INFANT JESUS SISTERS
22 HEXHAM CLOSE, WORTH, CRAWLEY, WEST SUSSEX RH10 7TZ
ENGLAND
Email: adminijs@btinternet.com
Website: www.infantjesussisters.org

PENTECOST 2018
Dearest Sisters and Friends,

Avery happy and holy feast of Pentecost to you all! May you be filled with joy, faith andcourage as you open your hearts to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit on this great feast.

It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that enables the Easter ‘Alleluia’ to resonate through every
aspect of our lives. The Holy Spirit helps us to live the new life that we are offered. Joy will triumphover uncertainty, because the promise offered to us by the coming of the Holy Spirit will never bediminished.
The Feast of Pentecost invites us to reflect deeply on the gifts of the Holy Spirit
in our lives today and to look at the ways we respond to them. In Paul’s
second letter to Timothy, he was very much aware that his time in active
ministry was running out. He needed to select a person to continue themission into the future. He chose Timothy as a credible witness to theGospel and urged him to “fan into a flame the gifts God had given him”
(2 Tim 1:6) and to continue the work of sharing the Good News withall people. Paul knew this mission would require courage andreliance on the grace of God. Timothy kept on feeding the flameof God’s gifts and spoke openly of Christ. He was aflame with
God’s love and always knew that the promises of Jesus would
never fail him.
That same message is given to each of us. We are invited toreplace fear with courage and hope and not limit ourselves in thefullness of our response to God’s call. As we face the challenges
that life brings, let us call on the grace of the Spirit to sustain thefire within us and help us be courageous in sharing the Word ofGod. Let us practise in our own lives what we have been teachingand preaching – love, forgiveness, peace, justice and hope. The
same power that transformed the early disciples is available to us at alltimes.
With the Holy Spirit we can consciously choose to “fan into a flame” the gifts
God has given to each of us individually and to the various groups to which webelong.
What gifts are you being called to fan into a flame?
It is clear from the words of Jesus himself, “how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit tothose who ask him!”(Lk. 11:13), that God longs to give the Holy Spirit to us and that all we have to dois ask. The Spirit often works quietly and secretly but we also need to be prepared for wind and fire!
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Do not doubt that God will give his Spirit to all who seek him. We can be certain that the directionof a life led by the Spirit will bring fulfilment and enable that person to give glory to God.
When we have an open and generous heart, it is so much easier torecognise the voice of God’s spirit. If our attitude is right, andif we really want to hear that voice, then we can be sure that
we will hear it. The limits to the effectiveness of the Spirit
in our lives are the ones we set ourselves. When we say‘yes’ to the Holy Spirit from the depths of our hearts, werecognise the gentle power of God’s spirit within us.
The recent document from Pope Francis, ‘Gaudete etExsultate’ (Rejoice and be Glad), is a call to ‘holiness’ – asimple and practical guide to living our lives in honesty and truth.
Francis says, “This holiness to which the Lord calls you will grow through small gestures”. (16) He continues,“Do not be afraid to let yourself be guided by the Holy Spirit. Holiness does not make you less human, since it is anencounter between your weakness and the power of God’s grace.” (34)Holiness is not about being a special sort of person or living apart from the world but about being agood next-door neighbour, finding a better way of doing what we do already, and carrying out
ordinary acts in an extraordinary way. Holiness needs times of quiet, solitude and silence. PopeFrancis asks, “Are there moments when you place yourself quietly in the Lord’s presence, when you calmly spend
time with him, when you bask in his gaze? Do you let his fire inflame your heart? Unless you let him warm you more
and more with his love and tenderness, you will not catch fire.” (151)
The Holy Spirit is always with us, always in our hearts. If we listen to him he teaches us the path ofwisdom, which is seeing with God's eyes, listening with God's ears, loving with God's heart, andjudging with God's judgment. We just have to ask the Holy Spirit.
When has the presence of the Holy Spirit offered you comfort and consolation at times of difficulty in your life?
One of Nicolas Barré’s gifts to us was his total conviction of the power of the Holy Spirit to work
wonders in our lives, beyond all our expectations. This conviction came from his own livedexperience. He urges us to“be faithful and allow yourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit, as a feather is carried bythe wind” (L 9). As we continue our journey from the recent Council of the Institute in Kuala
Lumpur towards the General Chapter next year, let us “Stay Awake!” and allow the Holy Spirit to
give new life to the creativity and imagination within each of us - sisters, friends and faithfulcollaborators - as we search together for the way forward.
So wherever we are today, whatever is happening in our lives, the Spirit is with us. Inspired by theactivity of the Holy Spirit, we have the courage to lift our hearts in hope. The Spirit will fill us,
making us new.
May the Spirit of Pentecost sweep through your life, your heart, your imagination,and transform you into someone whose heart is on fire with the love of God!
Kimiko, Maria and Noreen join me in assuring you of our prayer as we celebrate
the feast of Pentecost once again.

Come, Holy Spirit!

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