is in darkness – he is stumbling
around in the shadows of fear, pride and shame.
Nicodemus is worried about what people will say if they see him talking
to Jesus, so he slinks away while those whose opinions control his life are
sleeping, and he finds his way to Jesus in the dark of night. Perhaps Jesus was spending the night in
prayer, as he had a habit of doing (cf. Lk. 6.12). In any case, he doesn’t seem to have been
disturbed by Nicodemus’ moonlight visit.
Nicodemus saw Jesus perform “signs” (cf. Jn. 2.1-11) while he was in
Jerusalem celebrating Passover, and his fascination drives him to seek Jesus
out. Jesus hits Nicodemus with an
apparently nonsensical statement: “You must be born again”. Jesus insists that in order to enter “the
kingdom of God”, Nicodemus must be born of water and of Spirit (cf. Jn. 1.12-13).
The Spirit gives new life. According to Jesus, starting over is not optional. It’s the only way to experience the life of God. Through baptism, we join the family of God and we receive the promise of the Holy Spirit. We die to our past life, our past loyalties, our past visions of our future. We leave it all behind in the waters of baptism and we emerge, like Jesus, and breathe in the Holy Spirit, the life-breath of God. As we receive the Spirit, we join the community of those who have had the same experience. This is what Jesus offers – nothing less than a new life in a new family. What binds the children of God to each other is not flesh and blood, but Spirit. Those who are filled with the same Spirit have the same Father and the same Saviour, and are thus siblings. Are you ready for a fresh start?
A prayer based on Isaiah 43:18-19
Heavenly Father, Your Word declares
that I must forget the former things and not dwell on the past. So God, I thank
You for doing something new thing in my life and helping me to move forward.
Help me to understand that this new way is good, and that it is from You. I
know that You are making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
So, Father, I will not dwell on my past, but I will focus on fulfilling Your
plan for my future. In Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Day 6: “I will not leave
you orphaned, I will come to you”
Scripture text: Gospel of St. John 14.15-24
How do you
say goodbye? If you knew that you had to
leave your closest friends, what would your last words be? How would you choose to spend your last hours
together? This was the situation for
Jesus at the Last Supper. Jesus often
had difficulty getting his followers to understand what he was saying – either
about the nature of his mission or about his impending death. Try as he may to explain to his disciples
that he was not destined for the kind of glory that they imagined, Jesus’
attempts to explain true greatness were often frustrated. So, the first thing that Jesus did on his
last night with his inner circle – after supper – was to…wash their feet. Apparently, there was no servant to attend to
the needs of Jesus’ dinner party; otherwise, this group of 13 men would never
have sat down to dinner with dirty feet.
So, Jesus knelt, took the sandals off the feet of each apostle, and
washed them clean. We can imagine the
silence and the growing sense of embarrassment as Jesus crawled around the
circle, his arms getting more and more grimy, beads of sweat starting to appear
on his forehead. While the 12 apostles
were often concerned with questions of status, power, and “glory” (just like
us), Jesus had only one preoccupation: “Having loved his own who were in the
world, he loved them to the end” (Jn. 13.1).
Jesus knows the disciples will need him after he “returns to the Father”. He promises to ask the Father to send them another Advocate, the Spirit of truth, who will be with them forever. Jesus swears not to abandon his friends, but to come to them by the Spirit and “abide” with them, to remain with them forever. To receive the Spirit is to receive Jesus, to experience the living Jesus within you, beside you, before you, all around you. Allow the Spirit of Jesus to guide you, to guide you into the truth, to guide you towards holiness and towards peace.
“Hard to get”
(song lyrics by Rich Mullins)
You who live in radiance Hear the prayers of those of
us who live in skin
We have a love that's not as patient as Yours was
But still we do love now and then…
Will those who mourn be left uncomforted
While You're up there just playin' hard to get?
And I know You bore our sorrows
And I know You feel our pain
And I know that it would not hurt any less Even if it could be explained
And I know that I am only lashing out At the One who loves me most
And after I have figured this, somehow What I really need to know is
If You who live in eternity Hear the prayers of those
of us who live in time…
I can't see how You're leading me Unless You've led me here
To where I'm lost enough to let myself be led
And so You've been here all along, I guess
It's just Your ways and You are just plain hard to get.
Day
7: “My peace I give to you"
Scripture text: Gospel of St. John 14.25-31
“Trust
me”. Often, these words signal to us
that the person speaking is about to do something reckless or perhaps
pretending to know something they don’t.
Trust is often an implicit, instinctive thing. If the person seeking our trust must ask for
it, we suspect that something isn’t right.
Trust takes
a long time to build, remains ever fragile and can easily be destroyed. Trust, as we often understand it, implies
predictability. A trustworthy person, we
think, is someone who can be counted on to always act in the same way and the
quality of whose character stands the test of time.
