Replies

One Bread, One Body

Language: English | Espa�ol

All Issues > Volume 34, Issue 3

<< Friday, May 11, 2018 >>

Pentecost Novena - Day 1

Acts 18:9-18
View Readings

Psalm 47:2-7

John 16:20-23
Similar Reflections

THE PENTECOST NOVENA

"On that day you will have no questions to ask Me." �John 16:23

When we are with Jesus in heaven, all the difficult questions will pass away. We won't need to know why bad things happen on this earth. Seeing Jesus face-to-face will be more than enough. Being with Jesus will cause all else to melt away.

Until that day in heaven for which we long and sacrifice, we do not have the answers we want. Rather, we have the Answer, that is, the Holy Spirit. Today begins the Pentecost Novena, nine days of prayer to prepare for receiving the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday. Do you want answers to your difficult questions? Or do you want the Answer? Life in the Spirit is enough, and indeed, is more than enough. The Spirit consoles us and empowers us to bear fruit.

Eventually, in His presence, all of our confusions will melt away. Only His love will remain, along with the presence of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Seek the Holy Spirit. The Spirit will give you the wisdom you need. During this Pentecost Novena, ask the Lord for that which He most wants to give you: the promise of the Father, that is, the gift of the Holy Spirit (Lk 24:49).

Prayer: Father, give me deep repentance and purification through this novena.

Promise: "Do not be afraid. Go on speaking and do not be silenced, for I am with you. No one will attack you or harm you. There are many of My people in this city." —Acts 18:9-10

Praise: Mark received the gift of healing others at a Life in the Spirit seminar.

Mary, Mother of Life: Our Lady of Guadalupe (Catholic or Pro-Life Caucus)
WAU.org ^ | December 2011` | Fr. Andrew Apostoli, CFR

Mary, Mother of Life

Our Lady of Guadalupe

By: Fr. Andrew Apostoli, CFR

The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, miraculously imprinted on St. Juan Diego’s cloak, speaks a message about life. First, it shows that Mary is carrying Christ within her.

She is wearing a dark cord with two tassels hanging down from her waist, called a cinta, which was worn only by pregnant women. And photographs of the image, studied by scientists, reveal a slight protrusion of the abdomen, indicating Our Lady is carrying the Christ Child in her womb.

An interesting symbol of life on the image is a particular four-petaled flower called the “Flower of the Sun,” which is placed directly over Mary’s womb. To the Aztecs, who worshipped the sun, the appearance of this sun flower heralded the birth of someone great who would inaugurate a new era. Mary’s Son would be the Son of life. In fact, Mary described herself to St. Juan Diego as the mother of all the living.

The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe communicated a sense of dignity to each person and of the sanctity of human life. This brought an end to the practice of human sacrifice among the Aztecs. Mary told the people about a God who sacrificed his own body and blood so that all people could live. And within ten years of Mary’s appearance, nearly nine million Aztec people embraced the Catholic faith.

Through her appearance as Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mary teaches us respect for the dignity of human life in all its manifestations—for the unborn, for the disabled, for the elderly, and for the terminally ill. That is why we pray to Mary to restore the sacredness of life, especially under her title of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Mary truly deserves to be called the mother of life. Let us ask for her prayers so that we may help to restore the God-given dignity of every human life that has been degraded by abortion, euthanasia, or assisted suicide. Furthermore, let us ask her prayers so that all may come to the fullness of life that her Son promised when he said, “I came that they may have life, and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).