Scripture Scribbles: June 5, 2022

the Gospel

John 20:19-23

On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”

the devotion

I am learning that nothing I dream of can match what God is doing.

Gently, slowly, bit by bit.

Three years ago on Pentecost, my first daughter was baptized. But I didn’t plan it that way. It was just the right date for the right people to be in one place. I didn’t even realize that Sunday would be Pentecost. I didn’t know much about the Holy Spirit at the time (I’m still learning!) and I was not sure that the Catholic Church was my soul’s safe haven.

Looking back on that Pentecost mass, I am overcome by the gentle work of God in my life and by the beautiful clarity of his presence in all of it. That day, the breath of our Lover King fell upon us. As we stood by the baptismal font listening to the words of blessing over my daughter, an indescribable sense of God’s perfect, incredible goodness filled me and everyone around us.

In the months and years following that day, God has continued to invite me into the triune love. Meditating on this today, I am reminded to trust in his work. Sometimes the Holy Spirit comes in thundering flame and sometimes the Holy Spirit arranges our calendars so that He can wrap our hearts in transcendent joy on the altar and whisper an invitation: “Be with me, my love.”

Today my prayer is to never part from this love. To always say yes to its invitation. To trust what God is doing and how He is doing it. To see and delight in His work. To carry His love into the world. To be kindling for it to consume other hearts and lives. Come, Holy Spirit.

Today’s devotion was written by Lucia Parker