Fruits of the Spirit: Faithfulness and Charity
Gift of the Spirit: Reinforcement of All Seven Gifts

Heavenly Father, you have given your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ reign over your Kingdom. Through his intercession you have sent forth your Spirit through Mary and the Apostles to begin the work of your Church and to renew the face of the earth. Through that same Spirit, we ask you to renew the Church throughout the world, but especially in our own diocese of Kalamazoo. In this month, we especially ask that your Spirit bear to fullness in us, the fruits of faithfulness and charity in our hearts. Bring to each of us ample opportunities throughout the month to bear forth this fruit in greater abundance. Additionally, help us to grow in all seven gifts of your Holy Spirit and to recognize not only the call to holiness in each of our lives, but the specific tasks for which you have called us using the gifts you have given us and to those tasks with diligence and love. We ask this through the same Christ, Our Lord, Amen.
 

Faithfulness: St. Joan of Arc, Feast Day, May 30; St. Therese of Lisieux, Feast Day Oct 1; St. Bernadette Soubirous, Feastday, April 16, SS. Jacinta and Francisco Marto, Feast Day, (April 4 and Feb 20).  

Charity: St. Frances Cabrini. Feast Day: Nov 13
Link to Info on Mother Cabrini: https://www.mothercabrini.org/who-we-are/mother-cabrini/

Year of the Holy Spirit Cenacles will officially close on Saturday, June 18, 2022. Parishes are encouraged to continue their own cenacles as parish led initiatives, especially as the diocese joins the National Catholic Conference of Bishops in its national Eucharistic Revival beginning on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, June 19, 2022.

Prayer of Saint Augustine to the Holy Spirit (said in addition to the other opening prayers to the Holy Spirit)
“Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy. Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy. Amen.”

Cenacle Readings for the Month:
Week 1: 1 John 2:1-23
Week 2: 1 John 5:1-21

Closing Cenacle Prayer
Heavenly Father, we ask you to pour forth your Holy Spirit upon us. We ask you for the gift of Wisdom to better know You and Your divine perfections, for the gift of Understanding to clearly discern the spirit of the mysteries of the Holy Faith, for the gift of Counsel that we may live according to the principles of this faith, for the gift of Knowledge that we may look for counsel in You and that we may always find it in You, for the gift of Fortitude that no fear or earthly preoccupations would ever separate us from You, for the gift of Piety that we may always serve Your Majesty with a filial love, for the gift of the Fear of the Lord that we may dread sin, which offends You, O my God.
     Finally, in this month dedicated to your Most Holy Eucharist, we ask you to open the hearts of all people to your love in the Most Blessed Sacrament, especially those who are most neglected, lost, and marginalized. Through the Prayer of your most beloved Spouse, Mary Most Holy, obtain for us an abundance of faithfulness, charity, and the ability to discern your truth from all false teaching. We ask this through Christ Our Lord who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

Jubilee Year of the Holy Spirit: Bearing the Fruit of Charity
In the English language, love is a very ambiguous word that can mean anything from things we very much enjoy to the nobility of the sacrificial love our marriage vows demand of us towards our spouses. However, the Greek language of the New Testament, distinguishes several different words for love. In the English language, when we hear the word, “charity” many immediately think of donation of good or money. This definition is very limited and does not begin to describe what charity is for the Christian. In 1 Corinthians 13, St. Paul defines for us in what charity (caritas) consists. You know the passage, “Love is patient, love is kind, love is not jealous, boastful or rude…”. Charity is related to, but distinct from “agape” (ah-gah’-pay) love which is the sacrificial love Jesus asked Peter if he had for him in John 21:15-17, and the love we are identified by Jesus and the John the evangelist as having when we are obedient to God (John 14:21; 15:10, 13-14 and 1 John 2:3-6). Like agape love, “caritas” is sacrificial in nature, but it also includes the qualities of patience, kindness, steadfastness, forbearance, forgiveness, action, faithfulness, rejoicing with the truth, and humility. In essence, all the fruit of the Holy Spirit including itself. 

