Day 1 – The Virtues

Coming into God’s Presence

Before praying, we become aware of God’s presence and love.

Life itself is a gift from God, and we only exist because He loves us. Everything we have is from Him and He wants to give us even more. Every moment of our life, the Lord waits for us like a poor beggar. God has no need for our love or consent, but He chooses to patiently wait for us. He wants nothing more than for us to make space for Him in our day. He waits for us to let Him in. He is waiting for us now, this very moment. And when we let Him in, He will embrace us with love and draw us closer to Himself.

We take a few moments in silence to become aware of God’s presence.

Invocations

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

With Your peace in the midst of darkness and anxiety // Come Holy Spirit

With Your unconditional, unfailing friendship // Come Holy Spirit

With Your infinite, caring love // Come Holy Spirit

With Your guidance in confusion // Come Holy Spirit

With Your support in temptation // Come Holy Spirit

With Your strength in adversity // Come Holy Spirit

With Your guiding voice through my conscience // Come Holy Spirit

Optional Study: Our Path to Happiness

For people who want to delve deeper into the Holy Spirit.

Click here to jump to the study

Scripture

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles 1:4-5

While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

The word of the Lord // Thanks be to God

Reading Options

Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit, 36

Through the Holy Spirit comes our restoration to paradise, our ascension into the kingdom of heaven, our return to the adoption of sons, our liberty to call God our Father, our being made sharers in the grace of Christ, our being called children of light, our sharing in eternal glory, and, in a word, our being brought into a state of every blessing, both in this world and in the world to come, of all the good gifts that are in store for us.

Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, 18 April 2012

The Church took her first steps in an atmosphere of prayer. Pentecost is not an isolated episode because the Holy Spirit’s presence and action never cease to guide and encourage the Christian community as it journeys on. (…) Let us take note of an important basic attitude: when the first Christian community is confronted by dangers, difficulties and threats it does not attempt to work out how to react, find strategies, defend itself or what measures to adopt; rather, when it is put to the test, the community starts to pray and makes contact with God.

Interior Dialogue: Conversation Starters

We take time for a peaceful moment to converse with God. The goal is not just to reflect and speak, but also to listen, and to embrace His inspiration. Resist the urge to rush!

These questions may provide topics to begin this dialogue with the Lord. Do not be afraid to answer honestly, because the Lord already sees our heart and loves us despite our imperfections. For groups, a leader can read the following lines slowly, and allow a minute or two of silence after each.

Come Holy Spirit! I have not always relied on Your guidance to find my purpose and direction in my life. Even though I have made mistakes, You still have a plan for me. Am I open now to that direction in the decisions I have to make? Do I care more about pleasing You or looking to fulfill my own desires? Are the practical decisions of my life directed towards what will get me to heaven?

Pause for personal prayer

Come Holy Spirit! I believe You want a deeper relationship with me. Do I give You enough space and time to nourish that relationship? I want to pray better. Help me to approach You in simple and heartfelt conversation. Help me to really desire Your presence and actively listen for Your inspirations.

Pause for personal prayer

Intercessions

Aware that our spiritual growth is founded on God’s love, let us humbly approach Him and ask Him for a renewed faith, hope, and love

// Creating Spirit, fill us with Your love

In a world full of sin and confusion, when we may be tempted to doubt God’s existence or presence in our lives. Let us pray

// Creating Spirit, fill us with Your love

In moments of despair, when God seems distant from our ordinary struggles, or we wonder what God’s greater plan is or if He cares about what we’re currently going through. Let us pray

// Creating Spirit, fill us with Your love

When we are faced with important life decisions and need to discern wisely what will be best for us and the people we care about. Let us pray

// Creating Spirit, fill us with Your love

Let us pause to ask the Holy Spirit to help us be aware of God’s presence where we may not see Him.

Where do we feel God is distant? Do we rely on God’s support as we struggle to row out to sea and set sail?

This is a moment to insert our own petitions. It should be very personal.

Let us pray

// Creating Spirit, fill us with Your love

Optional Study

Our Path to Happiness

Like any loving Father, God wants us to be happy—even more than we do! Making it to heaven will be our greatest happiness, but a life directed towards God is full of joy and meaning now as well.

Each one of us has a different path through life that led us to the Lord and a different path to bring us to heaven. But no matter the path, God is not only our final happiness, but our intimate friendship with Him is our way to get there.

What is a Virtue?

In very simple terms, virtues are habits in the way we live our relationship with God and others. These habits shape much of our decisions and behaviors. In relation to God these are faith, hope, and love. Concretely, this means believing in God, trusting in His care, and loving Him in gratitude for all He is and does for us. These three virtues are called the “theological virtues” because they most directly shape how we deal with God.

In relation to others, there is a habit that helps us treat everyone fairly (justice). In relation to ourselves, there is a habit to know the best decisions to make (prudence), the habit that helps us find balance in things that give us pleasure (temperance), and a habit of being strong in difficult situations (fortitude). These four together are called “cardinal virtues.”

What Can We Do?

Just like exercising a muscle, all these virtues are formed and grow as we use them. On the other hand, they grow weak when we are vain, sensual, or proud. God will always give us the strength we need, but He also allows us to freely make our own choices. We must cooperate with God in forming virtue.

Tips for Growing in Virtue

First, we can practice faith, hope, and love during times of prayer, such that they become our natural way of thinking, seeing the world, and living a friendship with God.

Second, as we grow in this relationship with God, we can apply faith, hope, and love to guide all our decisions in our personal, family, and professional lives.

The Sailboat

Life is like learning to sail a boat at sea. Everyone starts on the shore. Our very first efforts are similar to getting the boat onto the water and leaving the comforts of land. The next challenge is learning to paddle. This takes time, practice, and a lot of effort. Then we need to get our boat away from shore and onto the rough sea. Lastly, we put up the sail, and patiently wait for the wind to blow.

The shore represents a life of sin and selfish comforts, which we need to let go of. The water represents the spiritual life, which begins in us at Baptism. The work of paddling, getting our boat out into the deep, and putting up the sail are the efforts we make to form habits of virtue. This prepares our hearts to allow the Holy Spirit’s gifts to move us to heroic sanctity.

Living a loving, trusting, virtuous relationship with God is foundational to the spiritual life, but it’s only the beginning!