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The Time After Pentecost
guided in their actions and thoughts by the Spirit of God. In the power of the Holy Ghost
dwelling and working within them, they mortify the deeds of the flesh, avoid sin, and shun
this worldly spirit and its works. The spirit of sonship is the spirit of love, a childlike love of
the Father. Wherever this love has taken possession of the soul, it subdues natural and earthly
thoughts, considerations, and motives. Such a soul is filled with the light of God; it reckons the
value of things according to the principle of faith and according to the teaching and the example
of Christ. Those who placed their confidence in the flesh, in their education and knowledge,
their character, their faculties, and their efficiency, are trained by the Spirit so that they can
say with St. Paul: “The things that were gain to me, the same I have counted loss for Christ.
Furthermore I count all things to be but loss for the excellent knowledge of Jesus Christ my
Lord; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but as dung, that I may
gain Christ and may be found in Him” (Phil 3:7–9).
“If you live according to the flesh, you shall die; but if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the
flesh, you shall live” (Epistle). Through the Holy Spirit we shall gain life everlasting. The Lord
pours Him forth into our souls if only we do not bar His entrance by mortal sins. This Spirit of
love urges us to go to the Father, in order that in Christ we may live and serve the Father and
His interests with childlike, joyful, and trusting devotion.
The Holy Ghost crowns and seals the eternal communion existing between Father and
Son. In a similar manner He is the guiding principle and the cause of Christ’s intimate union
with His members. Thus head and members live in intimate union in the power of the Holy
Spirit. We have, therefore, every reason to rejoice in the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
With gratitude to Him we should open our souls and do everything in our power to make it
possible for Him to work in us.
Prayer
Grant to us, O Lord, we beseech Thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as are right;
that we who cannot exist without Thee, may be able to live according to Thy will. Through
Christ our Lord. Amen.
Tuesday
“We are debtors, not to the flesh to live according to the flesh; for if you live according to the
flesh, you shall die; but if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live” (Epistle).
The Spirit creates life and liberty; His law is “the perfect law of liberty” ( Jas 1:25).
“When I have a will to do good, evil is present with me. . . . I see another law in my members,
fighting against the law of my mind, and captivating me in the law of sin, that is in my members”
(Rom 7:21 ff.). There is much within us that is sordid, corrupt, and sensual, which wages war
against our soul; but beneath these evil inclinations the soul struggles and strives for light. The
soul wants to lift herself up spiritually. If she does not succeed in rising upwards with a pure,
noble, and holy mind, the features of the bestial and carnal man will become visible in her. She
is forced either to abandon herself to brutish instincts and become a slave of the flesh, or to wage
the fight against them unceasingly. If she neglects this fight, she must needs become a traitor to
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