Novena to the Holy Spirit

SIGN UP TO PRAY FOR CHURCH RENEWAL

    Begins May 19 & runs through May 27


    By entering your email address and clicking submit, you are giving Fr. Randall Graf permission to send you an email early each morning for 9 days, from May 19 through May 27.

    You are also committing to take 9 minutes each day to pray the prayers in the email to strengthen and renew the Christian Church throughout the world, as well as to strengthen and renew Good Shepherd Anglican Church, during this 9 day Pre-Pentecost Novena to the Holy Spirit.

An invitation to prayer
from Fr. Randall+

Dear Family of Faith,

This Thursday, May 18, is the Feast of the Ascension. The Ascension is the fortieth day of Eastertide—marking the forty days that our Resurrected Lord walked among the disciples before ascending to heaven so that on the fiftieth day after the Resurrection, God the Father could send the Holy Spirit to birth the Church at Pentecost.

During the nine days between the Ascension and Pentecost (May 19 through May 27), I will be praying a Novena to the Holy Spirit for the renewal of Christ’s Church universal and in particular for our parish. I am seeking 9 other prayer warriors to commit to pray for 9 minutes per day over the course of those 9 days. Together, we will pray a Novena to the Holy Spirit.

A novena (from the Latin novem meaning nine) is an ancient prayer practice of dedicating nine days of prayer for a specific prayer intention. This practice has its roots in Holy Scripture. In the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke tells us that after Jesus ascended to heaven in the presence of his disciples, they committed themselves to prayer and continued praying until Christ’s promise of the Holy Spirit came upon them on the day of Pentecost. In other words, they prayed for the nine days between the Feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost.

Acts 1:14 (NIV) states it this way: They (the apostles) all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
I am seeking (at least) nine others to join me in praying for nine minutes per day for nine days, petitioning the Holy Spirit to come upon the Church across the globe and in particular, our local church parish, with the power of renewal and revival.
Are you feeling the call to be a part of this commitment? I pray you are. If so, please use this link to sign up for the Novena to the Holy Spirit:
https://www.goodshepherdmet.com/holy-spirit-novena.html

Each person who signs up will receive an email from me first thing in the morning for nine days (May 19 through May 27). In that email will be written the prayers to pray that day along with an audio link for those who prefer to hear the prayers and pray along with another voice. Each day’s prayers will take about nine minutes to complete. Can you commit to nine days of praying for nine minutes for renewal in the Body of Christ?

If so, I thank you in advance and I look forward to emailing you beginning on Friday morning, May 19.

In Christ,

Fr. Randall Graf+