The Passionists of Holy Cross Province

The Love that Compels

Daily Scripture, May 24, 2015

Pentecost SundayPentecost

Scripture:

Acts 2:1-11
1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Galatians 5:16-25
John 20:19-23

Reflection:

He breathed:  on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. John 20:22           

Years ago when I was trained in CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation ) the common practice was to breath into the patient.   This is no longer encouraged.  But it strikingly shows how important it is for us to breathe.   We cannot stay alive for much more than three minutes without breathing! On the average a person at rest takes about 16 breaths per minute.   We are air guzzlers using about two gallons of air a minute.  At that rate I could only drive about 10 minutes before I would have to stop and refuel my pick-up truck!  We need a tremendous supply of fuel of the Holy Spirit to stay alive spiritually.

The Holy Spirit in its etiological roots means both in Hebrew and Greek wind or breath.  We are no less depended on the Holy Spirit than we are on the air we breathe.  “Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” Gen 2:7      The Holy Spirit certainly is the “breath of life”!  Devotion to the Spirit can never be reduced to an optional private choice but is the power source of our spiritual life.   Paul reminds us in the second reading: “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by Holy Spirit.”1Cor 12:3   I find it interesting that we describe our life with Jesus as “our Spiritual life”.

“And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were.  Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” Act 2:2  There are some 400 references to the Spirit in New Testament.  Just about every spiritual gift we can think of is attributed to Holy Spirit, this “divine wind”.

The Spirit is called “the life maker”.  “It is the Spirit who gives life” John 6:63  In the Greek New Testament He is called: zōopoieō Literally life maker.  May this “divine breath” recreate us in the image of Christ!

 

Fr. Bob Weiss, C.P. preaches Parish Missions and is a member of the Passionist Community in Louisville, Kentucky.

Ash Wednesday

On March 2, the Church celebrates Ash Wednesday. 

Most of us learned early in our Catholic lives that Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent, and that is a time of special sacrifice in preparation for the Easter celebration of Jesus’ Resurrection.

Dear brothers and sisters, every moment of our lives is a time for believing, hoping and loving…. These words of Pope Francis, taken from his Lenten Message of last year, 2021, and echoing the virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity, can still inspire our answer to the question: “What am I giving up for Lent?” 

We can draw our Lenten sacrifices out of our daily life: 

Share our faith in God’s presence by sharing in prayer with our family or with those in our parish community.
Share our hope in God’s promises by encouraging positive and respectful dialogue in our family circle and among our friends. 
Share the charity God has bestowed on us in the Passion of Jesus, with those whose sufferings are ignored or aggravated.

Let us pray for one another as we enter the season of Lent. Our Passionist “motto” can be our daily prayer during Lent, “May the Passion of Jesus Christ be always in our hearts.”