Ordinary Time

Pause

“One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.”

from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Listen

“I have spoken these things to you while I am with you. The Companion, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I told you.

“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you. I give to you not as the world gives. Don’t be troubled or afraid."

John 14:25-27

Think

What’s the best thing you’ve ever received? Was this gift something you could hold in your hands? Or was it too big to hold? Maybe it was an event, a homecoming, a new job – whatever it was, it is one of many blessings that God saw fit to give you.

Unlike God’s gifts, some gifts come with strings attached. These are heavy with the conditions that came along them or burdened by the unpleasant situations they create. Some people don’t give freely, and neither does the world in which we live.

Jesus says that he gives “not as the world gives;” and thankfully, the gifts we receive from God through Christ are string-free (v. 27). Just like the disciples receiving Christ’s peace, we have no reason to be troubled or afraid. When we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are set free to live out what it means for us to be children of a giving God.

Sarah Boatwright

Pray

Spirit of graciousness, thank you for all the blessings and gifts you have given me. You have blessed me beyond measure. Show me how to bless others in my own unique way. Amen.

Go

“O Holy Spirit, enter in, and in our hearts your work begin, and make our hearts your dwelling.

Sun of the soul, O Light divine, around and in us brightly shine, your strength in us upwelling.

In your radiance life from heaven now is given overflowing, gift of gifts beyond all knowing.”

from “O Holy Spirit, Enter In” by Michael Schirmer