POWER OF PENTECOST IN PSALM 139

"The Spirit prepares men and goes out to them with His grace, in order to draw them to Christ. The Spirit manifests the risen Lord to them, recalls His word to them and opens their minds to the understanding of his Death and Resurrection. He makes present the mystery of Christ, supremely in the Eucharist, in order to reconcile them, to bring them into communion with God, that they may 'bear much fruit.' " (Catechism of the Catholic Church, article 737)

Power of Pentecost in Psalm 139

Have our minds ever been brought to a full stop when reading Sacred Scripture? One word, or one complete sentence may suddenly grasp our faculties: our intellect, our memory, our emotions. Perhaps the Holy Spirit may have animated every molecule, every pore in our body to the very 'tip of our fingers, to the tip of our toes' and a 'holy shiver' rushes through our being as He gives Light to our seeking mind.

This Pentecost Sunday, when Spirit Lord inflamed Christ's frightened apostles huddling together in that upper room around Mary, the Spirit's Immaculate spouse, we too are present, because wherever God is, we, born or yet to be born, are held in His Loving Mind.

Do we too look on the Flames of His Love as He hovers over us, over every soul in whom He moves in all time that He owns? And in each one of us, He animates our thoughts and we experience that Living, rushing Flame as He enlivens our minds and we are drawn into unknown depths of Sacred Scripture. Holy words that we may have read or heard so often throughout our lived years, suddenly flood into our minds and our spiritual awareness is set on Fire.

This may have happened when, after decades of praying the Psalms, one word, one line may reveal an astonishing depth of a life-changing meaning.

When we proclaim Psalm 139 aloud and substitute our own voice for that of King David's using his words to address our Creator, Spirit Lord may inspire our own magnificat in our souls, empowering us in prayer to echo Psalm 19:14:

“May the spoken words of our mouth and the hidden thoughts of our heart win favour with you. O Lord our God.” ... so that You may see and love in us what You saw and loved in Your Son, Jesus Christ.

When Spirit Lord animates our thoughts and our words, it is He Who prays through us in glorious praise of God's indescribable love for each soul whom He has created. It is Spirit Lord Who inflames our soul and our prayer soars to new heights of awe and gratitude.

1. O Lord, you have searched me and known me.

2. You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

you discern my thoughts from far away.

3. You search out my path and my lying down

and are acquainted with all my ways.

4. Even before a word is on my tongue,

O Lord, you know it completely.

5. You hem me in, behind and before,

and lay your hand upon me.

6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is so high that I cannot attain it.

7. Where can I go from your spirit?

Or where can I flee from your presence?

8. If I ascend to heaven, you are there;

if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

9. If I take the wings of the morning

and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,

10. even there your hand shall lead me,

and your right hand shall hold me fast.

11. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,

and night wraps itself around me,"

12. even the darkness is not dark to you;

the night is as bright as the day,

for darkness is as light to you.

                    (from Psalm 139) 

Psalm 139 reveals God's deeply loving, intimate crafting and infinite knowledge of each human being, uniquely and wonderfully made by Him.

God's intimate touch and knowledge of our soul is further detailed in the mystery of verse 16, "... your eyes saw me unformed, in your book all are written down."

Some have translated these words of King David to describe the time when God will open that "book" and all of our actions will justify His condemnation of us. This understanding of Verse 16 is also at times supported by the verse from St Luke 12:2:

     "Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known."    

But in prayer, perhaps Spirit Lord might draw us into a deeper discernment of 'your' book.

Edith Stein guides us.

She speaks of the "BOOK OF THE CROSS..."

In His Sacred Body, Jesus Lord let flow unquenchable oceans of mercy. All sins were absorbed and consumed into His Suffering Sacred Humanity and the Cross, holding and giving witness to His ocean of suffering, is where the pages of our lives reveal the story of our "actions."

The Cross that pins Him is where we can't run from His spirit, or flee from His face, or climb the mountains of our wrongdoings. The Cross is where He will never stop longing for us to give Him our broken selves. Even if we lie in the grave, He is there, where His right hand holds us fast (Psalm 139).

The Book of the Cross is the story of our lives, our life-sufferings and death. The Book of the Cross is Christ's Book and our book.

In every page of this sacred Book the profound and hidden meanings of every incident, suffering, joy, of our lives are best read under the guidance and inspirations of the Holy Spirit. Wherever in our lives we travel, whatever we become, we are ever under the Gaze of God, a Gaze of utter love, never condemning, ever redeeming.

"FATHER OF LIGHT, FROM WHOM EVERY GOOD GIFT COMES,

SEND YOUR SPIRIT INTO OUR LIVES

WITH THE POWER OF A MIGHTY WIND,

AND BY THE FLAME OF YOUR WISDOM

OPEN THE HORIZONS OF OUR MINDS.

LOOSEN OUR TONGUES TO SING YOUR PRAISE

IN WORDS BEYOND THE POWER OF SPEECH

FOR WITHOUT YOUR SPIRIT

MAN COULD NEVER RAISE HIS VOICE IN WORDS OF PEACE

OR ANNOUNCE THE TRUTH THAT JESUS IS LORD,

WHO LIVES AND REIGNS WITH YOU AND THE HOLY SPIRIT."

                             (Liturgy of the Hours, PENTECOST SUNDAY )