Reflections for
Pentecost Novena 2015
Pentecost
Novena, a 9 days
period from Friday after Ascension Thursday till the Eve of Pentecost.
“No
one can say “Jesus Is Lord” unless he is under the influence of the Holy
Spirit.” (1 Cor 12:3)
Today
we start our Pentecost Novena, a nine-day intensive power program of prayer in
preparation to celebrate the Great Feast of Pentecost. It is fitting that
we begin the Novena with the focus on Jesus Christ as Lord. To acknowledge
Jesus as our personal Lord means that we place everything – our marriage,
family, work, business, finances, relationships, health, leisure & our
entire lives into Jesus’ hands. We surrender our ownership of these to
Him & say, in effect, “All I have is Yours! Lord, take, receive &
use it as you will!”
Do
you think that based on our own human will & effort, we can do this easily?
Of course not! Without exception, we all have our own self-interests to
look out for. But, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we can! The Spirit
enables us to not just say with our lips that Jesus Christ is our Lord but to
truly believe it in our heart & live out this belief on a consistent basis
daily.
Is
Jesus the Lord of your life? What specific areas of your life do you need
to place under Jesus’ Lordship & Authority? Today, as we pray for the
coming of the Holy Spirit this Pentecost, ask for the grace to submit in
humility, love & trust to Jesus.
DAY TWO : SATURDAY
“Send
forth Your Spirit O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.” – Ps 104:30
In
our Pentecost Day 2 reflection, we want to consider the power of the Holy
Spirit in renewing all aspects of life on earth. The Spirit brings life &
restoration. There is nothing that cannot be transformed & renewed by
His power.
Is
there some area of our life that could use with some transformation &
renewal today? Perhaps our physical health & well-being? Or maybe our
marriage & family life? How about our work & business? Or our
friendships? Whatever area needs the touch of the Holy Spirit, all we
need to do is a to cry out with simple faith: “Come Holy Spirit. Come,
Lord, change, renew & restore this area of my life. Thank you, Holy
Spirit!”
DAY THREE: SUNDAY
“When
the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth” (Jn 16:13)
In
Day 3 of our Pentecost Novena, we want to reflect on the Holy Spirit’s action
in revealing God’s complete truth to us.
Many
times, the world bombards us with half-truths or even deception & lies. It
tricks us (through slick advertising campaigns & persuasive marketing
messages) that we are not good enough; that only if we drive this car, dine at
that fancy restaurant, fly with this airline, use that credit card, shop at
this fancy boutique & send your kids to that premium school etc will we be
fulfilled. So we end up with this consumerist mentality, hoping to buy
our way into personal fulfillment. Do you think we can ever be fulfilled
& satisfied?
The
Holy Spirit today yearns to give us the life-giving message, the TRUTH and WORD
OF LIFE according to God, our Father & Creator. The truth is we are
considered very good by God’s standards (Gen 1:31), loved by God (Jer
31:3), precious in his eyes (Isa 43:4), his beloved (Song 2:16 & Rom 1:7),
& his sons & daughters (Rom 8:14).
Today, why not make the conscious decision to seek the
Holy Spirit’s guidance in getting to the full & complete truth?
DAY
FOUR : MONDAY
“I
will give you a new heart & put a new spirit in you” (Ez 36:26)
A
new heart, a new spirit! Are you really longing for this
“heart-transplant” & a “renewed spirit”? Can you imagine what your
life would be like with this new heart & new spirit?
Many
of us, because of life’s difficulties & challenges in the past, live our
lives with a broken heart & a crushed spirit. We are doing OK, but
not very well. The spark of the joy of life just isn’t there, &
we settle for way, way less than we actually desire & deserve. We
rationalize, justify, make excuses or just live in denial. How many
people do you know live their lives this way? People who merely exist as a
“wandering generality”; and don’t embrace life as a “meaningful specific”.
But
Jesus came to give us the fullness of life, life in abundance (John
10:10). And we can only access this life when our hearts are changed
& our spirits renewed. Let us then cry out to the Holy Spirit during this
time of grace in the Pentecost Novena to bring about this transformation.
He can & He will!
DAY
FIVE: TUESDAY
“The
Spirit of the LORD will rest on him – the Spirit of wisdom and of
understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge
and fear of the LORD and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.” (Isa 11:2-3)
When
we were baptized, we were all anointed with chrism & received the Holy
Spirit & His gifts in the passage above. These gifts are sometimes
called sanctification gifts & help us to grow in holiness & faith.
Today
is a good time to do a “spiritual diagnosis” with respect to these gifts.
Are we aware of these gifts in our lives? Have we used these gifts well to grow
ourselves? How specifically have I used the gift of wisdom, knowledge
& understanding in my daily decision-making? In what areas of my life
have I benefitted from the Holy Spirit’s counsel & might? How have I
relied on the Spirit’s gift of fear of the Lord & piety to grow in holiness
& to seek God’s will in my life?
Whatever
your answers, know that the Lord has infinitely more in store for you – you’ve
just got to Ask, Seek & Knock (see Matt 7:7). This Pentecost Novena
is a great time to start. “Come Holy Spirit!”
