Novena to the Holy Spirit, Day 3
Cross Mountain, Medjugorje (c)Mateo Ivankovic 2018 May 13, 2018 Novena to the Holy Spirit Day 3 (Feast of the Assumption in some dioceses) Feast of Our Lady of Fatima Dear Family of Mary! Come Holy Spirit! Today Our Lady calls us to pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit! She longs for us to put God in the first place and set aside our temporal, material desires. St. Paul tells us that all the gifts of the Spirit come from one Lord and God of all, but each of us will manifest the individual gifts God desires to give to each of us. Just as we see in nature the manifold variety and beauty of God’s creatures, so in the Spirit, we see in each of us the manifold variety and beauty of God’s plan for His children! Let us stand in awe at what God wants to give to us, each of us as a gift to the others and set aside our worldly concerns! April 17, 1986 “Dear children! You are absorbed with material things, but in the material you lose everything that God wishes to give you. I call you, dear children, to pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit which are necessary for you now in order to be able to give witness to my presence here and to all that I am giving you. Dear children, let go to me so I can lead you completely. Don’t be absorbed with material things. Thank you for having responded to my call.” St. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12: Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. (1 Cor 12:4-11) God is so generous and His gifts are so manifold! We are indeed the most blessed of children! Let’s be generous in return, and ask the Lord to give us whatever gifts He deems best for each one of us, so that the whole Body of Christ can be built up in love!! Let us “let go” to Our Lady so that she can lead us completely. She is the Spouse of the Holy Spirit; she knows best! Let us pray: Prayer for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit O Lord Jesus Christ, Who, before ascending into heaven, didst promise to send the Holy Ghost to finish Thy work in the souls of Thy Apostles and Disciples, deign to grant the same Holy Spirit to me, that He may perfect in my soul the work of Thy grace and Thy love. Grant me the Spirit of Wisdom that I may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after the things that are eternal, the Spirit of Understanding to enlighten my mind with the light of Thy divine truth, the Spirit of Counsel that I may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining Heaven, the Spirit of Fortitude that I may bear my cross with Thee, and that I may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose my salvation, the Spirit of Knowledge that I may know God and know myself and grow perfect in the science of the Saints, the Spirit of Piety that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable, the Spirit of Fear that I may be filled with a loving reverence towards God, and may dread in any way to displease Him. Mark me, dear Lord, with the sign of Thy true disciples and animate me in all things with Thy Spirit. Amen. In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan ©Mary TV 2018