Sanctify, Unite and Fill us all with the Holy Spirit
For many Christians, the Holy Spirit is often the great unknown and therefore absent in our religiosity, and even more so in personal prayer. And yet each of our private or public, every liturgical turning to God is accomplished in "the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." In the Eucharistic Prayer we encounter two special invitations in which the Church implores God the Father for sending the power of the Holy Spirit. First, that the gifts offered by people may be consecrated, that is, become the Body and Blood of Christ, secondly, that the holy Eucharist may help save those who receive it.
The first of these calls comes before the consecration. It is a special invocation to God the Father to send upon the gifts of bread and wine, the power of the Holy Spirit. For He is the One who is able to sanctify them and transform them so that they may become spiritual food for us. This sanctification of the gifts is not the work of man, although it is the man - the priest - who utters a begging prayer. The celebrant is here only the necessary instrument, the mediator of the praying people.
Consecration is performed only by God, through the power of the Holy Spirit. For the specific role of this third person of the Holy Trinity it is the conferring of holiness, both to persons and to objects. This is confirmed, for example, by the scene of the Annunciation. Then the Blessed Virgin Mary learned that it was through the action of the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ would be born from her, God-Man, the Incarnate Spirit.
When the celebrant says the words begging the Holy Spirit to consecrate the gifts ("sanctify these gifts by the power of Your Spirit"), he stretches out his hands over the paten and the chalice.This ancient and traditional gesture of laying on hands has always accompanied all sacramental rituals, in which the gifts of the Holy Spirit are asked for those who are to receive e.g. in the sacrament of baptism, confirmation or ordination.
We will hear the second calling to the Holy Spirit shortly before the Our Father. This time the content of this prayer is about us who will soon be receiving the Lord's Body and Blood. It is about such an inner disposition that we are worthy to receive Holy Communion. The celebrant's cry for the Holy Spirit it is a plea
that we will form a community. For there is no communion (that is, unity) with God without communion between us.
It's not enough to be together. You must have something in common! All Eucharistic Prayers ask for this communion of spirit. Let us recall, for example, the text of the Second Eucharistic Prayer: "Humbly we pray that, partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ, we may be gathered into one by the Holy Spirit"
or the Third Eucharistic Prayer: "grant that we, who are nourished by the Body and Blood of your Son and filled with his Holy Spirit, may become one body,
one spirit in Christ". These beautiful prayers of the Mass liturgy for the spirit of unity between us can be strengthened non-liturgically by the custom
of praying for the manifold gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Commentary on Today Gospel – Mt 13:36-43
" He who sows good seed is the Son of Man." Jesus Christ plants his field, so it is obvious that this world belongs to Him. The evil sower, the devil, comes into the field of God as a pest.
Let us ask ourselves two simple questions: why is the devil working against us, and how is he doing it? Well, the devil is an enemy of God, and precisely because he is an enemy of God, he works against us. He sows weeds that are very much like wheat. When someone wants to lie to us, they present their lie in such a way that it is credible, as close to the truth as possible. The devil does the same. The evil we are tempted to do is very much like good. It tempts us with the appearance of freedom - a freedom that does not count with God's commandments. It tempts us with the appearance of love - a love that does not want to hear about self-sacrifice. He tempts us with the appearance of happiness - a happiness based on selfishness and despising God's promise of eternal life.
The Lord Jesus said that Satan spreads his weed while we are asleep. He is the enemy of light, afraid to act openly. He is the master of deception and looks for those who sit in the dark. Therefore, it is not enough that we are believers. Let us try to live every hour of our lives in the light of faith. Let us not forget that this sower of weeds is - as we read in the Letter of the Apostle Peter – “Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for (someone) to devour”. (1P 5:8)
Until Tomorrow
fr. george