predication.net

When someone catches up with some misfortune, he asks in surprise: “Why me?” However, he rarely thinks so, and says so when he receives an extraordinary gift. God’s seal, which not everyone receives, is a sign of election. ( “You did not choose me, but I chose you” – Jn 15, 16.) And he asks on the spot: Why me? – and then even further: for what? What does this seal determine and bind me to? This seal is not a mere ornament or an honor for proven heroism. It is a profession, designation, address, or sign of affiliation. Someone is behind me, to whom I belong, who will protect me, and to whom I serve. (Nolli me tangere, Caesaris sum!) Please don’t touch me, I belong to the emperor.

We’re foreshadowed. What is in the pre-character of the staff determines the scale. There is at least one cross, one cross, in our curriculum of life. That’s our scale, our seal. We belong to God. We receive three seals: the seal of baptism, which marks and makes man a child of God. The seal of confirmation that makes the child a believer, a warrior. Or the seal of the priesthood, which binds to sacrifice and service. Before You, Lord, as a devoted child, before others as Your confessor, warrior, servant.

These seals are irrevocable. They cannot be postponed or lost even for a moment. Just betray. In the Revelation of St. John, we discuss an anti-seal, a countersign. And no one could buy or sell if he did not have the sign (beast of prey) on his right hand and the forehead (compare Rev 13,17).  The sign, forehead, and hand are signs of thinking and deeds. Here, Lord, right here renew your seal, they will send in time, inattention, unfaithfulness. I should happily wear your seal on my forehead and hand. Or at least not to hide, without shame and without cowardice, to confess when I am caught that I belong to you. How many invisible infidelities, how many visible betrayals of Christ’s seal. Couldn’t there be fewer of them? The loyalty of the inner seal is also a guarantee of the outer seal.

 Athens at that time was full of philosophical schools, but utterly devoted to idolatry. Paul saw it and began to talk to them about the given situation. The city’s inhabitants were curious about his teachings, so they introduced him to the audience so that they could listen to his new teachings. He started tactically: „Athens, I can see that you are unusually religious. For when I was walking and looking at your sanctuaries, I also found an altar with the inscription: » To the unknown God«. So what you worship, even though you don’t know it, I preach to you…“ (Acts 17, 22 – 23). And he started telling them about God, „who created the world and everything in it because he is Lord of heaven and earth…“ (Acts 17, 24).

No, the Holy Spirit is a great unknown, even among us, even when we confess in the Confession of Faith that we believe „ in the Holy Spirit, Lord and animator, who comes from the Father and the Son?“ „ The mystery of the Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and the Christian life. It is the secret of God as he is in himself. This mystery is therefore the source of all other mysteries of faith and the light that illuminates them. It is the most basic and essential teaching in the »hierarchy of truth« faith. »The entire history of salvation is the history of the journey and how the true and only God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, reveals himself to people…«“ (KKC, 234).

Catechism of the Catholic Church explains on its pages how the mystery of the Holy Trinity (I.) was revealed, how the Church formulated the teaching about this mystery (II.), and finally, as God the Father, with the divine missions of the Son and the Holy Spirit, he carried out his „ benevolent plan“ of creation, redemption and sanctification (III. – cf. KKC, 235). The Old Testament did not know the mystery of the Holy Trinity, and therefore of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, the third divine person, is indicated in the Old Testament only as a preparation for the revelation of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. The profound teaching about the mystery of God’s Trinity was not revealed to the Israelites, that is, not even God’s Spirit, much less the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit is understood here as God’s power, which works and bestows supernatural life, and not as a divine person, different from the Father and the Son.

Gospels, especially the Gospel of St. Luke, often mention the Holy Spirit, God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit as a divine person is represented by St. Luke in the account of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, at the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan and especially in the order of Jesus Christ, that the apostles baptize all nations „ in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit“ (Mt 28, 19). This baptismal formula, spoken by Jesus Christ, proclaims the perfect divinity of the Holy Spirit, the Father, and the Son.

The Holy Spirit works with the Father and the Son from the beginning until the completion of the plan of salvation (compare KKC, 686). The Catholic Church’s Catechism lists the Holy Spirit’s four works (compare KKC, 737): Preparing people for Christ.  Since the beginning of creation, he has lived as a life-giving Spirit in all creatures; in the long history of the Old Testament, he prepares the chosen nation for the coming of the Messiah. He is the Spirit of Advent (compare KKC, 702-716). Even today, it opens the hearts of believers for Christ (KKC, 1098). Reveals Christ: “…nobody can say: »Jesus is Lord,“ only if in the Holy Spirit«“ (1 Cor 12, 3; CCC, 683). The Holy Spirit tells us that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God. It reminds the Church of everything that Christ said. „ The Holy Spirit is the living memory of the Church“ (KKC, 1099).

