Day 2
Encounter Jesus

Yesterday, we talked about our thirst for God is the ultimate driving force motivating us to follow the Father's will for us to become holy. And according to St. Faustina, God the Son, Jesus, has the greatest desire and thirst to grant us anything we need leading us to holiness. Nothing, not even our faults or falls, can block Jesus from hurrying Himself to our aid. And all it takes from us is a little good will in our heart. How powerful is this realization!

Our desire to return to the Father's house

Have you ever imagined how eager Jesus must be to return to His Father after He had completed His Father's will for Him on earth? Can we also share Jesus' eagerness that originates from the intense love between the Father and the Son, which we know is the Holy Spirit?

Divine Empowerment

Upon His return to the Father's house, Jesus is very eager to send His Spirit to us. And as St. Faustina described, Jesus hurries to come to our aid! But Jesus requires us to pray hard TOGETHER to prepare ourselves to properly receive the Holy Spirit, which is this period between the Ascension and the Pentecost. During this period, we need to prepare our mind, heart, and spirit so that we can fully embrace the Holy Spirit into our beings and our lives, and He will generously empower us, without reserve, to do the Father's will and to attain holiness.

Best Role Model

If we desire to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us on our paths to holiness, we also need to mimic Jesus in how He relates Himself to the Father. As such, we will be in full communion with the Father, Son, and the Spirit. With this desire, the Holy Spirit can truly dwell in us, mold us, and move us. This way, we live in the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to take us to places according to the Father’s will. We are then truly a temple of the Holy Spirit.

Encounter Jesus

The best way to follow the role model of Jesus is to ENCOUNTER Him. It is through our encountering Jesus that we can KNOW Him better. And we begin to taste and see how Jesus relates to the Father, the Spirit, and Mother Mary. One of the best ways to know and encounter Jesus is through the Scriptures, especially the Gospel messages that Jesus Himself has proclaimed. That's why building a healthy habit to read, and contemplate on the Bible is key in our quest to know, to love, and to serve God, which is our ultimate goal in life.

Keeping this intention in our hearts and taking actions to achieve it, we can lay the foundation necessary to truly live in the Spirit, and a full communion with the Holy Trinity.

We will soon move on to explore the different ways to connect with and live in the Holy Spirit, and how we can more easily and readily conform ourselves to the motions of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Dear Holy Spirit, I thank you for coming to my aid. I know that you are knocking at my door. Grant me the desire to let you in to dwell within me, the will to allow you to take control of my life, and the determination to fend off any resistance within me that blocks your wind from blowing where you will. I ask all these in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Novena to the Holy Spirit:

Invocation Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love. O Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul, I adore you. Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, and console me. Tell me what to do, direct my every choice.I promise to submit myself to all you desire of me and to accept all that you permit to happen to me. Let me only know your will.Grant this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Day Two Needing the Spirit “Beloved of God”Romans: 8:2, 5, 14-16: For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed you from the law of sin and death.Those who live according to the flesh are concerned with things of the flesh,but those who live according to the spirit the things of the spirit.For those who are lead by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery tofall back into fear.But you received a spirit of adoption by which we cry, “Abba,Father!”The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

Meditation: And greater works than these shall you do. Each individual has the ability to do good works through the power of God’s Spirit. This is one of the wonders of the world, the miracle of the earth, that God’s power goes out to bless the human race through the agency of so many people who are actuated by His grace. We need not be held back by doubt, despondency and fear. A wonderful future lies before any person who depends on God’s power; a future of tremendous power to do good work.Prayer for the Day: Lord, you said in your Word that those who are lead by the Spirit of God are your own children. Lord, I turn from setting my mind on the things of the flesh and I asked to be focused on things of the Spirit that I might please you. Holy Spirit, come to the aid of my weakness and intercede for me in accordance with the mind of God.Oh, how I long to call you “Abba!” Help me be open to the Spirit that I can truly testify that I am your beloved child. Amen.

Prayer for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit

O Lord Jesus Christ, Who, before ascending into heaven, did promise to send the Holy Spirit to finish Your work in the souls of Your Apostles and Disciples, deign to grant the same Holy Spirit to me that He may perfect in my soul, the work of Your grace and Your love. Grant me the Spirit of Wisdom that I may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after the things that are eternal, the Spirit of Understanding to enlighten my mind with the light of Your divine truth, the Spirit of Counsel that I may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining heaven, the Spirit of Fortitude that I may bear my cross with You and that I may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose my salvation, the Spirit of Knowledge that I may know God and know myself and grow perfect in the science of the Saints, the Spirit of Piety that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable, and the Spirit of Fear that I may be filled with a loving reverence towards God and may dread in any way to displease Him. Mark me, dear Lord, with the sign of Your true disciples and animate me in all things with Your Spirit. Amen.