The Gift of the Holy Spirit

                “Lord, as I sit here in front of the Blessed Sacrament, I am humbled and awed. The candlelight gently surrounds the monstrance, reflecting off the shiny surfaces, creating a beautiful array of light around Your presence. I can smell the incense, a gentle envelope to hold precious prayers and thanksgiving that go up Your Father. As we kneel and love and worship You, You kneel and worship the Father who looks back at You with great love, and You look back at us with the same great love. The Holy Spirit creates the conduit for all this love and communication to go back and forth.

                “How I long to see You in front of me – to talk to You, to hold Your precious hands. I long to hear Your voice, see Your smile, look into Your eyes. But then I remember that You are right in front of me, just in a different form. You are also in me, right now, deep in my heart and soul through the Holy Spirit, so my longings for Your physical presence seem superfluous. But when we love someone, we want to hug and hold them as close and as tight as possible and never let go. With the gift of the Holy Spirit, you have quenched this insatiable appetite for love and You will never leave us. Even if we temporarily turn away, you are still there, like a sentinel in our hearts and souls, waiting for us to return – a faithful guard protecting our hearts which belong to You, from the assaults of the world which try to steal our hearts away. Some of these attacks leave wounds that only You can heal. Let us always return to You and Your healing mercy. Let us be as faithful to You as You are to us.

“Lord, help me to recognize Your presence within me through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Let love be the power that unites us and gives us hope. Let faith be the glue that binds us all together.”