She is present in Christ. In the life of the Church, he not only reminds Jesus, but the Risen One is present in his word, in „the least of my brothers“, in the sacraments. The special presence of Christ in the Eucharistic ways is transformed into his body and blood by the action of the Holy Spirit (compare KKC, 1107). He connects with Christ. Just as the Holy Spirit is the bond of love between the Father and the Son, it unites all in whom it works with Christ. „ The Holy Spirit is like the sap of the Father’s vine, which bears fruit on the branches“ (KKC, 1108). He is the „inner Teacher of life according to Christ, a kind guest and friend who stimulates, directs, rectifies and strengthens this life“ (KKC, 1697).

The hero in the fight against the Turks was the Albanian duke and national hero Scanderbeg (1405 – 1468). He waved his sword with such force that under his blows the heads of the enemy fell one after the other. That is why Sultan Muhammad once told him he would like to see his sword. So Scanderbeg sent his sword to the Sultan. But neither the sultan nor one of his soldiers knew how to handle this sword. So he sent a sword with the message that it could not be the sword he waved so vigorously in the battles. Scanderbeg answered the Sultan: „ I sent you a sword, but I did not send you my arms!“

Alls weapon for the contemporary Christian is the Holy Spirit, who can work through us only when we open ourselves entirely to him. Otherwise, we make it a dead force, similar to the sultan who possessed a sword without Scanderbeg’s arms. We live in the time of the Holy Spirit. He is the Comforter who will stay with us forever (compare Jon 14, 16). Therefore, we should fervently beg daily: „Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of truth, who fills everywhere and everything…, come and dwell in us…, and salvation, Beneficent, our souls.“

Through sin, man has complicated his life for the whole of creation. Sin distances us from God and men. It causes us an internal wound. Through sin, man becomes incapable of love; he falls into spiritual deafness. He stops seeing what is good and what is bad. He is becoming spiritually paralyzed. Every man needs love; every man needs to be accepted as he is. Man is incapable of living with God because of sin. When we consider the obstacles of our life with God, often we have to descend deep into the past because we have been affected by events that we could not change ourselves, the sins of those who lived around us, and whose sins had an impact on us. Whether he was an expected and wanted child is essential for a person’s life. To live, we need to be accepted. Every person is highly dependent on this acceptance. And he is equally crushed by every non-acceptance. So when the mother is not looking forward to your child, the child will mark it negatively. When we meet these children in life, we see how they fight for their place among people in society, and how they cannot fit in. They are still looking for someone who cares for and loves them. All unloving manifestations manifest in the child because he depends on them. Every lack of love endangers a person. This gives rise to various misunderstandings. Every lack of love marks a person, and he should deal with it as long as he is not bad. If a person wants to live fully with God, he must process all these things somehow. Indeed, there are moments in our lives that only God can heal. That is why we ask for the healing of our past. Let us ask the Lord to heal us with his love, where the love of people’s parents was missing—a person who experienced a lack of love that was not valuable. There is one basic thing to say. God was looking forward to his birth. A person must experience the touch of God’s love. To learn to live in this world that prepares wounds, we must open ourselves to the love of God, because we cannot rely on human love. Only God’s love can fully heal us. But it is equally essential that we learn to accept events correctly in life. Some events are well-intentioned, but the 2nd person misunderstands it. Some people misinterpret everything, relate everything to themselves, and feel unloved, but this is false. If he can correctly evaluate a person and that someone has hurt him, it can move him forward. It all depends on how one deals with it. If a person lives among people who don’t like him, one reaction is that he begins to surround himself with things. He surrounds himself with things that would make his life more pleasant. Instead of being able to be, he wants to have, and He thinks that more things will make him happier. But things bring happiness to a person only for a while. Some people don’t like anything. Who still has complexes? If you praise him, it’s bad; if he doesn’t praise him, it’s the same. But you can’t live like that, and often in such a case, a person shows aggression. There are many ways to heal an injured person. If it is a believer, present all these things to the Lord for healing. When a person confesses his guilt, his sin is a big step towards changing your life. It isn’t easy. It is always as if we see more of the sin of the others, like our own. But the solution is not to confess or talk about the sins of others. The solution is to confess your sin. There are people, who think they are such sinners that God could not forgive them. God loves man, and as a sinner. That is not bad when a person is aware of his sin. It isn’t good when he doesn’t realize it. I have no sins. Such a person is a pitiful pauper. The Gospel says everyone has sinned; there is no man without sin. When I say about myself that I have no sin.  So I blame God for shame. Many people see the sins of others, but they don’t see their sins. But Jesus didn’t say. Compare yourself with the best, he didn’t even tell. Compare yourself with the worst. We are to compare ourselves with God. People think that they only have sin when I do something terrible. But it is possible to sin with words and thoughts. A person most often sins by not loving. No love is considered a sin. Therefore, men say they have no sin because they have a wrong idea of sin. Whether people will let themselves be taught or stubbornly stick to their opinions.

