O Holy Spirit, Soul of my soul, I adore you. Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me. Tell me what I ought to do, and command me to do it. I promise to submit myself to all that You ask of me, and to accept all that You permit to happen to me. Only let me know Your will. Amen.
“Come Holy Spirit, enkindle in us the fire of your love!”
The Holy Spirit Warms What is Cold
Note: Meditations for Days 1 through 8 are based on the book Come Creator Spirit, by Rev. A. Biskupek, SVD, now out of print.
Watch insects, flies, ants or bees on a cold day—how slow and awkward they are, if they manage to move at all. Then too, for us humans, prolonged and penetrating coldness can cramp and perhaps paralyze even the nimble fingers of a pianist or typist. Warmth is needed for suppleness. What warmth is for material and physical life, the love of God is for Christian life. Where there is no love, there is no life. Where love is weak or cold, there is spiritual insensibility, inertia and tepidity. In His apparitions to St. Margaret Mary, the Sacred Heart of Jesus complained of the coldness and indifference with which He is treated by so many souls, even religious and priests. For a fervent Christian life, we need fervent love. The source of all fervor of love is the Holy Spirit. The warmth of His divine love communicates to the soul devotion, promptness, suppleness and joy.
Our devotion to God must be determined and loyal, not wavering, hesitating, or lukewarm. Such loyal devotion is not satisfied with half-measures, but must give itself completely. Love is generous in self-giving, not stingy, calculating and cold. Jesus tells us in the Gospel, “You are my friends, if you do what I command you.” (Jn 15:14) A slave might have to be forced, but a lover is prompt and readily disposed to carry out the wishes of the one he or she loves. Promptness gives to God what is first and best. Devotion characterizes one who is truly in love with God. Slowness, hesitation, laziness and miserliness in the service of God dry up our work and deprive it of the fragrance of love. Promptness saves time; loss of time is truly a serious loss because it implies the loss of graces offered and opportunities given. We ask the Holy Spirit to send forth the fire of His love into our hearts, so that as soon as we know the will of God, we may be ready to carry it out to the best of our ability, as Jesus and Mary always did.
To be called upon to serve God and the Church is a great honor and privilege. Moroseness and reluctance in the service of God would thus be offensive to Him. God loves a cheerful giver. Even among men, a gift that is reluctantly given does not arouse joy and satisfaction in the recipient. We should give to God and neighbor with a loving heart. Cheerfulness makes for perfection. The more we love God and love what He chooses for us, what He wills for us, the more perfection, care and attention we give to it. There is no sloppiness or half-heartedness when one acts out of love. This is the secret of holiness, which lies not in doing extraordinary things that might shine in the eyes of others, but in doing ordinary things with extraordinary love, care and attention because they are done for God.
The Holy Spirit desires to keep burning brightly in us that fervor of divine love that urges us to work selflessly for the glory of God and the good of souls. The warmth of the Holy Spirit’s love is incompatible with coldness or indifference, spiritual inertia and insensibility. May the Holy Spirit always warm our hearts with great love for God and neighbor!