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Join us as we reflect, ponder, and pray together inspired by today's Gospel.

Today's Gospel: John 16:12-15

In my religious upbringing, I never gave the Holy Spirit enough consideration. I knew the Spirit is one of the Divine Persons in the Trinity and that He works in the world inspiring wisdom and guidance to know and live the Truth, which is Christ. But I never really had a relationship with the Holy Spirit as I did with Jesus or the Father until several years ago.

Everything changed for me when, in a time of increased anxiety, I revisited prayers to the Holy Spirit and was given a Chaplet to the Holy Spirit by one of my Sisters. This prompted me to pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit — wisdom, knowledge, counsel, fear of the Lord, understanding, piety, and fortitude.

I began to understand the need for these powerful gifts. I longed to truly understand the situations in my life and have the courage to respond according to the Lord’s will for me. The more I prayed to the Holy Spirit, the more my mind and heart opened with trust to the Lord and I knew the Spirit was showing me the way. All fear dispersed. My soul saw through the “glass darkly” to the light of God’s Truth in a way incomprehensible.

The Spirit cleared my path, soothed my heart, and gave me the wisdom to know God’s desires for me. As Jesus says, “The Spirit … will guide you to all truth.” This is not only intellectual knowledge and philosophical reasoning about God’s existence, but also our own human existence. The Spirit makes known to those who are willing to listen their beauty in the eyes of God and the gift that is their life. The Holy Spirit shows us how our lives can be when we turn to Him with trust seeking for those spiritual gifts.

 

Ponder:

 

What is my relationship to the Holy Spirit like? Do I pray asking for the Spirit’s gifts?

 

Pray:

Divine Holy Spirit, enlighten my mind, will and heart, so that I may seek your wisdom in my life and trust in your guidance at every moment. Fill me with your presence as I rejoice in the truth that you present to me in the depths of my soul.

Click to tweet:
The Spirit makes known to those who are willing to listen their beauty in the eyes of God and the gift that is their life. #dailygospel



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Copyright 2021 Sr. Nancy Usselmann, FSP

About the Author

Sister Nancy Usselmann, fsp

Sister Nancy Usselmann, fsp

Sr. Nancy Usselmann, FSP is a Daughter of St Paul and the Director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies in Los Angeles, CA. She is a Media Literacy Education Specialist, theologian, international speaker, film reviewer, and blogger for BeMediaMindful.org. Her book A Sacred Look: Becoming Cultural Mystics is a theology of popular culture published by Wipf & Stock Publishing.