The Holy Spirit inspired our blog.
Wednesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Extraordinary Time
Brothers and sisters:
If you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are obvious:
immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry,
sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy,
outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness,
dissensions, factions, occasions of envy,
drinking bouts, orgies, and the like.
I warn you, as I warned you before,
that those who do such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Against such there is no law.
Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their flesh
with its passions and desires.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.
Emphasis mine Gal 5: 18-25
When I read the readings for next Wednesday, I celebrated. We have talked a lot about the “Nine” Fruit of the Holy Spirit, and I feel some of you may not understand where these come from and how I became so enthusiastic about them.
I was reading the Bible one morning. We had started a new business, and frankly, things were not going well financially. Things were not going well; that term doesn’t clearly express what we were going through. It was the second year, and we had gone through our savings, etc., and somehow, Gail, my rock, kept us afloat.
Remember, at that time in my life, God was up there, and I was down here, “Leave me alone.”
In the second year, things were better, but not like they had been before I, yes I had decided to try this going out on my own.
I was reading a chapter of the Bible a day, and I came upon Galatians Chapter 5: 18-25.
I read this, and the Holy Spirit said to me, “Would you like more Peace?”
I said, “Yes!”
The Holy Spirit next said, “Learn these nine words.”
I wrote them down on a piece of paper, and as Gail and I set out for our daily five-mile walk, I decided to pray for an increase in the Fruit of the Holy Spirit as an additional partition.
I was praying the Rosary. The First Joyful Mystery was always for Gail and me. At the end of the prayer, I added the Fruit of the Holy Spirit to my other petitions.
I named each Fruit.
Next, we went to the second Joyful Mystery. The Joyful Mysteries are dedicated to our family, and I added the Fruit Of the Holy Spirit for all our Family members.
Why not?
Would it be bad if they increased in Love, Joy, and Peace?
And,
Since I prayed the Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries, with different partitions for different groups, and yes, you are in the Second Glorious Mystery, why wouldn’t I ask for an increase of the Fruit of the Holy Spirit for all of them?
The answer is I would.
When you pray the “Nine” as often as I do, it doesn’t take long to know them by heart.
By the end of the week, I began noticing more Self-Control and a greater Peace. It was the Peace that was the hook God used to get me.
Imagine my world financially falling apart, and I’m feeling Peace.
It’s interesting how God works in our lives. Because of what was going on and the feeling of Peace, I knew without a doubt that God was working in my life. From that moment on, I started my journey, or should I say our journey, to grow in the Fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Against such there is no law, was God’s other hook to get me to learn the Fruit of the Holy Spirit. I hate rules and laws. One of the reasons I didn’t become an Officer in the Navy was that I didn’t conform to all of the rules, many of which I felt were stupid. In civilian life, I rebelled against some company rules, and the obvious answer was to start my own company, where I was filled with Joy once we got it rolling.
If you live the “Nine,” everything in life falls into place.
Easy,
And yet satan says this is not true.
You decide.
Prayer: the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Remember, Jesus said we are to Love our Neighbors. Jesus didn’t say how; St. Paul, in chapter five of Galatians, gave us the how and what a life-changing difference it is.
Sidebar:
Cumberland County Jail 10/3/24: John Kiernan and I went into B-1, and the first man who came in couldn’t wait for me to ask, “Give me the Nine. ” He told me all nine and in the proper order.
We, Holy Spirit, we are out of the I’s, next asked, “Have you seen a difference?”
He said, “Yes, more Peace.”
“Do you like the change?” He responded, “Yes.”
The next four men came in knowing then ”Nine,” and all said they liked the change.
Later in the meeting, one man asked, “If I don’t know the “Nine,” would that prevent me from going to Heaven?”
I kiddingly said, “Yes.”
Actually, I just NOW realized the answer we gave was not a joke but true. Remember, as we have defined in earlier blogs, Heaven is here on Earth, in you, IF you live in the Holy Spirit’s Love, Joy, and Peace.
What we did say next was that in the twenty-seven years, we have been working in the Jail, everyone who took our advice and learned and Prayed the Prayers we have recommended, the same Prayers we have talked about and are available to you, saw a BIG change in their life. One man said the food was lousy, and two weeks later, he said the food was good; another was facing thirty years in prison and had his sentence greatly reduced; and lastly, Ryan told me he found Joy in jail.
Joy in Jail, these two terms are opposites, yet it was true.
How about You?
Are you like most of the men in jail and let satan convince you this is not true, or are you willing to take a chance and see a real change in your life within a week of praying the “Nine? “
That is quite a promise when you think about it. One week and you WILL see a change.
Write us if you don’t, or better yet, write us if you do. It’s your life.
Picture:
This picture of a busy bee was taken in my daughter’s garden in Lisbon Falls, ME. ~ Kathy
Please keep Snapping!
Email me if you want a copy of the prayers we discussed or the three hiking pictures we showed.
fprince101@gmail.com
Remember, if you want to submit a picture, please do not include people. We have to get permission from that person to use their photograph.
