Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit enables us to do extraordinary things some of us would otherwise never think of doing. Just like he did with the apostles at Pentecost, we see this in the first reading (Acts 2:1-11):

When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
they were all in one place together.
And suddenly there came from the sky
a noise like a strong driving wind,
and it filled the entire house in which they were.
Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,
which parted and came to rest on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in different tongues,
as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven
staying in Jerusalem.
At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd,
but they were confused
because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
They were astounded, and in amazement they asked,
“Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans?
Then how does each of us hear them in his native language?
We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites,
inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia,
Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,
Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene,
as well as travelers from Rome,
both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs,
yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues
of the mighty acts of God.”

We all have the Holy Spirit within us, (no matter what age) who is waiting for us to allow him to work through us. This may not be as obvious as it was for the apostles, but we do have him in us just like we have Jesus in us. Some of us put the Holy Spirit in a box, and only let him work through us when it is convenient for us, but we cannot limit him. I did this for some of my life, I put him in a box, and it was a horrible decision. We cannot do this because we are his vessels and he can Only reach some people through us. By taking the Holy Spirit out of the box we help others in ways we cannot without the holy spirit, and of course by doing this we are doing God's will, and saving souls.

Today do one thing, ask the Holy Spirit to come, be willing to accept him, and open your heart. Then, God will do the rest! Holy Spirit, I ask you to give us the grace to be open to your will. Give us the grace to trust in you, and give us the strength to say yes to your guidance. Give us the courage and the grace to say no to sin. Lord, I pray for all the people in the world, that they may be open to you, and your will. Give us Catholics the courage to stand up for what is right, and to spread the Gospel like the apostles did.

Here is "Holy Spirit" sung by Francesca Battistelli:

Thank You Lord, for all that you have done for us. I pray for those who are less fortunate in the world. I also pray for all the souls in Purgatory, that they may be joined in heaven with you.

God Bless,

Sarah

Masks

Today I want to talk about masks. We all put them on in our lives. Either we put them on to impress people, or we put them on to hide our pain, there are many reasons we put them on. Let me ask you this, what does it do for you, what do masks do for you? I have put on masks before, but all it does is give people a false impression of you. Why would you want that? I know my reasons, and everybody knows their reasons as well. Although what does God think of this? Do you think he doesn't care, or doesn't notice? Well he does care and he does notice. Putting on a mask is like lying to someone by using body language. If we want to be real disciples of Christ, then we will try our absolute best to stop with the masks. We are here on this earth to evangelize and to bring others to Christ and bring ourselves closer to him as well. We are not here to make false impressions of who we really are. Lent is over, and Christ is Risen, he died for our sins past, present, and future. So, why all the false impressions? Why not be truthful to yourself, and to others, but especially to God? You see when we put on a mask we are pretending to be someone we are not, when we do this we show God, that we don't like who we are, who he made us to be. Because of this, (and just like any other sin) we are offending Jesus, and saying I don't like how you have made me so I'm going to make a false impression of myself, just to look good. So, if you (and I'm, guilty of this too) are somebody different around some people other than others it is not good. I know it can be hard to be yourself around some people, but we have to try because in our perseverance God gives us all the graces we need to be ourselves. So today don't put on a mask, instead ask God to give you the grace to be yourself around everyone you meet. I'll end with this song "If We're Honest" from Francesca Battistelli.

Lord thank you for giving us the grace to be ourselves. Help us to be more truthful to others instead of just putting on a mask in front of certain people.

God Bless,
Sarah

Gratitude

What is Holy Week all about? Holy Week like all of lent is a time of preparation, repentance, and especially gratitude. Gratitude is something each one of us has, whether it's towards a friend, a family member, a priest, or anyone else who has sacrificed their time for us. Think about one person...it can be anyone, who has sacrificed something for you. For me many people come to mind, but besides all those people Jesus comes to mind. For one reason, The Passion. This Holy Week our focus should be on gratitude towards others, but mostly towards Jesus. Now there is gratitude, but there is also ingratitude. What does ingratitude look like? Ingratitude can mean you are not grateful towards someone. For example Jesus we all sin in our lives right? So, sinning is like saying to Jesus you are not grateful for his sacrifice. This should be an encouragement for us to avoid the near occasion of sin. Now ingratitude can also be shown to another person as well. For example a friend helps you or prays for you, and you don't do the same for them. Don't get me wrong here we should not just help someone because they helped us, or because we need something from them. We should help others because we see their need, and want to fulfill it. When we help others we don't do it for our glory but for God's. It isn't always very easy to give God the credit, but we need to especially when he works through us because without him we would be nothing. People have always told me so many things for example, "You are my little Angel." Yes that is great and all I am glad I could help, but God is the one using me. Yes take credit, but make God the source of your actions, and give him the most of the credit. So this week practice gratitude towards others, and especially towards Jesus. Ask him to give you the grace to see how big his sacrifice was, and how much he suffered. One last thing I want to say; writing all this reminds me of one song, and from Francesca Battistelli, "Angel By Your Side." This is one of my favorites!

Thank You Lord for using us in ways we can never imagine! Help us to keep our egos in check, and give you the glory, not ourselves. Help us to be angels by others' sides when you need us to be!

God Bless,

Sarah