Friday, May 2, 2008

PENTECOST Novena (Day 1)

PENTECOST Novena of Seven Gifts

FIRST DAY (Friday, 6th Week of Easter)

Holy Spirit! Lord of Light! From Your clear celestial height, Your pure beaming radiance give!

The Holy Spirit

Only one thing is important -- eternal salvation. Only one thing, therefore, is to be feared--sin· Sin is the result of ignorance, weakness, and indifference The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Light, of Strength, and of Love. With His sevenfold gifts He enlightens the mind, strengthens the will, and inflames the heart with love of God. To ensure our salvation we ought to invoke the Divine Spirit daily, for "The Spirit helpeth our infirmity. We know not what we should pray for as we ought. But the Spirit Himself asketh for us."

Prayer

Almighty and eternal God, Who hast vouchsafed to regenerate us by water and the Holy Spirit, and hast given us forgiveness all sins, vouchsafe to send forth from heaven upon us your sevenfold Spirit, the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and fortitude, the Spirit of Knowledge and Piety, and fill us with the Spirit of Holy Fear. Amen.

Our Father and Hail Mary ONCE.
Glory be to the Father SEVEN TIMES.

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE HOLY SPIRIT
On my knees before the great multitude of heavenly witnesses, I offer myself, soul and body to You, Eternal Spirit of God. I adore the brightness of Your purity, the unerring keenness of Your justice, and the might of Your love. You are the Strength and Light of my soul. In You I live and move and am. I desire never to grieve You by unfaithfulness to grace and I pray with all my heart to be kept from the smallest sin against You. Mercifully guard my every thought and grant that I may always watch for Your light, and listen to Your voice, and follow Your gracious inspirations. I cling to You and give myself to You and ask You, by Your compassion to watch over me in my weakness. Holding the pierced Feet of Jesus and looking at His Five Wounds, and trusting in His Precious Blood and adoring His opened Side and stricken Heart, I implore You, Adorable Spirit, Helper of my infirmity, to keep me in Your grace that I may never sin against You. Give me grace, O Holy Spirit, Spirit of the Father and the Son to say to You always and everywhere, "Speak Lord for Your servant heareth." Amen.

God is Good (come on, sing it with me)




God is good all the time by Don Moen


Chorus:
God is good all the time
He put a song of praise
In this heart of Mine;
God is good all the time
Through the darknes night
His light we shine
God is good, God is good
all the time.

***
God is good all the time
He put a song of praise
In this heart of Mine;
God is good all the time
Through the darknes night
His light we shine
God is good, God is good
all the time.

If youre walking through the shadows
And there are shadows all around
Do not fear, He will guide you
He will keep you safe and sound
He has promised to never leave you
Nor forsake you, and His word is true

***
God is good all the time
He put a song of praise
In this heart of Mine;
God is good all the time
Through the darknes night
His light we shine
God is good, God is good
all the time.

II
We were sinners so unworthy
Still for us He chose to die
Filled us with His Holy spirit
Now we can stand and testify
That His love everlasting
And his mercies they will never end.
Though I may not understand
All the plans You have for me
My life is in Your hands
And thorough the eyes of faith
I can clearly see.

(repeat chorus)
He’s so good, God is good,
He’s so good, God is good,
He’s so good all the time."

God is indeed good all the time!

USCCB - (NAB) - May 2, 2008:
"Gospel
Jn 16:20-23

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices;
you will grieve, but your grief will become joy
.
When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived;
but when she has given birth to a child,
she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy
that a child has been born into the world.
So you also are now in anguish.
But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice,
and no one will take your joy away from you.
On that day you will not question me about anything.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.”"

Those of you who have been with me a while are probably getting sick of hearing this story...lol...it has become my 'Passover' story for the past six years now. My testimony of God's great love for me and my family. There are moments when I forget...it's probably better that way...but then there are days like today when it all comes flooding back to me.

The Lord called me to Mass this morning...as I was pulling out of the driveway, I sort of wondered what He was up to...lol. He seems to draw me in at the moments when I really need to hear something. So I sat at Mass and listened...1'st reading was ok...but nothing hit me particularly hard...until the Gospel was proclaimed. WOW...the tears started falling down my cheeks...but unlike tears that I had shed in the past...these were happy tears...tears that came from remembering that God indeed is Good all the Time.

You see...the Gospel that was read today is the same one that was read at my husband's Cursillo weekend, six years ago. During Lectio Divina that weekend, he was asked to meditate on the above scripture and to allow the Lord to speak to Him personally. That weekend was also Mother's Day weekend. One of the hardest that I had ever had to endure. I had lost my mom a few years before, was childless, was alone for the weekend and in physical pain...I spent the day in bed actually...in gut wrenching agony.

Well...a couple of days later we got a call from Catholic Charities...and got the news that a baby had indeed been born that Mother's Day (it was May 12'th that year). The rest is history. We will be celebrating Sarah's birthday in just a short while, and today the Lord reminded me of how far He has carried me.