Rekindle in us the fire of your love

Rekindle in us the fire of your love

One of the traditional prayers of invocation of the Holy Spirit is, ‘Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth’ (cf Psalm 104(103):30). The Scripture refers to the great things that happened ‘when the day of Pentecost arrived and there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven who came together and each one was hearing them speak in his own language…the mighty works of God’(cf Acts2:1-11). This was a renewal of the face of the earth. In addition, it was like a reversal of the sad experience of God confusing the language of humans at the Tower of Babel (cf Gen 11:1-9).

Beloved people of God, every heart, every generation, every age needs the fire of God’s love to be rekindled in it. That is one true way of renewing the face of the earth – where humanity gathers, and speaks of God’s greatness and his glory. As the psalmist would have it, ‘bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, how great you are! How many are your works, O Lord, the earth is full of your creatures…You send forth your spirit, and they are created, and you renew the face of the earth…May the glory of the Lord last for ever. May the Lord rejoice in his works…’ (cf Ps 104(103)ff).

We pray that in our time and age, the Lord steps in once more even as we live confused in the face of fear, real and or imaginary. May we accept his gift of peace – ‘Peace be with you’. May we also accept the mission to which he sends us – ‘As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you’. May we be open to receive the Holy Spirit that he gives to us – ‘Receive the Holy spirit’. May we forgive others so that they will be forgiven. 

Fr Ted

All to Jesus – Through Mary our Mother