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 14
COME, HOLY SPIRIT. . .
Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.”
— Luke 22:19
This passage is part of the Passion narrative presented by Luke. The bread that Our Lord gives, which He indicates is His body, was first broken. At Holy Mass, often as the priest breaks the bread, there is a rather loud “crack” noise that comes as the host is first broken in two. As the bread is further broken, the same noise is not heard. It was that first splitting of the bread that created the loud noise. In much the same way when a log is first split, there is usually a loud crack. The Passion of Our Lord was one which seemed to break everything within Our Lord, save His bones.
Goal: Our Lord gives the example of how one needs to be broken in order to fully give oneself in love.
Sit quietly for five minutes, and imagine yourself just being at the foot of the cross to silently show your love to Jesus.
Day 15
COME, HOLY SPIRIT. . .
One of the first ways Our Lord suffered in His Passion was through betrayal. One may wonder if this may have been the experience that represents that first splitting of the wood. Betrayal inherently infers that there was a deep relationship. To love and trust someone and count him as a friend, and yet also find that he abused that love and abandoned you—or, worse, delivered you over to those who would harm you—is a great blow indeed. And yet Our Lord asks us to take up our cross and follow Him: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mt 16:24). Jesus further explains, “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first” (Jn 15:18). Suffering does not always represent physical suffering; emotional suffering is also painful. Yet even if we are betrayed by the one closest to us on earth, Our Lord remains faithful to us. As we read in the Book of Isaiah, “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you” (Isa 49:15).
Goal: Realize that Jesus will never leave us.
Sit quietly for five minutes, and imagine yourself just being at the foot of the Cross to silently show your love to Jesus.
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.