Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter

I served the Lord with all humility and with the tears and trials that came to me because of the plots of the Jews, and I did not at all shrink from telling you what was for your benefit, or from teaching you in public or in your homes. I earnestly bore witness for both Jews and Greeks to repentance before God and to faith in our Lord Jesus. But now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem. What will happen to me there I do not know, except that in one city after another the Holy Spirit has been warning me that imprisonment and hardships await me.

With the aid of the Holy Spirit, our faith can move mountains, our hope can overcome all tears and trials, and our love can bear witness to God’s Love and Mercy. If we tried to act like Christians without the support of the Holy Spirit, we would soon be crushed beneath the weight of our fears, doubts, sins, and all the worldly trials that face us. We are too weak to carry our crosses by ourselves, but thankfully, our Heavenly Father gave us the Holy Spirit through the sacrifice of His Beloved Son. All we have to do is keep our hearts, minds, souls, and bodies open to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, namely wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of God. If we are receptive to these gifts and the graces that come with them, then we will become good and faithful servants to our God and be willing and able to accept the sacrifices He asks of us. And when we go through our own passions and deaths, we shall know in our heart of hearts that we were not alone, but flanked by the Holy Trinity.

Have we served God humbly through good times and bad? Have we bore witness to God’s Goodness, Love, and Mercy with every ounce of life we have? How can we open our hearts to the gifts of the Holy Spirit?

O Lord, we thank you for your gifts and desire only to follow you to where we need to be to put them to their best use.

Amen.