Beloved Holy Spirit, You want us to live in faithfulness – and this in a time when infidelity is almost becoming a way of life. You will have a lot of work to do, because many people no longer understand the meaning of fidelity, whether it is in the marital relationship or in promises made or even in religious vows. We often need to learn anew what faithfulness, responsibility, constancy and stability mean.
But we have a wonderful example before us. It is the faithfulness of God. God is faithful – and He never gives up this faithfulness! The whole of the Old Testament testifies to this; in contrast to the frequent unfaithfulness of the people of Israel.
If we look into our own time, there are unfortunately more and more people who fall away from the faith and become unfaithful to the Lord. It then becomes more difficult to remain faithful to one another.
Very bad it becomes, O Holy Spirit, when we have to experience unfaithfulness in the church! We are all called – from the simplest believer to the Pope – to remain faithful to the gospel and the Church’s teaching.
We must be faithful not only to God, but also to ourselves in the right way. Loyalty to the recognized truth until a greater truth convinces us. This faithfulness then forms our character and makes us reliable people, who can also be counted on in daily dealings.
Faithfulness can be practised with small things, but these are by no means insignificant, for “anyone who is trustworthy in little things is trustworthy in great; anyone who is dishonest in little things is dishonest in great”, as the Gospel tells us (Lk 16:10).
When we make promises to people, we must keep them; if we cannot, we must inform them accordingly. Duties that we assume are to be fulfilled. Even the practice of punctuality, for example, helps us to grow into an attitude of reliability, which is related to faithfulness.
All these wonderful fruits which God wants to harvest on our tree of life, make us similar to Him.
That now, dear Holy Spirit, is Your work in us, if we are willing to cooperate and let You work. Sacred Scripture warns us that we should not be men driven to and fro by every wind (cf. Jam 1:6). Faithfulness strengthens us and also makes us reliable co-workers in the Kingdom of God, as we can see, for example, with St. Paul the Apostle.
Especially important is faithfulness to God and to our faith. This can be attacked in various ways and we know the testimony of the martyrs who preferred to give their lives than to betray their faithfulness to God. You have brought this about, O Holy Spirit, through the Spirit of Strength, which then became visible as fruit in their faithfulness.
Holy Spirit, please strengthen us especially in this time when faith is increasingly under attack, that we may remain faithful to You and not allow ourselves to be confused; faithful to Your Word, faithful to the Magisterium of the Church and to everything that comes from You and carries Your light.