Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter (May 27, 2017): Faith-building miracles of the Holy Spirit.

Thứ Sáu, 26-05-2017 | 15:45:56

Today’s Readings:

Acts 18:23-28
Ps 47:2-3,8-10
John 16:23b-28
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/052717.cfm

USCCB Podcast of the Readings
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/17_05_27.mp3

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
Until now you have not asked anything in my name;
ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

“I have told you this in figures of speech.
The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures
but I will tell you clearly about the Father.
On that day you will ask in my name,
and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you.
For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me
and have come to believe that I came from God.
I came from the Father and have come into the world.
Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

“Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.” (From Saturday’s Gospel reading)

Reflection for Saturday:

To evangelize non-believers in today’s world, with its escalating relativism and immorality, we have to rely heavily on the Holy Spirit. It is only the Holy Spirit who can change hearts and minds. (In 1977, my convictions about the occult were converted to the truth and to a desire for the Catholic Faith after I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.)

But how do we get people to pay attention to the Holy Spirit? Throughout the Book of Acts, we see how the early Christians did it: They were very active in their prayer lives, with praise, worship and teachings in gatherings of Spirit-filled church communities. So much so that miracles happened frequently. The supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit got people’s attention.

This still happens today. Rina Manuel attests to this. She is a Good News Ministries member who lives in the Philippines.

Rina’s story

I serve in an open prayer meeting group called “Pathways”, which has many branches across Metro Manila. These branches conduct the Life in the Spirit Seminar (LSS) about twice a year for their area. I’ve personally seen many people’s lives changed because of the power of the Holy Spirit.

Below are some examples that I know about.

A wife attended the LSS, and it was her fervent prayer for her erring husband to join her in the prayer meetings. After a month or so, the husband suddenly dropped by the prayer meeting, let people pray over him — and the rest was history. The husband started attending regularly, went through the LSS, and both husband and wife are now actively serving in the prayer group. They have also become an active part of our community and are undergoing formation courses.
There was a drug addict and alcoholic who received the Holy Spirit and went on to clean-up his life. He is now actively serving in the prayer group’s music ministry.
There was an unmarried couple who decided to marry in the Church after conversion through the Holy Spirit. They are now actively serving in the prayer group.
We have a healing ministry group, which has performed signs and wonders for the attendees of the prayer meetings. By the power of the Holy Spirit, this ministry has provided physical, emotional and spiritual healing to those who have faith.
There were couples who were on the verge of breaking up. They attended the LSS and have come to realize that it is necessary for them to love their spouses unconditionally, just like how Christ loves the Church.
Our prayer community conducts weekend LSS with the cadet graduates and other members of the Philippine National Police. There have been many conversions among the police personnel, especially those who went to Confession during the weekend prior to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They’ve confessed to murder, adultery, and all other capital sins imaginable. And what’s amazing is seeing them receive God’s peace and grace, especially as the LSS ends.
We’ve also brought the LSS to poor urban communities. The LSS has given hope to those who have less in life by helping them realize that Jesus is their greatest treasure.

These stories show how the Spirit is actively at work in people’s lives today, despite the darkness in the world. God bless!

Trust in the power of God who cares

By Father Rick Pilger, I.C., a long-time friend of Good News Ministries. He serves Blessed Sacrament Parish in my diocese, St. Petersburg, Florida.

There is no greater longing we can have than to give homage and glory to God even though he does not need it from us. In practical terms, it is to desire becoming more and more pleasing to God, submitting our wills to his divine will in everything.

As a disciple of Jesus, our aim is to become one with him as closely as he is one with his Father. We will accept it in whatever form it may come in the joys and sorrows of life, for he will bring good even out of evil as he did for his Divine Son’s passion and death.

Having established our only desire to please God in all things, we will then trust that he can only give us good things. He promised he would care for us and provide for all our needs; he tells us in Luke chapter 12 not to be anxious about what we are to eat or what we are to wear. He takes care of the birds of the air and the lilies of the field; how much more will he care for us when we trust him.

So let us not be afraid or worry about tomorrow.

Father Rick, a Rosminian, continues:

Our founder, Antonio Rosmini, writes this in the 4th Maxim of Christian perfection, “To abandon oneself wholly to the care of Divine Providence”:

There is perhaps no Maxim which helps more than this to obtain the peace of heart and stability of mind proper to the Christian life. This Maxim, if practiced with the simplicity and generosity of heart that it requires, renders the follower of Jesus Christ more dear to the Heavenly Father.

For it implies absolute confidence in the Father and in him alone, together with complete independence from everything on earth that appears to offer gratification, power, or fame; it implies a tender love reserved for God alone; it implies a most lively faith, enabling the Christian to hold without any doubt that all things in the world, great and small, are in the hands of our heavenly Father and operate only as he disposes for the accomplishment of his wonderful plans.

It implies also a belief in the infinite goodness, mercy, bounty, and generosity, of our Heavenly Father, Who in everything works for the good of those who trust in him, and Whose gifts and favors and care and graces are bestowed in proportion to the confidence his well-beloved children place in him.

It all boils down to this: Worship of God carries over from our prayer, adoration, and contemplation to our active life where we know and trust that all things in our human life will be accomplished by the Lord to the degree that we place our trust and hope in him.

How does one discern the call to priesthood — or any other calling? It begins in the heart, and then heart to heart with Father God. Here is the story of seminarian Dan Devine. Even those not called to the priesthood will benefit from his testimony.

The Good News Novena to the Holy Spirit

The Novena to the Holy Spirit on our website has our unique Good News flavor. Use it to deepen and renew your personal relationship with the Holy Spirit. Share it with others to evangelize them and strengthen their faith. It includes a music video, and you can even experience this novena in a Virtual Reality Prayer Walk!