Monday, June 5 (May 23), 2023
Day of the Holy Spirit
Eph. 5:9-19; Mt. 18:10-20   

The Lord said to His disciples, encouraging them, “I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you” [Jn. 16:7].  The Holy Spirit, the Comforter, has indeed descended and now abides in the Church, in every faithful soul, doing there the work of Christ.  Every faithful Christian is in communion with the Holy Spirit.  This is absolutely necessary: anyone who does not have the Spirit is not of Christ.

Look carefully at yourself: do you have the Spirit of Grace inside?  For the Spirit does not always stay in everyone, sometimes it might leave.  Here are the indications of the Holy Spirit in three consecutive stages:

• at first comes a spirit of repentance and makes us move towards God, towards correction of our lives;
• then the spirit of repentance, having done its work, gives us over to a spirit of holiness and chastity,
• which is eventually succeeded by a spirit of adoption by God.

The typical feature of the first stage is diligence; of the second ─ warmth and mellow burn for Christ in the heart; of the third ─ a sense of becoming a son of God which makes the heart cry out to the Lord “Abba, Father” [Rom. 8:15].

Check which of these three stages you are presently at; if not at any one, think about yourself and take proper measures.

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