BEADS OF JOY 06-04-17
“Pentecost Sunday”
©2017 James Dacey, Jr. OFS
My Friends,
Today’s Gospel: John 20:19-23 (Appears To The Disciples)
“On the evening of that day, the
first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear
of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace
be with you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his
side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them
again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send
you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them,
"Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they
are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
Reflection:
The gift of Pentecost is a most joyous, overflowing, life-giving, exciting, incredible, faith-filled, loving gift. We are so blessed in this life to have Jesus Christ and Jesus blessed us with the Holy Spirit. By the power and gift and fruits of the Holy Spirit, we are guided and directed and led to always live a life that stay focused on Jesus. This life can easily distract us and mislead us and lead us astray. It is by the guidance of the Holy Spirit that we will gain the proper understanding necessary to stay more clearly focused on Jesus throughout our journey in this life.
"The holy mystery of the day of the Holy Spirit, Pentecost, is to be understood in the following manner: the spirit of man must be completed and perfected by the Holy Spirit, that is, it must be sanctified, illuminated, and divinized by the Holy Spirit. This holy mystery is realized continually in the Church of Christ and because of this the Church is really a continuous Pentecost.... From Holy Pentecost, the day of the Holy Spirit, every God-like soul in the Church of Christ is an incombustible bush which continuously burns and is inflamed with God and has a fiery tongue within it." ~St. Justin Popovich
Nothing in this life is worth
more to us, than the gifts of this most joyous celebration. The gifts of the
Holy Spirit shall forever keep us focused on Jesus in all that we do, in all
that we want, in all that we desire. Jesus shall remain to be our focus. Do the
cares of this world matter? Yes, but we must keep the cares of eternity
in perspective, for they are of much greater value to us; and praise Jesus it
is the Holy Spirit that helps us do just that. The 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit
are: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety and Fear of
The Lord.
And did you know. There are 12 fruits of the Holy Spirit and
they are: Charity, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Generosity,
Faithfulness, Modesty, Self-Control and Chastity. We are absolutely
amazingly blessed aren’t we.
"Whatever the soul may think fit to do itself, whatever care and pains it may take, relying only upon its own power, and thinking to be able to affect a perfect success by itself, without the co-operation of the Spirit, it is greatly mistaken. It is of no use for the heavenly places; it is of no use for the kingdom - that soul, which supposes that it can achieve perfect purity of itself, and by itself alone, without the Spirit. Unless the man who is under the influence of the passions will come to God, denying the world, and will believe with patience and hope to receive a good thing foreign to his own nature, namely the power of the Holy Spirit, and unless the Lord shall drop upon the soul from on high the life of the Godhead, such a man will never experience true life, will never recover from the drunkenness of materialism; the enlightenment of the Spirit will never shine in that benighted soul, or kindle in it a holy daytime; it will never awake out of that deepest sleep of ignorance, and so come to know God of a truth through God's power and the efficacy of grace.” ~St. Macarius the Great,
"Whatever the soul may think fit to do itself, whatever care and pains it may take, relying only upon its own power, and thinking to be able to affect a perfect success by itself, without the co-operation of the Spirit, it is greatly mistaken. It is of no use for the heavenly places; it is of no use for the kingdom - that soul, which supposes that it can achieve perfect purity of itself, and by itself alone, without the Spirit. Unless the man who is under the influence of the passions will come to God, denying the world, and will believe with patience and hope to receive a good thing foreign to his own nature, namely the power of the Holy Spirit, and unless the Lord shall drop upon the soul from on high the life of the Godhead, such a man will never experience true life, will never recover from the drunkenness of materialism; the enlightenment of the Spirit will never shine in that benighted soul, or kindle in it a holy daytime; it will never awake out of that deepest sleep of ignorance, and so come to know God of a truth through God's power and the efficacy of grace.” ~St. Macarius the Great,
In our Profession of Faith in the Catechism
of The Catholic Church when “I Believe In The Holy Spirit” is broken
down into its full understanding. Here is the link to the Vatican to see it
directly: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p1s2c3a8.htm
“The Saints in Heaven through the Holy Spirit
behold the glory of God and the beauty of the Lord's Countenance. But in this
same Holy Spirit they see our lives too, and our deeds. They know our sorrows
and hear our burning prayers. When they were living on earth they learned of
the love of God from the Holy Spirit; and he who knows love on earth takes it
with him into eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven, where love grows and
becomes perfect. And if love makes one unable to forget a brother here, how
much more must the Saints remember and pray for us!” ~St. Silouan the
Athonite
“Through the Holy Spirit comes our
restoration to paradise, our ascension into the kingdom of heaven, our return
to the adoption of sons, our liberty to call God our Father, our being made
partakers of the grace of Christ, our being called children of light, our
sharing in eternal glory, and, in a word, our being brought into a state of all
"fulness of blessing," both in this world and in the world to come,
of all the good gifts that are in store for us, by promise hereof, through
faith, beholding the reflection of their grace as though they were already
present, we await the full enjoyment.” ~St. Basil the GreatPondering these thoughts today: I will simply say this, I rely tremendously on the power of the Holy Spirit to guide me and lead me. I want to be inspired by the Spirit and led by the Spirit. I pray every single day that the Holy Spirit stays close by my side showing me the way to Jesus. I do my best in this life, but I know how easily distracted we can get. That is why I always ask for guidance and protection on my journey.
LOVE YOU GUYS !!!!
Your brother in Christ Jesus
And His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr OFS
Today is Sunday: We pray the Glorious Mysteries:
The Glorious Mysteries
1. The Resurrection (Faith) –Mark 16:1-8
2. The Ascension (Hope) –Luke 24:50-53
3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit (Love) –Acts 2:1-4
4. The Assumption of Our Lady
(Grace of a Happy Death) –Rev 12:1-6
5. The Coronation of Mary (Mary’s intercession) –Judith 15:9-10
Glory and Honor and Praise to You Lord Jesus Christ!
Rosary Man Jim's Glorious Reflections: http://beads-of-joy-blog.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-glorious-mysteries.html
