Author: Emeka Nwachukwu

Wednesday, May 27^th

OPENING  PRAYER: Father, pour out your Spirit upon all your children,
especially on all the members of our parish family.
Grant us all a new vision of Your glory, a new experience of Your power,
a new faithfulness to Your word, and a new consecration to Your service,
that Your love may grow among us and your Kingdom come.
We make this prayer through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

REFLECTION:  Richard Rohr – The Risen Jesus: God’s hidden plan
You cannot see Jesus until you have believed in him (John 20:16,28). If you accept that there was a Resurrection, that will not necessarily lead to faith. But if you receive the gift of faith, you will necessarily experience the Resurrection. “And that joy no one shall take from you” (John 16:22).
We cannot see love itself, but we can see what happens to those who have been loved. We can see the power and gentleness of those who let themselves be loved by Jesus. We know that there is endless life welling up within us. We know that when we dare to look at others with “unveiled” faces, they begin “reflecting like mirrors the brightness of the Lord and all grow brighter and brighter as we are turned into the image that we reflect; this is the work of the Lord who is Spirit – and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17,18).

CLOSING LITANY:

Response: Spirit of God, come into our hearts: make us your new creation.
Spirit of light, let the fire of your wisdom burn brightly within us. R.
Spirit of silence, in the still moment may we be open to God’s presence. R.
Spirit of courage, dispel the fear that lingers in our hearts. R.
Spirit of fire, engulf us with the passion of Christ’s love.  R.
Spirit of peace, help us to be attentive to God’s word in the world.  R.
Spirit of joy, enthuse us to proclaim aloud the Good News. R.
Spirit of love, compel us to open ourselves to the needs of others.  R.
Spirit of power, bestow the gift of your strength upon us.  R
Spirit of truth, guide us to walk in the way of Christ.  R.

Tuesday, May 26^th

OPENING  PRAYER: Father, pour out your Spirit upon all your children,
especially on all the members of our parish family.
Grant us all a new vision of Your glory, a new experience of Your power,
a new faithfulness to Your word, and a new consecration to Your service,
that Your love may grow among us and your Kingdom come.
We make this prayer through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

REFLECTION: Pope Francis – The Joy of Discipleship – Astonishment
A fundamental element of Pentecost is astonishment. Our God is a God of astonishment, this we know. No-one expected anything more from the disciples: after Jesus’ death, they were a small insignificant group of defeated orphans of their master. There occurred instead an unexpected event that astounded: the people were astonished because each of them heard the disciples speaking in their own tongues, telling of the great works of God (Acts 2:6-7,11). The Church born at Pentecost is an astounding community because, with the force of her arrival from God, a new message is proclaimed – the resurrection of Christ – with a new language, the universal one of love. A new proclamation: Christ lives; he is risen. A new language: the language of love. The disciples are adorned with power from above and speak with courage. Only minutes before, they all were cowardly; but now they speak with courage and candour, with the freedom of the Holy Spirit.

CLOSING LITANY:

Response: Spirit of God, come into our hearts: make us your new creation.
Spirit of light, let the fire of your wisdom burn brightly within us. R.
Spirit of silence, in the still moment may we be open to God’s presence. R.
Spirit of courage, dispel the fear that lingers in our hearts. R.
Spirit of fire, engulf us with the passion of Christ’s love.  R.
Spirit of peace, help us to be attentive to God’s word in the world.  R.
Spirit of joy, enthuse us to proclaim aloud the Good News. R.
Spirit of love, compel us to open ourselves to the needs of others.  R.
Spirit of power, bestow the gift of your strength upon us.  R
Spirit of truth, guide us to walk in the way of Christ.  R.

