Devotional Thought of the Day:

¹⁵  until the Spirit from on high is poured out on us.
Then the desert will become an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest. ¹⁶  Then justice will inhabit the wilderness, and righteousness will dwell in the orchard. ¹⁷  The result of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever. ¹⁸  Then my people will dwell in a peaceful place, in safe and secure dwellings. Isaiah 32:15-18 (CSBBible)

It is right that we should think about how we are imitating the Master. We should pause and reflect so that we can learn directly from our Lord’s life some of the virtues which ought to shine out in our lives, if we are really anxious to spread the Kingdom of Christ.

Yesterday, I had the blessing of preaching on the Holy Spirit’s undeniable work, seen as the Spirit filled those drawn to believe in Christ. It was earth shattering, not only because of the crowd doing miraculous things, but because that crowd wasn’t the kind you considered good or Godly – at least according to the Jews of the Day.

The Sunday after next is Pentecost Sunday, when Pentecost changed its meaning. No longer just a Jewish holiday, it now was the anniversary of the Holy Spirit descending on the Jewish believers. There, just like in Cornelius’s mansion, the miracles were amazing, the things that people saw drew them closer and closer to God.

I look at the Church in the world today, and at first I wonder – why doesn’t the miraculous happen today?

Why don’t we have peopel really speaking in languages they don’t know – with other people understanding it so clearly that they are trasnformed by the gospel? Why don’t we have others, seeing what God is doing, and giving thanks and praise – without any prompting but just astounded by God?

Or maybe, it is going on…. and we are to use to focusing on the wrong things, and we miss it?

The Holy Spirit has been given to us, to help us see Jesus. As we and our communities grow more aware of Jesus, the more we see the Spirit doing the work that is always done, and the more we imitate Jesus, for that is the transformation the Holy Spirit causes!

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your people, and kindle in them, the fire of Your love, that many will see it, and come to rejoice in that love as well! Amen!

Escrivá, Josemaría. Friends of God . Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.