Be Blown by the Spirit

Be Blown by the Spirit  

April 9, 2012

Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter

By Beth DeCristofaro

There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the Apostles,
and they were distributed to each according to need.  (Acts 4:34-35)

Jesus said to Nicodemus:  “‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:7b-8)

Piety

Father, your truth is made known in your Word.
Guide us to seek the truth of the human person.
Teach us the way to love because you are Love.

Jesus, you embody Love and Truth.
Help us to recognize your face in the poor.
Enable us to live out our vocation to bring love and justice to your people.

Holy Spirit, you inspire us to transform our world.
Empower us to seek the common good for all persons.
Give us a spirit of solidarity and make us one human family.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

This prayer is based on Pope Benedict XVI's 2009 encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth)

Study

In one of the slum neighborhoods of Cairo, I met a woman who seemed to be blown by the Spirit.  She worked for the Coptic Orphanage Foundation as a kind of social worker or godmother to young people who had lost one or more of their parents.  She, if not older than me, at least had lived a hard enough life that she moved as if much older through the cramped streets.  And she climbed stairway after crumbling stairway in disintegrating shoes to visit the children at home, encouraging them to continue to come to the after-school programs held at the Coptic Church.  The level of hope in the children were such that one young woman on the verge of college graduation told us that she just hoped to be able to land a job some day.  This woman put her energy, her talents, her faith at the feet of her community to help out.

Action

How am I building community amid the competing messages that say “My claim on such and such is more valid than hers or his.”  How can I lay what is mine at the feet of the Apostles for distribution each according to his need?