Invoking the Spirit
Come, Holy Spirit. Awaken our weak, little and wavering faith. Teach us to live trusting in the unfathomable love of God our Father for all his sons and daughters, be they within or outside your Church. If this faith is extinguished in our hearts, it will soon die also in our communities and churches.
Come, Holy Spirit. Make Jesus be at center of your Church. Let nothing or no one supplant him or prevent him from being seen. Live among us, drawing us to his Gospel and converting us to follow him. May we neither flee from his Word nor stray from his commandment of love. May his memory not be lost in the world.
Come, Holy Spirit. Open our ears to hear your calls, those that come today from the questions, suffering, conflicts and contradictions of the men and women of our times. Make us live with openness to your power to generate the new faith that this new society needs. May we live in our Church more attentive to what is coming to life, rather than to what is dying, with a heart sustained by hope and not undermined by nostalgia.
Come, Holy Spirit. Purify the heart of your Church. Make us truthful. Teach us to recognize our sins and limitations. Remind us that we, like everyone else, are fragile, mediocre and sinful. Free us from our arrogance and false security. Make us learn to walk among others with more truth and humility.
Come, Holy Spirit. Teach us to see look at life, the world, and people, above all, in a new way. May we learn to see, as Jesus saw, those who suffer, those who mourn, those who fall, those who live alone and forgotten. If our way of seeing changes, the heart and face of your Church will also change. We disciples of Jesus will better radiate his nearness, his understanding and solidarity toward those most in need. We will look more like our Teacher and Master.
Come, Holy Spirit. Make of us a Church with open doors, compassionate heart and contagious hope. May nothing and no one distract us or make stray from Jesus’ project of bringing about a world that is more just and fit for humans, more friendly and happy, and which opens new paths to God’s kingdom.
May 24, 2015
Pentecost (B)
John 20, 19-23