Jubilee Year of the Holy Spirit: Bearing the Fruit of Faithfulness
The fruit of faithfulness is obvious. It manifests itself as a state of mind in which the love of Christ is at the center of a person’s life. Everything the person does is referenced to Christ. It really does come down to the now well-used question asked before a person acts, what would Jesus do? Every decision is made with reference to Christ. Every action to be completed is offered to Him and done in union with him. Every daily annoyance, difficulty, roadbump, or suffering is given to Christ, which he uses to assist us in our salvation and salvation of others. It is this for this purpose Jesus tells us that if we are to be his disciples, we must carry our crosses after him. In faithfulness, we trust God implicitly. We may question, but we do not doubt his love for us nor his providence. We “seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness”. When we question, it is not out of doubt, cynicism or distrust, but seeking greater understanding of His will for us and how we desires us to respond.
 

Pre-K thru 1:
Tell or read to your child(ren) the story of Pentecost (Acts 2). Watch video together at link here: 
Draw a picture of the Holy Spirit descending upon the Apostles in the Upper Room in Jersualem. Hang it on the refrigerator or other prominent place for the month.

Grades 2-3:
Parents: Prepare for this activity by reading CCC nos. 1822-1829. Also read 1 Corinthians 13 and the First Letter of John for its Scriptural explanation.
1. Read to or have your child read the story of Pentecost (Acts 2).
2. Explain to them that the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5: 22-23) are a group of qualities, characteristics or signs exhibited in a person’s life that show the Holy Spirit is living and active within them.
3. Explain that our bodies were created by God (Gen 1:27-28) and “are not your own because you were purchased at a great price” (the price of Christ’s suffering and death) and are therefore by baptism, are “temples of the Holy Spirit” (See 1 Cor 6:19-20) and that the Holy Spirit is given to us when we are baptized and strengthened in us when we are confirmed.
4. Explain to them the fruit of Charity (see Catechism of the Catholic Church-CCC--no. 1822) as the “queen virtue” by which we love God above all things for his own sake and above all people and things, but by which we also love our neighbor as ourselves.
5. Have them tell you instances of when they were being charitable or saw others being charitable.

Grades 4-6:
1. Read the story of Pentecost (Acts 2). Write a 100-200 word summary of the event.
2. Read Chapter 13 of St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 13) and also the first Letter of John. Explain to either one of your parents the difference between how St. Paul and St. John define charity.
7-9:
1. Read 1 Cor 13 and the First Letter of John
Write a short essay comparing and contrasting the differences between how St. Paul defines charity in 1 Corinthians 13 and how St. John defines charity (Love of God) in his First Letter of John.

Grades 10-12:
Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) nos. 1822-1829. Also read 1 Corinthians 13 and the First Letter of John for its Scriptural explanation of charity. Spend 10 minutes in prayer and reflection on these readings specifically asking the Holy Spirit to help you better understand and how to live the virtue of charity in your practical everyday life. Listen to what comes to your mind in this regard. Remain listening for this silent voice throughout the month and what he puts into your mind. The suggestions will often be subtle and you will be quick to dismiss them in favor of some other meaningless distraction, so pay attention. God does not force our hands and is not “in our face” and he will step away from us quickly if we dismiss His thoughts to us.  Look for opportunities to practice this virtue in concrete ways throughout the month, especially in people you run across throughout the day.

Adult:
Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) nos. 1822-1829. Also read 1 Corinthians 13 and the First Letter of John for its Scriptural explanation of charity. Spend 15 minutes in prayer and reflection on these readings specifically asking the Holy Spirit to help you better understand and how to live the virtue of charity in your practical everyday life. Listen to what comes to your mind in this regard. Remain listening for this silent voice throughout the month and what he puts into your mind. The suggestions will often be subtle and you will be quick to dismiss them in favor of some other meaningless distraction, so we listen carefully. God does not force our hands, is not “in our face”, and he will step away from us quickly if we dismiss His thoughts to us.  Look for opportunities to practice this virtue in concrete ways throughout the month, especially in people you run across throughout the day.