Day 9 – Mission

Coming into God’s Presence

Before entering into prayer, we become aware of God’s presence and His ability to transform our lives.

We remember the first Pentecost and how God changed the early Church forever. The disciples went from being a fearful, timid, selfish group of people to bold and fearless proclaimers of the Gospel. God wants to fill us anew with that same confidence, boldness, peace, and joy. Let us pray this last day of our Novena with awareness of what God can do in us if we learn to be docile to His direction in each moment of our lives. If we allow Him to, He is ready to transform us so we will never be the same.

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

To enlighten our minds// Come Holy Spirit, giver of all good things
To enkindle our hearts// Come Holy Spirit, giver of all good things
To renew our lives// Come Holy Spirit, giver of all good things
With Your peace, joy, and patience// Come Holy Spirit, giver of all good things
With Your kindness, gentleness, and love// Come Holy Spirit, giver of all good things
With Your faithfulness, generosity, and boldness// Come Holy Spirit, giver of all good things

Optional Study: Living Mission

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

Click here to jump to the study

Scripture

A reading from a letter of St. Paul to the Galatians 5:22-25

In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ [Jesus] have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.

The Word of the Lord // Thanks be to God

Encyclical by Pope Leo XIII, Exeunte Iam Anno, 11

He has imposed upon His followers this law, signed in His blood, that their life should be an endless strife with the vices of the age. What made the apostles invincible in their mission of teaching truth to the world; what strengthened the martyrs innumerable in their bloody testimony to the Christian faith, but the readiness of their soul to obey fearlessly His laws? And all who have taken heed to live a Christian life and seek virtue have trodden the same path; therefore We must walk in this way if We desire either Our own salvation or that of others.

Pope Pius XII, Encyclical, Mediator Dei, 160

During the time of Pentecost, the Church by her precept and practice urges us to be more docile to the action of the Holy Spirit who wishes us to be on fire with divine love so that we may daily strive to advance more in virtue and thus become holy as Christ our Lord and His Father are holy.

Interior Dialogue: Conversation Starters

We take time for a peaceful, receptive pause to converse with God, to listen, and to embrace God’s inspiration and consolation. 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 want to be open to Your call to mission. I don’t know all You have in store for my life. Show me what You want from me. How do You want to use me to spread Your love to the ends of the earth, like the first apostles? Give me the strength to generously respond to You.

Pause for personal prayer

Come Holy Spirit! I see the challenges of our world and our Church. I know that the only source of renewal is radical holiness. Help me to grow into the person You are calling me to be, so the wildfire of Your love will spread to everyone I meet.

Pause for personal prayer

Intercessions

Our God is constantly at work in our hearts, bringing us to live by the gifts of the Holy Spirit and to be filled with the fruit of His love. Let us open our hearts to His action, to His guidance, and to His peace, as we pray

// Spirit of Peace, fill us with the fruit of Your love

As witnesses to God’s fire in our hearts, that we would make time to boldly share the Gospel in our families, in our parishes, and among our friends. Let us pray

// Spirit of Peace, fill us with the fruit of Your love

That we would develop a sense of tenderness for God’s family, and attend carefully to those in our communities who are alone, lost, broken, or especially in need of encouragement, through the fruit of the Spirit. Let us pray

// Spirit of Peace, fill us with the fruit of Your love

That, encouraged by the promise of being “filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:19), that Christians would persevere in prayer until God might give them delight, peace, and “indescribable and glorious joy” (1 Pet 1:8). Let us pray

// Spirit of Peace, fill us with the fruit of Your love

Let us pause to ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten us where we need the fruit of His love.

Do we look forward to spending time with God? Are there areas that we need to purify in order to allow God to fill us with His joy? Are our hearts set firmly on sailing the high seas?

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

Let us pray

// Spirit of Peace, fill us with the fruit of Your love

Optional Study

How will tomorrow be different from today? What does it mean to allow the Holy Spirit to live in us? What does a deep, real, transforming relationship with Him look like? If we live in God’s presence and allow the power of His Gifts to work in us, how will that practically impact our lives?

We know that St. Paul had a deep experience of the Holy Spirit, and this changed everything. Writing to the church at Galatia, he describes the “results” of that relationship, calling them the “fruit of the Spirit.” They are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (Gal 5:22-23)

Read through that list again. Savor and imagine what it would mean for us and people around us if each of those were fully present in us. Imagine if we lived and worked and breathed the fruit of the Spirit? This is how God desires for us to live! He doesn’t just offer it to us. He yearns to mold us into this new person! He is the one who longs to set our heart on fire. If we let Him, He will transform our existence into a brilliant reflection of the power of His presence, a shining beacon of His light to those around us, a blazing wildfire of His love.

What can we do?

Prayer must become an encounter between God’s longing for us and our longing for Him. We must beg and implore Him—endlessly, tirelessly—for these gifts. We know our petitions will not go unanswered. His gifts will fill our lives, and the fruit of this indwelling of God in our hearts will burst from our very soul with an ever greater outpouring of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

To live a truly Christian life we have to allow the gifts of the Holy Spirit to make a practical difference in how we act. They are deep, and there is a lot to take in. Hopefully, we can remember and take on the attitudes that come with each gift.

Fortitude: We deeply acknowledge our weakness and rely on God for His strength.

Counsel: We remember we can’t figure out everything and need to trust and rely on God’s plan.

Piety: We experience God’s love as children who are deeply loved by their Father.

Fear of the Lord: Awe of God gives us confidence and courage.

Knowledge: We see creation as a gift of God’s love and everything points us back to Him.

Understanding: God reveals Himself and desperately wants a relationship with us.

Wisdom: We desire to experience God deeply in prayer, and this real encounter radically changes our lives.

In the words of Pope St. Gregory the Great: “The Holy Spirit gives wisdom against folly, understanding against dullness, counsel against rashness, fortitude against fears, knowledge against ignorance, piety against hardness of our heart, and fear against pride.”