• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

The Passionists of Holy Cross Province

The Love that Compels

  • Online Masses
    • Passionist Online Masses and Services
  • 300th Jubilee
    • Jubilaeum Video
    • Opening Mass of the Passionist Jubilee Year
    • Video: 300th Jubilee – English
    • Video: Jubileo Pasionista – Español
    • Jubilee Icon Itinerary
    • Jubilee Resources
    • Jubilee Song
  • Pray
    • Daily Reflections
    • Prayer Request
    • Sunday Homily
    • Passionist Spirituality and Prayer
    • Video: Stations of the Cross
    • Prayer and Seasonal Cards
  • Grow
    • Journey into the Mystery of Christ Crucified
    • Celebrating the Feast of St. Paul of the Cross
    • Subscribe to E-News
    • Passionist Magazine
      • Passionist Magazine, Spring 2020
    • Passionist Ministries
      • Preaching
      • Hispanic Ministry
      • Haiti
      • Parish Life
      • Earth and Spirit Center
      • Education
      • Fr. Cedric Pisegna, CP, Live with Passion!
    • Retreat Centers
    • Passionist Solidarity Network
    • Vision Fulfillment Newsletters
    • Sacred Heart Monastery
      • History of Sacred Heart Monastery
      • A Day in the Life of Senior Passionists
      • “Pillars” of the Community
  • Join
    • Fr. Nicholas Divine, CP, Ordination
    • Are You Being Called?
    • Discerning Your Call
    • Pray With Us
    • Passionist Vocation Directors
    • Lay Partnerships
  • Connect
    • Find a Passionist
    • Passionist Websites
    • Fr. Cedric Pisegna, CP, Live with Passion!
    • Passionist Alumni Association
      • Reunions
      • 2019 Passionist Alumni Reunion
      • Welcome
      • Letter from the Provincial
        • These Men We Call Our Brothers
      • Mission Statement
      • CrossRoads Bulletin
      • Alumni Enrollment Form
        • Alumni Survey
      • Reunion Photo Gallery
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Monthly Giving
    • Leave a Legacy
      • Giving Matters
      • Ways to Give
      • Donor Relations
      • Testimonials
    • Prayer and Seasonal Cards
    • Privacy Policy Statement
  • Learn
    • Our Founder
    • History
    • The Letters of St. Paul of the Cross
    • The Diary of St. Paul of the Cross
    • Mission and Charism
    • Saints and Blesseds
    • FAQs
    • Find a Passionist
    • STUDIES IN PASSIONIST HISTORY AND SPIRITUALITY
  • Safe Environments

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.

Footer

Facebook Feed

Support the Passionists

Contact the Passionists

The Passionists of Holy Cross Province
660 Busse Highway | Park Ridge, IL 60068
Tel: 847.518.8844 | Toll-free: 800.295.9048 | Fax: 847.518.0461
Safe Environments | Board Member Portal | Copyright © 2021 | Log in