 Monday, May 25^th

OPENING  PRAYER:
Father, pour out your Spirit upon all your children,
especially on all the members of our parish family.
Grant us all a new vision of Your glory, a new experience of Your power,
a new faithfulness to Your word, and a new consecration to Your service,
that Your love may grow among us and your Kingdom come.
We make this prayer through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

REFLECTION: Gabrielle Kelly O.P. – Encounter

It happened a few days after Pentecost, when I was visiting a large city in India to see the work that was being done there by our Sisters. I was walking past a rubbish tip when I saw this woman, salvaging filthy bits of plastic from the foul-smelling heap. I saw her sweaty, dusty face and thought, ‘She is somebody’s family, she could be my own sister! Suddenly it hit me: she is my sister!’
I had been reflecting on those people who had experienced the first Pentecost and wondering how the first Pentecost experience happens in us?
Later, it dawned on me. Wasn’t that encounter with that woman an occasion of the Holy Spirit acting in me? Wasn’t that confronting insight a small ray of the Pentecost experience? Come, light of our hearts! For Pentecost is surely about seeing differently, with Christ’s Spirit bringing not so much new ideas as new enlightenment of the heart, impelling action. The Holy Spirit, Love itself, is the very Spirit of solidarity, bridging every divide, transcending language and every other barrier. The One who teaches us to experience not ‘others’, but sisters and brothers, is indeed the selfsame Spirit who cries ‘Abba’ in our hearts. Could I even now, learn a new sensitivity to the presence of this Spirit, who alone can guide our work aright?
Come, Holy Spirit – come today!

CLOSING LITANY:

Response: Spirit of God, come into our hearts: make us your new creation.
Spirit of light, let the fire of your wisdom burn brightly within us. R.
Spirit of silence, in the still moment may we be open to God’s presence. R.
Spirit of courage, dispel the fear that lingers in our hearts. R.
Spirit of fire, engulf us with the passion of Christ’s love.  R.
Spirit of peace, help us to be attentive to God’s word in the world.  R.
Spirit of joy, enthuse us to proclaim aloud the Good News. R.
Spirit of love, compel us to open ourselves to the needs of others.  R.
Spirit of power, bestow the gift of your strength upon us.  R.
Spirit of truth, guide us to walk in the way of Christ.  R.

May 24^th – 7^th Sunday of Easter

OPENING  PRAYER:

Father, pour out your Spirit upon all your children,
especially on all the members of our parish family.
Grant us all a new vision of Your glory, a new experience of Your power,
a new faithfulness to Your word, and a new consecration to Your service,
that Your love may grow among us and your Kingdom come.
We make this prayer through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

REFLECTION: Pope Francis – The Joy of Discipleship

The older theologians used to say that the soul is a kind of sailboat, the Holy Spirit is the wind that fills its sails and drives it forward, and the gusts of wind are the gifts of the Spirit. Lacking his impulse and his grace, we do not go forward. The Holy Spirit draws us into the mystery of the living God and saves us from the threat of a Church that is closed in on itself. He impels us to open the doors and go forth to proclaim and bear witness to the good news of the Gospel, to communicate the joy of faith, the encounter with Christ. Speaking to the apostles at the Last Supper, Jesus said that after he left this world he would send them the gift of the Father, that is, the Holy Spirit (John 15:26). This promise was powerfully fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples, who were gathered in the Upper Room. This extraordinary outpouring was not limited solely to that moment but was an event that was renewed and still continues to be renewed.

CLOSING LITANY:

Response: Spirit of God, come into our hearts: make us your new creation.
Spirit of light, let the fire of your wisdom burn brightly within us. R.
Spirit of silence, in the still moment may we be open to God’s presence. R.
Spirit of courage, dispel the fear that lingers in our hearts. R.
Spirit of fire, engulf us with the passion of Christ’s love.  R.
Spirit of peace, help us to be attentive to God’s word in the world.  R.
Spirit of joy, enthuse us to proclaim aloud the Good News. R.
Spirit of love, compel us to open ourselves to the needs of others.  R.
Spirit of power, bestow the gift of your strength upon us.  R
Spirit of truth, guide us to walk in the way of Christ.  R.