The Easter season is finishing, and with it, the liturgical readings from the Acts of the Apostles are ending. The main character of the second part of Acts is Paul. Over the past few days we have witnessed his conversion on the road to Damascus; we have accompanied him in spirit on three mission trips; and yesterday, when the Romans imprisoned him, we heard, as the Lord Jesus said to him: „ As you testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.“ (Acts 23,11). Since yesterday, we have been moving forward by more than two years. Paul spent this time as a prisoner in Caesarea and now begins to take significant steps towards his goal, Rome.

The rivalry of the Roman citizen was to appeal the dispute to the emperor in Rome. Paul uses this right (Acts 25:11) to avoid Jewish judgment. His future is sealed; he will go to the emperor (Acts 25,12). In today’s reading, we have a relatively long speech by Paul’s new captor, the Roman procurator Festus, who informs King Agrippa, currently present in Caesarea, about Paul’s case. It is gently reminiscent of the scene and figures from the Passion in Luke’s Gospel (Lk 23); also, Jesus was interrogated by the Roman procurator (Pilate) and consulted the king (Herodes) on the matter. Moreover, the author shows that, in both cases, the competent authorities find the defendant innocent.

Fest‘s speech in today’s reading is a preparation for a process to solve a serious problem; there is some „prisoner without guilt“, and it would be foolish to send him to the emperor, when a formulated accusation is missing (Acts 25, 26 27). We have the irony of power outlined here: even though the prosecutor can release Paul, he does not do it because he wants to thank the Jews (Acts 25,9). Considerations bind him, and he fears that he will lose his power. He is strong on the outside, but bound on the inside. Anyone who clings to his power, position, or authority is the same. He who is like Paul can serve the truth and build the common good; outwardly perhaps bound, but inwardly free.

Vesta‘s words reflect how someone from the outside looks at the Christian. He may be embarrassed (v. 20) because he is not interested in religious topics. But paradoxically, he can briefly and clearly describe what is at stake in the Christian faith; that Jesus died and lives (v. 19). In conclusion, let’s say that neither the council in Jerusalem, nor the emperor in Rome to whom Paul is sent, nor any other instance in the world can solve whether Jesus is dead or alive. Let’s raise this question in others with our good lives and show an answer that will bring joy and hope.

Today’s Word of God shows us the Holy Spirit in action. We see him working in three parallels: in the world he created, in the Church and in our hearts.

1. First in the world, he created creation. The Holy Spirit works from the beginning: “If you send your Spirit, they are created”, we pray in Psalm 104,30. He is the creator spirit (comp. vol. Augustine, In PS., XXXII,2,2), Creator Spirit: that’s why the Church has been invoking him for centuries. But we may ask: What does the Spirit do in the world’s creation? If everything comes from the Father, if everything is created through the Son, what is the specific role of the Spirit? The great church father, Saint Basil, wrote: “If you try to remove the Spirit from creation, all things will be mixed up and their lives will be shown without law, without order”. This is the role of the Spirit: he who at the beginning and in all times brings created realities from disorder into order, distraction into cohesion, confusion into harmony. We can always see this way of working in the church’s life. He gives harmony to the world in a word; thus, “he directs the passage of time and renews the face of the earth” (Gaudium et spes, 26; Ps 104,30). He restores the earth, but beware: not by changing reality, but by harmonizing it; that is his style, for he is harmony in himself: Ipse harmonic est (compare. vol. Basil, In PS, 29.1), says the Church Father.

