As a college student, I participated in a Life in the Spirit seminar. The team members laid their hands on me in prayer that Jesus would baptize me in the Holy Spirit (see Mk 1:8). The next day as I opened my Bible for daily Scripture study, the words came alive for me, jumping off the page! The Holy Spirit illuminated the Word. In the decades since, the Scriptures have been "my joy and the happiness of my heart" (Jer 15:16).
Ask the Lord to stir up the Holy Spirit you received in Baptism and Confirmation (Lk 11:13). Read the Bible often, even daily, to give the Spirit an opportunity to open your mind "to the understanding of the Scriptures" (Lk 24:45). Ask the Holy Spirit for the gift of teaching (Rm 12:7) so you can be empowered to share the Word of God fruitfully with others. God "does not ration His gift of the Spirit" (Jn 3:34; Ti 3:6).
Thirst for the Holy Spirit (see Jn 7:37-38). Each day before reading the Holy Bible, pray the "Come, Holy Spirit" prayer, asking the Spirit to illuminate the Word for you (see the "Prayer" below). Some Catholic Bibles quote that prayer in the introduction, recommending to pray it before reading the Scriptures. Fr. Al Lauer, founder and long-time author of One Bread, One Body, said, "The more I say ‘No' to myself, the more I say ‘Yes' to the Holy Spirit." Decrease so Jesus and the Spirit may increase (Jn 3:30), not just in your own life but in a world which desperately needs the Spirit.
| PRAYER: | "Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created, and You will renew the face of the earth." |
| PROMISE: | "All were filled with the Holy Spirit." –Acts 2:4 |
| PRAISE: | "Come, Holy Spirit, come. And from Your celestial home shed a ray of light divine." |
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