As he
shares his Last Supper with the apostles, Jesus knows that his death is
near. How to prepare his friends for
what’s coming? How can he ensure that
they will continue to trust (believe in) him after he’s gone? Jesus knows that the Father has a plan – a
plan to reclaim his rebellious world.
The followers of Jesus will be sent on a mission to the ends of the
earth to proclaim salvation in Jesus’ name.
But as they are reclining around the table, Jesus also knows that his
apostles are not yet ready for this mission.
He knows that their trust in him will be tested to the breaking point
and beyond in the hours and days to come.
And so,
Jesus promises his friends that his Father will send them the Spirit who will
remind them of his words. Jesus leaves his
peace with the apostles. He tells them
not to be afraid. The fact is, Jesus has
no fear, he is at peace. Jesus knows
that “the ruler of this world is coming, but he has no power over him” (Jn.
14.30). As Jesus had said before, no one
takes the life of the good shepherd; he lays it down willingly for the life of
the sheep (cf. Jn. 10.17-18; 15.12-13). Jesus’
trust in his Father is absolute. He
loves his Father and is completely surrendered to his will. Jesus is thoroughly convinced that his Father
knows best and that the safest place to be is in the centre of his will. Whatever is coming, the end result for Jesus
will not be death, but rather, to be held close to his Father’s heart (Jn. 1.18;
13.25). Jesus knows that everything that
is about to happen is for the good of his friends; they will benefit from his
death, resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit. As St. John has told us, the Spirit could
only be given once Jesus had been “glorified”, that is to say, “lifted up” on
the cross (cf. Jn. 7.39).
And so, the
reason we should trust Jesus is because he trusts the Father. If we trust God, we should trust Jesus, who
trusts the Father unquestioningly (cf. Jn. 14.1). Allow the Spirit to remind you of Jesus’
confidence in the Father’s love and in his trustworthiness.
A prayer for peace in times of trouble
Lord, give Your people Your peace that we may shine
brightly in a dark world. Grant us the courage to live faithfully even in the
midst of hard times. Let our fear of You be the beginning of wisdom rather than
allowing the fear of the world to drive our actions. Help us to embrace our
heavenly citizenship and live strangely in the midst of a world that needs to
know You.
Show Your mercy and heal those who are suffering in
Your fallen creation. Most of all Lord, come. Restore the world You have made
and make all things new. We pray that Your will would be done. Amen.
Day
8: “The Spirit will lead you into all truth”
Scripture text: Gospel of St. John 16.4-15
At the Last Supper, Jesus uses a new word to describe the Spirit – he calls him the parakletos (“the one who stands beside”). Some versions of the Bible translate this word as “advocate” (= defense attorney). The book of the Acts of the Apostles describes the adventures of the apostles during the first few decades following the Ascension of Jesus – the beginnings of the Church and its world-wide mission. The Apostles were often getting persecuted because they wouldn’t stop preaching about Jesus. Jesus knew that his followers would get into trouble after he left this world (Jn. 14.27; 16.33). While he was still with them, Jesus promised the apostles that he would not leave them alone (Jn. 14.18). No matter what they would face, the Spirit would be with the apostles and give them the strength they needed.
Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the “Spirit of truth”. Jesus had said of himself, “I AM …the truth” (Jn. 14.6). Jesus tells the apostles during the Last Supper: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (Jn. 16.12-13). After the Ascension of Jesus, the apostles began their mission with very few resources – they had no instruction manual, no Gospels (they would be written later on) and no Pope or church structure to instruct them. What they did have was the Spirit – the powerful, life-giving breath and presence of Jesus to guide them and to teach them what to say when they were on trial. The Spirit was all they had, but the Spirit was all they needed.
A Prayer for Wisdom and Peace When Making Big
Decisions
Dear heavenly Father,
How we praise you for being the
decision-making-God. It’s not our decisions, but yours that make all the
difference. We will plan, but we trust you to order our steps. We will pray but
ask you to fix our prayers en route to heaven. We will seek counsel but
count on you to overrule faulty or incomplete input from our most trusted
friends and mentors. We will search the Scriptures, but not looking for proof
texts but for you, Father. All we want and need is you.
Free us from the paralysis of
analysis—wanting to make the right decision, more than we want to be righteous
people; wanting to be known as wise people, more than we want to know you. Free
us from the idolatry of assuming there’s only one “perfect” choice in any given
situation. Free us from making decisions primary for our comfort and other’s approval
or fear their disapproval. Free us to know that good choices don’t always lead
to the easiest outcomes, especially at first. Free us from second and
twenty-second guessing our decisions.
Father, no matter if it’s wisdom
about buying or selling, vocation or vacation, this place or that place, this
person or that person, we know that in ALL things, your will is our
sanctification—our becoming more and more like Jesus. Give us this passion;
make it our delight.