There is so much discord in the world today, so much division. We are all connected, yet we find ourselves separated from each other, mortified by indifference and oppressed by loneliness. So many wars – think of wars! So many conflicts seem incredible, how much evil a person can do! In reality, however, our hostility is fueled by a spirit of division, the devil, whose name means “divider”. Yes, our evil, our schism, is preceded by an evil spirit that “seduces the whole earth” (Revel 12,9). He revels in antagonisms, injustice, slander: that is his pleasure. And in the face of evil schism, our efforts to build harmony are insufficient. And so the Lord at the top of his Passover, at the top of salvation, pours out his good Spirit, the Holy Spirit, on the created world, who opposes the spirit of division, because he is harmony, the Spirit of unity, which brings peace. Let us summon him daily to our world, our lives, and in the face of any division!

2. In addition to creation, we also see him work in the church, starting from the day of Pentecost. Note, however, that the Spirit does not begin the church by giving instructions and rules to the community, but by descending on each apostle: each receives special graces and various charisms. All this plurality of different gifts could confuse, but the Spirit, as in creation, likes to create harmony out of plurality. His harmony is not an imposed and standardized order; in the church, an order is “ordered according to the diversity of the gifts of the Spirit”. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descends in fiery tongues: He allows everyone to speak other tongues (compare.  2,4) and hear their spoken language (compare. Acts 2,6.11). So, it does not create one language for all; it does not blur the differences and cultures, but it harmonizes everything without homogenizing or uniformizing. And this must make us think at this time when the temptation of regressiveness seeks to homogenize everything according to regulations, but only externally, without substance. Let us stick with this aspect, with the Spirit, which does not begin with a structured project, as we would, who then often get lost in our programs; no, He starts with it, that he bestows free and over-rich gifts. As the text states at Pentecost, “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2,4). All fulfilled – this is how the church’s life begins: not based on a precise and articulated plan, but based on experience with the same love of God. The Holy Spirit thus creates harmony and invites us to experience wonder at his love and the gifts present in others. As Saint Paul told us, “There are many different charisms, but only one Spirit […] We have all been baptized by one Spirit into one body’ (1 Cor 12,4.13). To see every brother and sister in faith as part of the same body to which I belong is the harmonious view of the Spirit, the path he shows us!

And the present Synod is – and must be – the path according to the Spirit: not a Parliament that claims rights and needs according to the worldly agenda, not an opportunity to go where the wind blows us, but a chance to be obedient to the breath of the Spirit. Because on the sea of history the church sails only with him, who is the “soul of the church” (sv. Paul VI, address to the Sacred College on the occasion of name days, June 21, 1976), at the heart of synodalism, the driver of evangelization. Without Him, the church is indifferent, faith is a mere doctrine, morality a mere duty, pastoral care a mere work. And so often we hear so many so-called thinkers, theologians who present us with cold doctrines, they seem to be mathematical because they lack that Spirit within. With him, on the other hand, faith is life, the love of God wins us, and hope is born again. Let us return the Holy Spirit to the center of the church, otherwise our hearts will not burn with love for Jesus, but for ourselves. Let’s put the Spirit at the beginning and center of the synod’s work. Because “above all, the church needs Him today! So let’s call him every day: Come!”. And let us walk together, for the Spirit, as at Pentecost, likes to descend when “all are together” (compare Acts 2,1). To show himself to the world, he chose the time and place when everyone is together. To be filled with the Spirit, God’s people must therefore walk together and form a synod. Thus, harmony is renewed in the church: by wandering together with the Spirit in the middle. Brothers and sisters, let us build harmony in the church!

3. Finally, the Spirit creates harmony in our hearts. We see this in the Gospel, where Jesus breathes on the disciples on Easter evening and says: “Accept the Holy Spirit” (J 20,22). He gives it with a precise goal: to forgive sins, that is, to reconcile souls, to harmonize hearts torn by evil, shattered by wounds, broken by guilt. Only the Spirit brings harmony to the heart, creating “confidentiality with God”. If we want harmony, let us seek Him, not worldly substitutes. Let us call upon the Holy Spirit every day, let us begin every day with prayer to him, let us become submissive to him!

