June 3, 2022 Reflection – Novena to the Holy Spirit, Day 8
Novena to the Holy Spirit Day 8 June 3, 2022 Dear Family of Mary! Novena to the Holy Spirit, Day 8 Our Lady speaks about the Spirit working in our families: April 25, 2005 “Dear children! Also today, I call you to renew prayer in your families. By prayer and the reading of Sacred Scripture, may the Holy Spirit, who will renew you, enter into your families. In this way, you will become teachers of the faith in your family. By prayer and your love, the world will set out on a better way and love will begin to rule in the world. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Our Lady tells us in this message that if we renew prayer in our families, if we read Scripture in our families, the Holy Spirit will come and will renew our families!! I have never thought of this before. It is a tremendous thing to invite the Holy Spirit into our families. What a welcome guest!! The Holy Spirit can do everything we cannot. He can transform our children, and our marriages! I remember how difficult it was to begin prayer in our family. When we first discovered Our Lady of Medjugorje, we were not praying the Rosary as a family, and family prayer was difficult. But when we began to read our Lady’s messages, family prayer began to take shape. We prayed the Holy Rosary and read Scripture. It was really hard work for Denis and me. But it did pay off. We began to see the signs of life in our children. Now, family prayer is not magic. Our children had to find each their own way with God. And it has not been easy. But I do see the Holy Spirit’s hand in their lives, and in Denis and my life as well. Family prayer is such a beautiful gift to give your spouse and your children. It is a life boat for each member of the family. It is a way of inscribing in each one’s heart that God exists and that He wants to be near them. Family prayer is a work of the Holy Spirit, bringing life and joy! Our Lady knows what she is talking about! She and Joseph and Jesus must have prayed together each day. Imagine that!! And here is her amazing promise: By prayer and your love, the world will set out on a better way and love will begin to rule in the world. Through our decision to pray, the Holy Spirit will build prayer and love in our families, and the world will set out on a better way, one family at a time. It is the only way. One family at a time! Dearest Mother, please help us to begin or strengthen our family prayer, so that the Holy Spirit will come into our family and by our prayer and love, the world will set out on a better way and love will begin to rule in the world! The Paraclete, the Fount of Love (A prayer by St. John Henry Newman) My God, I adore You, as the Third Person of the Ever-Blessed Trinity, under the name and designation of Love. You are that Living Love, wherewith the Father and the Son love each other. And You are the Author of supernatural love in our hearts. “Fons vivus, ignis, charitas.” (Fount of life, fire and love!) As a fire You came down from heaven on the day of Pentecost; and as a fire You burn away the dross of sin and vanity in the heart and light up the pure flame of devotion and affection. It is You who unite heaven and earth by showing to us the glory and beauty of the Divine Nature, and making us love what is in Itself so winning and transporting. I adore You, O uncreated and everlasting Fire, by which our souls live, by which alone they are made fit for heaven. Amen The Prayer for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit touches on all of them: 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 (c)Mary TV 2022