The Soul of Community Prayer

 

Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe

~~~ Deuteronomy 34:1-12 ~~~ Psalm 66 ~~~ Matthew 18:15-20 ~~~

 

Blessed be God who filled my soul with fire!

 

Throughout all of Christianity

God has sent down the Holy Spirit to fill

the hearts of men and women.

We have every reason to believe that this continues in our world today.

The Holy Spirit is what Jesus promised to send down in his place.

Since the first Pentecost the Holy Spirit has been with us.

 

Obviously from the first reading

we can see that the actions of the Holy Spirit existed. 

 Now Joshua, son of Nun, was filled with the spirit of wisdom,
since Moses had laid his hands upon him...

 

 God filled the soul of Joshua with fire.

This fire gave him wisdom and strength to faithfully

carry out the Lord's command.

It was now the task of Joshua to step into the leadership role

for the people of Israel.

 

 

 Come and see the works of God...

 

It was a common understanding in ancient times

that witnesses were important for credibility to be established. 

 

 ...every fact may be established
on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

 

You may recall that Jesus took three with him to the mountain top 

 to witness the Transfiguration.

They witnessed the true essence of Jesus, his divine nature.

 

This is perhaps why Jesus goes on to say that where

two or three gather to pray

his heavenly Father will also be present.

 

For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them.
 

 Praying in community is giving testimony to the divine presence.

Praying together with others fills our hearts

with the fire of God's love.

We are stronger when we pray with two or three others.

The spirit of our individual prayer

combines creating a greater, more powerful prayer.

We are offering our presence as witnesses

to our time of prayer.

 

There is no stopping a person

when their soul is filled with the fire of the Spirit. 

Saint Maximilian Kolbe is one man who was undoubtedly

filled with the fire of the Spirit.

 

Blessings in praying with others.