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The fulness of the Holy Spirit is a continuous appropriation of a continuous supply from Jesus Christ Himself; a moment by moment faith in a moment by moment filling and moment by moment cleansing. The moment I begin to believe, that moment I begin to receive, and
as long as I go on believing, praise the Lord! I go on receiving. - Charles Inwood
(We can never receive more than the Spirit can give. What do you seek from the Spirit this day?) |
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HG 2:1-9; PS 43:1, 2, 3, 4; LK 9:18-22
R. Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God.
Do me justice, O God, and fight my fight against a faithless
people; from the deceitful and impious man rescue me.
For you, O God, are my strength. Why do you keep me so far away? Why must I go about in mourning, with the enemy oppressing me?
Send forth your light and your fidelity; they shall lead me on And bring me to your holy mountain, to your dwelling place.
Then will I go in to the altar of
God, the God of my gladness and joy; Then will I give you thanks upon the harp, O God, my God!
USCCB Lectionary
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If we want to share in the victory of the Lord Jesus, then we must also take up our cross and follow where he leads us. What is the "cross" that you and I must take up each day? When my will crosses (does not align) with God's will, then his will must be done. To know Jesus Christ is to know the power of his victory on
the cross where he defeated sin and conquered death through his resurrection. The Holy Spirit gives each of us the gifts and strength we need to live as sons and daughters of God. The Holy Spirit gives us faith to know the Lord Jesus personally as our Redeemer, and the power to live the gospel faithfully, and the courage to witness to others the joy, truth, and freedom of the Gospel. Who do you say that Jesus is?
"Lord Jesus, I believe and I profess that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Take my life, my will, and all that I have, that I may be wholly yours now and forever." DailyScripture.net
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The Way of Perfection, by Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
Treats of these words in the Paternoster: "Dimitte nobis debita nostra."
Our good Master sees
that, if we have this heavenly food, everything is easy for us, except when we are ourselves to blame, and that we are well able to fulfil our undertaking to the Father that His will shall be done in us. So He now asks Him to forgive us our debts, as we ourselves forgive others. Thus, continuing the prayer which He is teaching us, He says these words: "And forgive us, Lord, our debts, even as we forgive them to our debtors."
Notice, sisters, that He does not say: "as we shall forgive." We are to understand that anyone who asks for so great a gift as that just mentioned, and has already yielded his own will to the will of God, must have done this already. And so He says: "as we forgive our debtors." Anyone, then, who sincerely repeats this petition, "Fiat voluntas tua", must, at least in intention, have done this already. You see now why the
saints rejoiced in insults and persecutions: it was because these gave them something to present to the Lord when they prayed to Him. What can a poor creature like myself do, who has had so little to forgive others and has so much to be forgiven herself? This, sisters, is something which we should consider carefully; it is such a serious and important matter that God should pardon us our sins, which have merited eternal fire, that we must pardon all trifling things which have been done to us and
which are not wrongs at all, or anything else. For how is it possible, either in word or in deed, to wrong one who, like myself, has deserved to be plagued by devils for ever? Is it not only right that I should be plagued in this world too? As I have so few, Lord, even of these trifling things, to offer Thee, Thy pardoning of me must be a free gift: there is abundant scope here for Thy mercy. Thy Son must pardon me, for no one has done me any injustice, and so there has been nothing that I can
pardon for Thy sake. But take my desire to do so, Lord, for I believe I would forgive any wrong if Thou wouldst forgive me and I might unconditionally do Thy will. True, if the occasion were to arise, and I were condemned without cause, I do not know what I should do. But at this moment I see that I am so guilty in Thy sight that everything I might have to suffer would fall short of my deserts, though anyone not knowing, as Thou knowest, what I am, would think I was being wronged. Blessed be
Thou, Who endurest one that is so poor: when Thy most holy Son makes this petition in the name of all mankind, I cannot be included, being such as I am and having nothing to give. - Chapter 36
(Keep in mind that she is writing to sisters in a cloistered contemplative order.) Paperback (Kindle edition available)
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