DAY
SIX: WEDNESDAY
“There
are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are
different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of
working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
Now
to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To
one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message
of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit,
to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers,
to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another
speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation
of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes
them to each one, just as he determines.” (1 Cor 12:4-11)
Today,
let’s consider the charisms or ministerial gifts of the Holy Spirit in our list
above. These gifts are freely given by the Holy Spirit as He chooses, for
the purpose of service & ministry to others. This list is not exhaustive –
there are many other ministerial gifts mentioned in other parts of the New
Testament like Romans 12 & Ephesians 4, & also countless other gifts,
abundant, plentiful & limitless & not specifically mentioned in
scripture.
The
main point today is there is a huge variety of gifts & we, each & every
one of us, are all individually endowed with these charisms from the Holy
Spirit. These are given to us not for our own benefit, nor as a “reward”
for our “holiness”; but these are freely given to us so that we use it for the
benefit of others.
So,
what are your special charisms & gifts? Have you been using it to serve
others & add value to their lives? Or are you hiding & burying
this immense treasure that the Lord has given you? Today, be open &
cooperate with the Holy Spirit to activate these gifts for the maximum
well-being & benefit of others.
DAY
SEVEN : THURSDAY
“If
I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a
resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can
fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move
mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the
poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love,
I gain nothing.
Love
is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with
the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always
perseveres. Love never fails.” (1 Cor 13:1-8)
Only
3 more days till we celebrate Pentecost! And what an opportune time to
reflect on St Paul’s great teaching on Love. We spoke about the
Sanctification Gifts of the Holy Spirit on Day 5 & the Ministerial Gifts
(Charisms) on Day 6. Today, we look at the core & most important
aspect of our Catholic life – Love. Our attempts at holiness & our
striving to use our charisms to serve others must always begin with, be rooted
in & be motivated & driven by Love – of God & of others. If
not, we are operating on self-centredness, pride & conceit & our
actions are merely posturing, grand-standing, showing off, playing
“one-upmanship” & competing with others for glory, honour &
recognition.
How,
then, can we ensure that our motives & intentions are proper &
pure? How can we be truly an authentic & loving Catholic? For
that, we have to daily seek the help of the Holy Spirit to be humble, open
& honest with ourselves & our motivation on “why we do the things we
do”. When we call out to him in humility & trust, the Holy Spirit will help
purify our heart’s intentions & keep us authentic.
DAY
EIGHT: FRIDAY
On
the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came through
the prophet Haggai: Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to
Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask
them, ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it
look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? But now be strong,
Zerubbabel,’ declares the LORD. ‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high
priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the LORD, ‘and work.
For I am with you,’ declares the LORD Almighty. ‘This is what I covenanted with
you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’
“This
is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the
heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all
nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this
house with glory, ’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘The silver is mine and the
gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty. ‘The glory of this present house
will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty.
‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty.” (Haggai
2:1-9)
Today,
in Day 8 of our Pentecost Novena, the Lord wants to assure us that He alone
will bring about our renewal, change & transformation. And we will
experience His great peace.
The
temple in Israel at the time of the Prophet Haggai was in ruins, Broken,
desolate, abandoned, it’s former beauty, majesty & glory a faint &
distant memory. But the Lord called on the people to take courage &
not be afraid, to be strong & to work hard & he would do the rest of
the “heavy lifting” to restore the temple not merely back to it’s glory days,
but to something even bigger, better & greater than the past.
Do
you long for the “good old days”? The times in your life where you felt
so alive, strong, healthy, filled with faith & hope for a beautiful future,
well-loved & successful? Does life now pale in comparison to your
glory days of old? Today, the Lord is telling you that He will bring
about this healing, change, restoration & transformation of your life,
because of His great love for you. How will this come about? By the
outpouring of His Holy Spirit into your hearts, starting now, this
Pentecost! The Spirit will breathe life into your “dry bones” of
shattered dreams, unfulfilled life & lost hope (read Ezekiel 37:1-14). The
Spirit will give you the “power from on high” (see Acts 1:8) & the Lord’s great
love (see Rom 5:5). The Holy Spirit will revive us from our many troubles
& hardship, raise us up from the dust of the earth, increase our honour
& comfort us again (see Psalm 71:20-21).
Indeed,
God is truly Awesome & Wonderful! Let us claim the Lord’s promise of
His Holy Spirit. Alleluia!
DAY
NINE : SATURDAY
“In
the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought
to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit
intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:26-28)
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:26-28)
Alleluia!
Today is Day 9 of our Pentecost Novena AND we celebrate the Great Feast of
Pentecost tomorrow. Have you prepared yourselves well for
Pentecost? Are you ready to receive the Holy Spirit in a new and more
powerful way?
The
Holy Spirit wants to be a loving & active partner in our lives. He
comes to us & gives us His help, inspiration, wisdom, grace &
strength. All we need do is to call on Him, be open to Him & live in
expectant faith & joyful hope that He will help us in all our needs.
How
about you? Have you experienced the loving help of the Holy Spirit?
Would you like to experience more of the Spirit’s help, guidance &
leadership in your life?
LET
US PRAY
O
Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul, I adore You. Enlighten me, guide me,
strengthen me, console me. Tell me what I should do; give me Your
orders. I promise to submit myself to all that You desire of me and to
accept all that You permit to happen to me. Let me only know Your will.
Amen
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