Image by O'Brien Stained Glass Company
Day 1/Intro, Days 2 - 7
Pentecost Novena to the Holy Spirit
Veni, Sancte Spiritus!
(see sidebar for music)
From today's scripture:
After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples
and eaten breakfast with them,
he said to Simon Peter,
“Simon, son of John,
do you love me more than these?”
Simon Peter answered him,
“Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
He then said to Simon Peter a second time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Simon Peter answered him,
“Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
He said to him the third time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was distressed
that he had said to him a third time,
“Do you love me?” and he said to him,
“Lord, you know everything; you
know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger,
you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted;
but when you grow old,
you will stretch out your hands,
and someone else will dress you
and lead you where you do not want to go.”
He said this signifying by what kind of death
he would glorify God.
And when he had said this, he said to him,
“Follow me.”
John 21:15-19
(see sidebar for music)
From today's scripture:
After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples
and eaten breakfast with them,
he said to Simon Peter,
“Simon, son of John,
do you love me more than these?”
Simon Peter answered him,
“Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
He then said to Simon Peter a second time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Simon Peter answered him,
“Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
He said to him the third time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was distressed
that he had said to him a third time,
“Do you love me?” and he said to him,
“Lord, you know everything; you
know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger,
you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted;
but when you grow old,
you will stretch out your hands,
and someone else will dress you
and lead you where you do not want to go.”
He said this signifying by what kind of death
he would glorify God.
And when he had said this, he said to him,
“Follow me.”
John 21:15-19
Peter had three times denied that he knew Jesus at all.
The Risen Lord's three questions here
remind Peter of his sin and give him the opportunity
to make up for it...
- For those who have sinned and who doubt God's mercy...
- For those who believe they are beyond God's pardon...
- For those who find it difficult to confront their own sins...
- For men and women called to feed the Lord's lambs,
to tend the Lord's sheep...
- For those who fear death...
Let us pray:
Come, Holy Spirit of God!
Give us the courage
to stand in the light of God's truth
and to confess our infidelities.
Draw your Church,
your ministers and your people,
to the font of God's mercy
where our sins are washed away.
Give us the wisdom to understand
that nothing can come between us
and the love of God in Christ Jesus -
not even death itself.
Give us fear not of death
but of anything that keeps us from the life
that is ours in Christ.
Give us confidence to surrender
to the mercy of God;
melt our hardened hearts,
shaping them as God made them to be.
With the fire of your love in our hearts
warm us to the work
of feeding those who hunger for God,
of tending those who ache for God's embrace.
Help us, young and old alike,
never to fear the path
along which you draw us closer to God.
Come, Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of your people
and kindle in us the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created
and you will renew the face of the earth.
Our Father... Hail Mary... Glory be...
Veni, Sancte Spiritus!
(see sidebar for music)
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