Daily Gospel Reflection for May 15, 2023

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

At some point while I was pregnant with my daughter, it occurred to me that by raising her Catholic, my husband and I were raising her to be despised by a lot of people. What a painful realization! It would be so much easier to raise her to believe whatever she wants and act however she wants, to be accepted by as many people as possible. But, we aren’t raising her for acceptance. We are raising her for heaven.

Imagine how Jesus’s disciples must have felt every time He warned them that they would be despised for following Him—and that He would not always be with them to help! However, as we see in today’s Gospel, Jesus also promised them that even when He returned to the Father, they would not be alone. He would send them the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, and that Spirit would be their strength.

One day, while praying the third Glorious mystery (the descent of the Holy Spirit), I thought, “Well, sure—the apostles had the Holy Spirit. Of course they stopped being afraid and went out to evangelize. What about the rest of us?” Immediately, of course, I realized that the gifts the Holy Spirit gave the apostles at that first Pentecost are the same gifts we receive in baptism and confirmation.

Like the apostles, we have received the “Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father.” By having our children baptized and confirmed, we ensure that they receive the Spirit, too. It’s no magic spell, but through prayer and the other sacraments, we are emboldened by these gifts to testify just like the apostles did.

Ponder:

How do I use the gifts of the Holy Spirit to remember and proclaim what Jesus has told us?

Pray:

Come, Holy Spirit, give us courage to share the love of God with the world, and help us teach our children to do the same.

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Like the apostles, we have received the “Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father.” By having our children baptized and confirmed, we ensure that they receive the Spirit, too. #DailyGospel

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