And today, on the day of his feast, let us ask ourselves: Am I yielding to the harmony of the Spirit? Or do I follow my plans and ideas without letting myself be shaped or changed by them? Is my way of experiencing faith submissive to the Spirit, or is it stubborn? Stubborn is compliant and stubborn in adherence to so-called teachings, but which are only a cold reflection of life?  I’m hasty in judging, pointing fingers, and slamming the door in the face of others. Do I consider myself a victim of everyone and everything? Or do I accept his harmonious creative power, the “grace of the whole” that he instills in me, his forgiveness that gives peace? And do I forgive, too? Forgiveness is the creation of space for the coming of the Spirit… Do I support reconciliation and create community, or am I still searching, sniffing to find a problem, to slander, to divide, to destroy? Do I forgive, support reconciliation, and create community? If the world is divided, the church is polarized, and the heart is fragmented, let us not waste time criticizing others and being angry with ourselves, but let us invoke the Spirit: He can solve these things.

To the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus and the Father, inexhaustible from the source of harmony, we entrust the world to you, we consecrate the church and our hearts to you. Come, Spirit Creator, harmony of mankind, renew the face of the earth. Come, Gift of gifts, unity of the church, unite us with you. Come, Spirit of forgiveness, harmony of heart, transform us, as You alone can, through Mary.

BIOGRAPHY

After entering the monastery, he longed to become a missionary among the pagans. He became a spreader of the true faith among the Germanic peoples. He founded monasteries, centers of Christian learning and faith. Furthermore, he succeeded because he combined his knowledge with deep piety, love for souls, obedience, and devotion to the papal chair. He also became legate for Germany and metropolitan of Cologne. When he was about to administer the sacrament of confirmation in the territory of North Holland, he was put to death with 52 companions by a crowd of armed pagans.

BIOGRAPHY FOR MEDITATION

GREAT APOSTLE OF GERMANY

He was born around 675 in Kirkton, located near Exeter in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex in what is now the south of England. Wilfrid was baptized. In his youth, he loved solitude and was raised according to his wishes in the Benedictine monastery in Exeter. He spent 13 years in it and then transferred to a monastery in Nursling, Southampton shire, where he adopted the habit of a Benedictine after taking vows. He began studying divinity at the same time and focused on science until age 40. Likewise, he mastered Latin and excelled in poetic art as well. For a time, he ran a convent school. He compiled a grammar textbook and a poetry manual. He did not receive the sacrament of the priesthood until about the age of 30. Furthermore, he became zealous in the pulpit and in the confessional.

Three loves stood out in his life—the characteristics of the Benedictines: the love of writing, missionary activity, and the Roman successor of St. Petra.

According to some reports, Pope Gregory II gave the name Boniface. In 716, after forty, he went with three companions to the European mainland in pagan Friesland to preach the gospel. He came to the Germanic tribe in what is now Holland and northwestern Germany. The Franks ruled over the Frisians there, who rebelled against them, and in such a situation, missionary activity seemed impossible.

Wilfrid returned to Nursling and was elected abbot. However, he soon renounced his rank, demanding Stephen’s appointment from the Bishop of Winchester and his permission to go to Rome. He longed for the Pope’s blessing to evangelize the Germans. Gregory II left him with him for about a year, and in mid-May 719, he commissioned him to proclaim the Gospel among the Germans, giving him the name of the martyr Boniface.

Boniface came to the Frisians via Thuringia and with the native Wilford (pam. 7. 11.) and was quite successful. Then Boniface was sent by the Pope to Hesse in the Middle Rhineland. He saw that obtaining the ruling circles and installing a bishop was necessary there. He therefore turned to the Pope, who invited him to Rome to consecrate him as bishop for the Germanic regions in the territory of present-day Germany. It happened on the 30th. 11. 722. The Pope also gave Boniface letters of recommendation for the critical Frankish butler Charles Mertel and the Thuringian and Saxon princes. With the help of Anglo-Saxon clergy, Boniface then began to establish monasteries as strongholds of Christianity. He also went to Hesse again, where many Christians turned to superstition, witchcraft, and offering sacrifices to idols.

The villagers of Fritzlar, near Geismar, had a massive oak tree dedicated to the thunder lord Thor as their front deity. Boniface decided to cut and cut it. The people waited in horror to see what would happen, and when Thor proved powerless towards Boniface, the people went over to the side of Boniface. He still built the chapel of St. Petra. Then, in Thuringia, he solved the problems of priests’ insufficient education and shortcomings in faith. He founded two monasteries for youth education. In 725, he begged for more priests and expanded the number of his associates.

