It is the Spirit who descends upon Jesus at his baptism, who leads Jesus into the desert to be tested and purified. It is the Spirit who moves in Jesus as he carries out his messianic mission of bringing the good news to the poor, healing the sick, freeing the prisoners, restoring sight to the blind. It is the Spirit whom Jesus pours out on the church and the world as he breathes forth his life on the cross. It is the Spirit who descends in power on the Church at Pentecost, who emboldens and enlivens the early church, sending forth the first apostles on mission to the whole world.
We take this day to contemplate that same Spirit, to beg the Spirit to be in us and with us, to “attract” the fire of that Spirit through our fervent prayer and desire. This is the Spirit of Power, the Lord and Giver of Life that has been given to us individually and as a People and as a community.
The Grace We Seek: A desire to attract the Holy Spiritto ourselves and to the whole of humanity.
Reflection Material
A. From theRule of Life
11. We are to make the Holy Spirit better known and loved. By steadfast prayer in our Cenacles we seek to attract the Holy Spirit so that our own hearts may be enkindled with God’s love and that we may spread this fire to others. We ask to be filled with the gifts of the Spirit, wisdom and fortitude especially.
B. From the Word of God
Jesus comes to us in the Spirit – Luke 24:13-35
Persevering prayer attracts the Holy Spirit – Luke 11:9-13
The Spirit strengthens us in our weaknesses – Rom. 8:26-27
The fruits of the Spirit – Gal. 5:22-26
C. From Father Thomas Augustine Judge, C.M.
1. Conference to Missionary Cenacle Family – Pentecost Meeting (May 31, 1924)
All through the Gospels we find our Lord using souls as His instruments for good. The great Mystery of the Incarnation, at the beginning of His life in this world, bears witness to the fact that the human agent may participate in divine work. It is His will, understand, that this fire should scatter, that it should scatter through you and you may thank God for this grace, for your selection. It should give you, certainly, a holy joy and tremendous pleasure to think that you have been so chosen by the Almighty, that his Holy Spirit is to burn in you for others, and to be communicated through you to others.
How is this to be done? You are to inspire others to this Cenacle spirit. There is no problem about the extension of the Missionary Cenacle. The only problem is to keep in your heart the Cenacle spirit. The program and methods of the Missionary Cenacle are all worked out; you have your rules (you have) those different works, the preventive work, reclamation work, and so on. The great problem is this: being right with the Cenacle spirit.
What is the Cenacle spirit? What is our Lord’s spirit? What is the apostolic spirit? What is the missionary spirit? What is this faith that works by charity? That is the Cenacle spirit. It is no spirit invented in modern times. It is no spirit produced by new methods of efficiency. It is a gospel spirit. It is charity, charity aflame. It is the breathing of the Holy Spirit. It is the sweet odor of Jesus Christ. This is your vocation: first of all you are called to reservoir that spirit in your own lives, that your own heart may be aflame with it; and secondly, you are to spread it; that is your mission.
The Cenacle Spirit came from the Holy Spirit. Isn’t that a beautiful thing! When with purity of intention, with no other purpose than the thought of God, zeal for religion and its interests, love of the Church and a wish to do something for souls when, I say, we are so actuated, when the personal, as far as we can do so, is eliminated, when we place ourselves in the presence of God and invoke the Holy Spirit, and when all this happens as now during Pentecost week, on the eve of Trinity Sunday, I like to believe that it is God blessing us. I see in this the hand-writing of God on the wall in our favor. I see in this the loveliness of God in grouping us together, that He wants to bless us, that He wants to use us.
It is the loveliest of Pentecostal exercises. The liturgy of the Church is replete with prayer to the Holy Spirit and here is a body that for years and years has had a special devotion to the Holy Spirit, that is committed to spread devotion to the Holy Spirit, that is known to the Church as the Missionary Cenacle. We have reason, then, to believe that the Holy Spirit wants to bless us. This blessing is going to be ours if we will have this zeal toward the Cenacle spirit. [MF:8478-79]
2. Letter to Amy F. Kain, Maysville, KY (Trinity Sunday, ca. 1926)Conference to Missionary Cenacle Apostolate (April 17, 1921)Opening Conference-Retreat to Missionary Servants (August 21, 1930)
We are asked to do much to spread devotion to the Triune God and in a particular way, to the hidden Person, the Third Person of the Blessed and Adorable Trinity. A devotion to the Holy Spirit, that is, a pronounced and particular devotion, is simply a grace, and it seems to be a rare grace. The thought comes to me that if you prayed more for this grace and did what you could to develop it, the Triune God may use you to spread a knowledge of the sweet, adorable, spirit of God. How sad it is to think of how few serve Him or are interested: how few seem to care for His Gifts and Fruits. There are many things you can do. Consider the good and sacred objects of the League of the Holy Ghost:
1. To promote devotion to the Holy Spirit.
2. To foster vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
3. To spread the Faith and convert sinners.
4. To do missionary work, especially in the South. [MF:10413]
Why is it that the Holy Spirit is so little known? It is because the Holy Spirit does not guide the councils of men. If he does not guide the councils of men, He does not guide their hearts. Why is there so much strife? Do not curse or cry out against this one or that one, this politician or that. It is because the evil spirit is active and the evil spirit is active because many have banished the good spirit. Our vocation is to attract the Holy Spirit. Our vocation is to bring the Holy Spirit into (people’s) hearts. [MF:8669]
Are we not of the apostolic spirit? Does not the spirit of the Apostles appeal to us? Perhaps afar off, maybe imperfectly we follow the footsteps of the Apostles. We have come here and Who brings us here unless it is the same Spirit that brought Jesus into the desert? “No one,” says the Apostle, “can say ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except in the Holy Spirit.”(1 Cor. 12:3) How could we be here were it not for the Holy Spirit?
Problems are coming up as the year advances and we must have the blessing of God. This we will have only in the Spirit of God. Recognize this as a primary, basic truth: You are here through the Holy Spirit. We have been lifted up just as marvelously as Habacuc, if not by the hair of our heads, at least drawn into solitude. The same Spirit that found Jesus in the desert is the efficacious cause of our being here. I could give many reasons for my not being here and I think you could too. We can say, “Lord, here we are” – that we may attract the Spirit of God, that our Veni, Sancte Spiritus may be heard; that it may be soul stirring; that it may be heaven reaching. That He may come. Let us incite ourselves to devotion to the Holy Spirit. [MF:8686-88]
Missionary Cenacle Spirituality 