At the first Christian Pentecost, "all were filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:4). After Peter and John were released from prison, the first Christian community gathered to pray, and "the place where they were gathered shook as they prayed. They were filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 4:31). Stephen, the first deacon and the first martyr, was "a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit" (Acts 6:5). Barnabas "was a good man filled with the Holy Spirit and faith" (Acts 11:24). The Lord commands us: "Be filled with the Spirit" (Eph 5:18).
We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit because we may have:
Consequently, "receive the Holy Spirit" in fullness (Jn 20:22). "Stir into flame the gift of God" that you have received. "The Spirit God has given us is no cowardly spirit, but rather One That makes us strong, loving, and wise" (2 Tm 1:6, 7). Be filled with the Holy Spirit.
| PRAYER: | Father, may I never limit the Spirit's presence and power in my life. |
| PROMISE: | "See what love the Father has bestowed on us in letting us be called children of God! Yet that is what we are." —1 Jn 3:1 |
| PRAISE: | Praise our risen, eucharistic Lord and Savior! Glory, power, and might be to Him forever and ever. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College