Waiting for the Spirit

Pentecost will be celebrated this Sunday. It marks 50 days since Easter, and together with Mary the Mother of Jesus and Queen of the  nine days since Ascension Thursday. The Acts of the Apostles tells us that the Apostles and some women, including "Mary the Mother of Jesus" were gathered together in prayer in one place.
The Lord had promised "You will be clothed with power from on high." We Daughters of St. Paul and other members of the Pauline Family pray the pre-Pentecost novena (nine days of prayer) together with Mary the Mother of Jesus, the Queen of the Apostles. We can imagine the respect and reverence given to Jesus' mother by the Apostles and the earliest Christians. The apostle John took her under his care. As the first Christians gathered in prayer with Mary, so do we. The novena prayers in the Prayers of the Pauline Family recall the Bible passages that mention Mary and her role as mother of Jesus and then of his followers.
May we prepare ourselves well to receive a more abundant outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit on this coming Sunday.

Mary, Queen of the Apostles, gives Jesus to the world.
The scroll in Baby Jesus' hands represent the gospel.