So, Father, make us more and more
like Jesus, even as we trust you for the opening and closing of doors that are
in front of us. All for your glory—Amen.
- Written by Scotty Smith
Day 9: “The Spirit of the
LORD is upon me”
Scripture text: Gospel of St. Luke 4.16-21
This
passage is often called “the Nazareth manifesto”. Jesus goes into his local synagogue, and
stands up to read from the Scriptures; but this Sabbath is not like the
others. Jesus has just returned from 40
days spent in the desert, having been tempted by Satan and tested by God. Jesus emerged from the wilderness triumphant,
having resisted Satan’s attempts to lure him onto a life-path that would have
led him away from his true destiny – the cross.
Through this trial, Jesus had reaffirmed his commitment to faithfully
live out his vocation as Son of God.
That
Sabbath, Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah, who had predicted “the year of the
Lord’s favour”, that is to say, the great Jubilee year of freedom. There is a law in the Old Testament according
to which all debts must be cancelled and the land itself must be allowed to
rest every 70 years. Isaiah had
predicted that when the Messiah came, all those oppressed and enslaved, all
those trapped in poverty due to unpayable debt, would be set free. Jesus reads the Scripture “The Spirit of the
Lord is upon me…” and then proclaims to the people gathered in the synagogue
that as they heard Isaiah’s words, the prophecy had come true.
Jesus was
anointed by the Spirit of God to set people free, to release them from every
form of slavery, oppression and crippling disease. Jesus came for you, to break your
chains. Allow the Spirit to blow open
the doors of your prison – physical, mental, spiritual. Run wild and free!
Your Heart Today
Where there is fear I can allay,
Where there is pain I can heal,
Where there are wounds I can bind,
And hunger I can fill:
Lord, grant me courage,
Lord, grant me strength,
Grant me compassion
That I may be your heart today.
Where there is hate I can confront,
Where there are yokes I can release,
Where there are captives I can free
And anger I can appease:
Lord, grant me courage,
Lord, grant me strength,
Grant me compassion
That I may be your heart today.
When comes the day I dread To see our broken world,
Protect me from myself grown cold That
your people I may behold.
And when I've done all that I could, Yet, there are hearts I cannot move,
Lord, give me hope, That I may be your heart today.
- Fr. Manoling Francisco, SJ
Day 10 (Eve of Pentecost: May 22, 2021): “You will
receive power”
Scripture text: Acts of the Apostles 1.8; 2.1-11
How did
Christianity begin? Think about it – on
Good Friday, the Jesus movement consisted of around 120 people whose leaders,
the apostles, decided to hide in a locked room because they were afraid that
what had just happened to Jesus would also happen to them (Jn. 20.19). Even the sightings of the resurrected Jesus
on Easter and the following 40 days seemed to have left the disciples with more
questions than answers (cf. Ac. 1.6-8).
So how do we explain the fact that less than 2 months after Good Friday,
the followers of Jesus were boldly proclaiming throughout Jerusalem and beyond
that Jesus was alive, that he was Israel’s true King (Messiah) and the true
Lord of the entire world? How do we
account for the fact that they continued to do so despite being imprisoned and
threatened with death for doing so? What
had happened? If we were to go back in
time and interview the apostles, they would tell us, “We received the Holy
Spirit, and that has made all the difference”.
Right
before his Ascension to “the right hand of the Father”, the risen Jesus tells
the apostles:
“you will
receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be
my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the
earth.” (Ac. 1.8)
The Holy Spirit would embolden the apostles and fill
them with the power required to go throughout the Roman Empire and beyond to
tell everyone what they had seen – Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Within a 50-day period, the apostles went
from being a scared huddle of men hiding in a locked room (Jn. 20.19) to an
excited group of zealous missionaries, willing to face trial, imprisonment and
worse for the sake of Jesus and his message.
The mission
of the Church – our mission – is far from over.
The same power of the Holy Spirit that enabled the first Christian women
and men to accomplish their mission is available to us today. Receive the power of the Spirit to boldly and
lovingly share what Jesus has done for you.
Your Mighty Power within Us Prayer
Holy Spirit, we give all glory to You, for through Your mighty power at work
within us, You are able to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or
think. Help us not to grieve You, dear Spirit, but to submit to You and allow
Your power to have full sway in us. We thank You for Your gracious presence
dwelling within us. Glory to You in the Church and in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Embolden Us to Share Your Gospel Prayer
Holy Trinity, we thank You for the riches we have inherited as God’s children.
We thank You that by Your grace and mighty power, we have been given the
privilege of serving You and spreading the good news of the endless treasures
of knowing You. We ask for the power of Your Holy Spirit to overcome us and
make us worthy vessels for Your service. Through Your power, embolden us and
guide our words as we share Your gospel with the world. Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment