May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

(Romans 15:13)

 

 

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Have you lost your local Cenacle on the internet? 

We have a new website, and the web addresses for the North American Cenacles have changed.  You can find most of the local Cenacles by leaving off the ".htm" from the old address, as in: www.cenaclesisters.
org/gainesville/ 

 

 

The Cenacle Journal Archives: 
1) chronological format; 

2) blog format, where the entries are filed by categories. 

Are you called to be a Sister?
Visit Vocation Quest and make the disernment retreat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

      

Cenacle Journal

 

Recent journal entries:

Into God's Broad Graciousness
Risen as Crucified
Being Led Where We Want to Go
Mercy Like the Air
Bottled Tears


 

For a reflection on the Feast of Our Lady of the Cenacle, see "Nurturing the Mystical Body."

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The Consolation and the Challenge of the Holy Spirit Praying in Us

The following is by Sister Elizabeth Hillmann.  It was originally presented as a talk to the Christian Meditation group which meets at the Cenacle in Gainesville.  You can view the video here: "The Consolation and the Challenge of the Holy Spirit Praying in Us," or on YouTube (see link in left-hand column).

 

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We know from Romans 8:26-27 that the Holy Spirit of God prays in us, with groans and sighs:

Likewise the Spirit helps us Our Lady of the Cenacle, Lyonin our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

However we are praying, in our weakness or our blindness or our selfishness, the Holy Spirit is praying In us according to the will of God.

 

This is a great consolation. What matters is that we pray, whether it be a groaning prayer, a rote prayer, any way of praying. We can trust that our prayer is transformed by the Spirit to be in accord with the will of God.

 

I love the words in Psalm 86:

Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart to revere your name.
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name for ever.
For great is your steadfast love towards me;
you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
(11-13)

There is also a challenge to us to open our hearts and minds to let God heal our divided hearts. We can spend some time each day praying without an agenda, without seeking to achieve anything, without intending to look good in our own eyes. We sit and say a simple prayer quietly, even repeating it slowly, so that we are open to what God wants to do with us. We accept the mystery that God is truth and beauty and goodness and we entrust our whole being into the hands of God for this short prayer time.

 

Let us pray.

 

 

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Send E-mail here.

Ici on parle français.

 

 

Journal content copyright © 2008
by the Cenacle Sisters

 

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Image: Pentecost scene located above the altar

in the Cenacle, Lyon, France

 

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Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible,
Copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Cenacle Journal normally offers a new meditation every two weeks.
Suggested Scripture passages are included for your prayer and reflection.