COME, HOLY SPIRIT
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.
Send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created;
And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth. LET US PRAY.
O God, who didst teach the hearts of Thy faithful people by sending them the light of Thy Holy Spirit, grant us by the same Spirit to have right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in His holy comfort.
Through Christ Our Lord. Amen
O Holy Spirit, sweet Guest of my soul, abide in me and grant that I may ever abide in Thee.
Day 10
COME, HOLY SPIRIT. . .
Let us turn our attention to mature wood. To prepare this to be burned, a tree must first be chopped down. Manageable pieces must be cut. Each piece of wood is then split. Only after the wood is split can the seasoning process begin. The seasoning process allows the sun and wind to begin to dry out the wood and make it ready for burning. The moisture in the wood impedes the fire.
What does splitting wood mean in the spiritual sense? It is the process of exposing all of one’s insecurities. It is exposing the truth that of ourselves we can do nothing without God. It brings to light the truth that we are all dependent on God for everything.
The Apostle Paul shares this reality when he says, “Therefore, that I might not become too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness’” (2 Corinthians 12: 7-9).
If we believe we operate by our strength alone, then we have not had sufficient time in the wind and sun.
Goal: The splitting of the wood is akin to the surrender of our will.
Sit quietly for five minutes while thinking of how Jesus in His adulthood withdrew from the crowds often at night to pray to His Heavenly Father.
Day 11
COME, HOLY SPIRIT. . .
A seasoned log that has been split and allowed to dry completely will burn readily and burn hot. One can think of a holy priest as a very dry large log. When this log is burning with intensity, anything can be put on the fire, and it will burn. Even those hard-to-burn saplings will burn with little struggle. The smoke from the saplings is not so noticeable because those walking by feel the inviting heat of an intense fire, which is emanating from the large log coupled to all the other wood that is set afire.
This intense fire is not only seen with holy priests that have surrendered their will to that of God; it can also be seen with very humble souls that have a childlike approach to Our Lord. They couple the spirituality of the tiny twigs to a large substrate of a log which can burn hot and long.
Goal: A fire that is blazing can set afire all types of wood, even those that are the most difficult to burn, just as a soul completely surrendered to the will of God can ignite love in others for God.
Sit quietly for five minutes while looking at a crucifix, and contemplate the love that brought Jesus to endure such suffering.
Day 12
COME, HOLY SPIRIT. . .
The cross that God shares with us is in many ways a test of our wood. Jesus says during his Passion, “Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail” (Lk 22:31-32). Jesus wants us to pass through the test. As the test progresses, one may begin to see that suffering takes many forms and may for a time test one through physical suffering, and then it may be a weight of emotional suffering. When we need rest or consolation in this suffering, we must turn to Our Lord Who invites us with this promise: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light” (Mt 11:28-30).
Our Lord alone knows how long the testing or seasoning is needed for each soul. We see in our story, “A Fire,” On one occasion, Gabriel started a fire with several pieces of wood that he thought might be seasoned. But with multiple attempts, he found the fire produced only a copious amount of smoke. It was as if the wood refused to burn. When his father returned from work, he found the house was so smoky that windows had to be opened, even though outside it was cold. It took some time to clear the smoke completely as it had permeated the whole house for the better part of a day.
Gabriel learned from his father that each type of tree required a different amount of time to be seasoned. Ash trees required less than maple trees, while maple trees required less time than oak trees. On one occasion, Gabriel had taken several pieces of oak for the fire, and, although the wood had been seasoning for a few weeks, this was not sufficient for this type of wood, which required a number of months to dry sufficiently for burning.
In this portion of the story, we see that certain types of wood need different times to dry. In just the same way, Our Lord knows each soul. Gabriel had thought the wood was sufficiently aged, but it took Father to fully evaluate the wood and determine if the seasoning was complete. It is not for us to judge another soul. Our Lord sees into each soul, and He knows what is best.
Goal: Our wood will be tested, but Our Lord is always at hand to help lift our burden.
Sit quietly for five minutes, and imagine yourself just being at the foot of the Cross to silently show your love to Jesus.
Day 13
COME, HOLY SPIRIT. . .
The Crucifixion, along with the story of the loaves and the fishes, appears in all four Gospels. The traditional Nativity scene appears in two Gospels. Mary at the manger is a glimpse of the arc of Jesus’s life that will end at the Cross. There she remains silently at His feet. The Cross was ordained for Jesus from the beginning. It is not to be avoided, and when the Apostle Peter tries to spare Our Lord from the Cross, He says, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do” (Mt 16:23).
Our Lord will suffer and be consumed by this love, a love that is given in the sacrifice of the breaking of the bread in the Holy Eucharist.
Goal: The Cross is to be taken up, not avoided.
Sit quietly for five minutes while looking at a crucifix, and imagine standing silently next to Mary during the Crucifixion.
Resources
The retreat can be done using a physical book, watching one our videos each day or with our online Consecration journey. Both the videos and online readings are free to use so there is no obstacle to starting! We have a whole website designed just to support the Consecration journey.