Pope Gregory III in 732 appointed Boniface as archbishop, with the authority to consecrate other bishops. Six years later, Boniface visited Rome for the third time, and before returning to the mission, the Pope appointed him as his legate for a wide missionary area. His task also included reforming the Frankish clergy and building church organizations in Bavaria, Hesse, and Thuringia. This was needed because the local feudal lords wanted to install their people in church ranks. Charles Mertel was only partially in favor of him and did not want to understand the church organization subject to Rome. It was not until after 741, when his sons took over, that the situation managed to change, and in 743 the church synods began to be convened, which prepared the ecclesiastical restoration of the Frankish Empire. Establishing an ecclesiastical metropolis in Cologne was decided, and Boniface became the first metropolitan. In 744, an important monastery was founded in Fulda, later responsible for continuing Boniface’s work. In 747, Carlo man, ruling in the eastern regions, gave up his rule in favor of his brother Pippin the Short, who then ruled the entire Frankish Empire and is said to have behaved with restraint towards Boniface. So far, the eighties have come close to this, and he has handed over the archbishopric to Lull. However, missionary zeal did not leave him, so he visited the first regions of his activity. At Dokkum, he prepared confirmation and was ambushed by a group of fanatical pagans who murdered not only him, but also killed the entire group of his 52 companions.

The Christians transported him to Utrecht in what is now the Netherlands, where they buried him in the cathedral there. However, Abbot Storm eventually transferred his remains to the monastery in Fulda.

RESOLUTION, PRAYER

I will ask for blessings from others around me today and get used to blessing at least my loved ones.

God, You strengthened Saint Bishop Boniface to proclaim the truths of the gospel and did not hesitate to seal your faith with your blood; through his intercession, help us keep the faith we have accepted, and live by it too. Through Your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, He lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit throughout all ages. 

After falling into sin, man realized that he was naked. A naked man is a man without a weapon. This is a person who has no protection. This is a person who has no dignity. The slaves were naked. However, God did not abandon man and began caring for him. God made a leather garment for Adam and his wife and clothed them. Let’s note one more thing, which is associated with original sin. That is, original sin does not have an eternal duration. God prevented man. To access the tree of life. God expelled man from paradise. He prevents a person from immortalizing death. The tree of life was prepared for man. But man has let the poison of death into his life. The moment he tasted the tree of life, he would have fallen away from God permanently and would have risen to the level of Satan. That is why God did not allow man to eat from the tree of life. Expulsion from paradise is a sign of love. God saves man, because a man far from God’s love would be able to destroy everything. Let go of the irresponsible fool to the atomic bomb. He will destroy the whole world. Sin began with man’s failure to accept his dependence on God. He did not accept what he had prepared for him. He chose himself instead of God. Turning away from God is a sin. By sin a man gains nothing, but he loses everything.

„What? What Spirit?“ The disciples Paul met in Ephesus did not know that there was any Holy Spirit, nor that Jesus was the Messiah. But when Paul preached the good news to them and prayed with them, their eyes were opened, and they saw the spiritual gifts that belonged to them through Christ from that moment on. The Ephesian disciples knew that the Holy Spirit had descended on them„ because they could prophesy and speak in the languages that God had given them, “compare. Acts 19, 6). Such manifestations were a clear sign of the presence of the Spirit in the early Church (see 1 Cor 12, 4-11); even today, some believers experience these charismatic gifts. But although the gift of prophesying and speaking in tongues are among the more visible signs of the Holy Spirit, the Scriptures also mention other gifts of the Spirit that we can experience (see Isa 11, 2-3): 

• when you ask for guidance in prayer and some wise thought comes to mind, that too is the gift of the Holy Spirit; • when you find yourself tempted to do or say something reckless, but then you think of praying first Hail Mary, thanks to which you can finally resist it – know that it was advice from the Holy Spirit; • when you desire recognition for your performance, the fear of the Lord will remind you that all your gifts and talents come from God; • when you are confused about some moral question of the teaching of the Church and come across a book that will make you understand the matter better, the Spirit grants you reason and knowledge; • when you are already at the end of your strength, but still persevere in faith, that fills you with the Spirit of strength; • when you experience restlessness, but during the Holy Mass you suddenly feel that God loves you, the Spirit gives you piety. Pentecost is approaching.

So let’s ask the Holy Spirit to fill us with his gifts so we can serve him and his mysterious body even better. Don’t be afraid to beg boldly and expectantly. Remember that God „ does not give His Spirit according to measure“ (compare Jn 3, 34) – so he doesn’t just give it a little, as if for rationing. You may need strength or wisdom during this period of your life. Perhaps you would like to experience one of his charisms. Whatever it is, don’t be shy to beg. God always wants to give you more than you want to get from him.

Come, Holy Spirit! Abound and increase your gifts in me.