Pentecost Has COME!

 

A Reflection by Mark Lajoie

“Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and they asked Peter and the other apostles, ‘What are we to do, my brothers?’

Peter [said] to them, ‘Repent and be baptized,^* every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”

– Acts 2:37-38

 

“What are we to do?”, the crowd at Pentecost asked. How can we find peace, and be saved? We are all in this most crucial predicament.

In today’s Gospel, the Risen Christ comes through the locked doors on Easter night, and appears, in order to give to His Apostles the great Gift that solves this dilemma for us all:
“Peace be with you”, He said…
“Receive the Holy Spirit.  Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”

Why is this the Gospel for Pentecost? This took place 50 days before the Birth of the Church in the Upper Room. Why? Because Easter night is the moment the King gave the Apostles the power to do what they did as His official representatives, as promised, on that glorious day of Pentecost fifty days later. They received the Gift so we all can receive the Gift. Because they are made Bishops and Shepherds in persona Christi, we sheep can be fed and led in the power of grace.
“Receive the Holy Spirit.”  

All of creation, all of salvation history had been leading up to that Day which Joel and The Prophets foresaw, when all could receive God’s Spirit. As St. Paul remarked, the Apostles are appointed as “ministers of Reconciliation”. Forgiveness of sins and fullness of grace came on Pentecost through the Baptism of 3000, and the first “breaking of the Bread”. The Lord’s Spirit, the “Father of the Poor”, as today’s Sequence calls Him, is ‘poured out’ on their neediness through the teaching of Peter and the Sacraments of the Apostles.

The first reading tells us the exquisite timing; because it was an important Jewish feast, “there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven”. This new and perfectly fulfilled ‘Davidic Kingdom’ was meant to bring perfect unity from total diversity, to bring that long-desired peace and holiness through the Apostles. All those thousands Peter and the Apostles baptized, all those to whom they gave the Sweet Bread of Life that day, went back to every part of the world with the Good News. From Day One, the Church is one, holy, Catholic (universal) and Apostolic, first given to these Jews of all places, and then, to all Gentiles and to the ends of the earth.

The message from this day is clear: You can find out what to do! You can find holiness and be saved, wherever you are from or whoever you are! What must we do? Repent and change our hearts! Be baptized! Listen to the sure teaching passed down by Peter and the Apostles and recognize Christ in the breaking of the Bread as the two disciples did in Emmaus! RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT in the Sacraments instituted by the King!

And, so, it has come to us the baptized today through the Church. I can turn to Him in the Sacrament of Reconciliation; I can go to Mass, I can pray and intercede with power, filled with grace, just like that Mother of the Cenacle with whom I am now praying every day. It is a great Gift, this Holy Spirit, in my daily life, in my heart of hearts.
 
But with a great Gift? comes great responsibility! In one of the optional readings for today, Galatians teaches,
“Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their flesh
with its passions and desires.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.”
In the Gospel for the Vigil for today, Jesus promises:
"’Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink.
As Scripture says:
‘Rivers of Living Water will flow from within him who believes in me.’
He said this in reference to the Spirit
that those who came to believe in him were to receive.”

Every one of us can “belong to Christ Jesus”, can be that one who believes, so that he can receive THE Gift! the Gift of the Holy Spirit, which flows for us poor sinners; it flows for those who are ready to give Him their entire hearts and lives! It is a worthy and gracious exchange: we give him what little we have, and He gives us Himself; He gives us Everything. Let us together receive this Gift in Communion and Charity.

AMETUR COR JESU!

Loved be the Sacred Heart of Jesus…Who gave us this Greatest Gift!

 

PRAYER FOR THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

O Lord Jesus Christ Who, before ascending into Heaven did promise to send the Holy Spirit to finish Your work in the souls of Your Apostles and Disciples, deign to grant the same Holy Spirit to me that He may perfect in my soul the work of Your grace and Your Love. Grant me the Spirit of Wisdom that I may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after the things that are eternal, the Spirit of Understanding to enlighten my mind with the Light of Your Divine Truth, the Spirit of Counsel that I may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining Heaven, the Spirit of Fortitude that I may bear my cross with You and that I may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose my salvation, the Spirit of Knowledge that I may know God and know myself and grow perfect in the science of the Saints, the Spirit of Piety that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable, and the Spirit of Fear that I may be filled with a loving reverence toward God and may dread in any way to displease You.  Mark me, dear Lord with the sign of Your true disciples, and animate me in all things with Your Spirit.  Amen.

Pentecost Playlist by LW on Spotify 

 Pentecost is Coming!

On Day One of the Church, three thousand received forgiveness through Baptism, the "breaking of the Bread", and the Gift of powerful prayer. Let us pray these next few days with the Apostles and Mary in the Cenacle, that, on Pentecost, we too may be filled to the fullest with grace!

Pentecost Playlist on RN
Pentecost Playlist on Spotify

Looking at Videos!

 Looking at Videos!

With the recent great success of our video, "Let It Reign", we thought we'd take a look at a few of the other videos we have on "LivingWatersUtube". (CLICK!)

If you put them in order of popularity, the next most popular is our fun skit, "The Parable of the Talents", captured at a 2004 concert. Third most popular is, "Booze Blues Cruise", a song we never actually did in concert; it has just a few pictures used for the video, with emphasis on the music. We have several photo montages like "Do What He Tells You to Do", which comes in fourth. Our first photo montage, showing a rough history of the group, comes in at number five, and is appropriately backed with "Love's in a Name".

After that, it is worth noting several of these. Mary Gillis' loving tribute, "Lonely Dancer" is something VERY special to us. We have a lot of rough concert clips here, notably "Love in Arms" played just a few years ago. There are several photo productions that have gotten some attention, like Mike's "Take Me" and "Stay!" and the recent very successful song "Anna Post Writing" put to video. A couple of Mark's older songs, "This Loving Stream" and "Perfect Gift Song" were captured back on his wedding day. We did also put our first podcast out here. 

There's so much we've managed to save, create or otherwise present to you. We invite you to join, peruse, and celebrate with JOY the Good God's goodness to our family!

Peace & Love & JOY,
Mark LaJOIE! for Living Waters!

Sunrise on Mount Snow!

 

Sunrise on Mount Snow!

Living Waters Featured Song

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FEATURED SONG Sunrise

Who knows how many years Living Waters went up to the top of Mount Snow for an Easter Sunrise service, hosted by our beloved deacon, Paul Mello? Sometimes we hauled equipment up there by the big snow vehicles.  There were certain songs we usually did: "Song of Witness", "Easter Song" by Second Chapter of Acts, "Was It a Morning Like This" by Sandi Patty (sung by Denise). Julia says she always liked our version of "Easter Song" best! We would go together to Mass in Jacksonville and get together at that big house many of us had helped to build. One song that comes to mind is Mike's "Sunrise". He actually wrote it back in the early 80's, but it was just recorded in our latest album, "Overflow". Up on this slope, can you hear Your Maker, who defeated the power of sin, vice and death whisper to you, "I'll be here with you till the ending; I was here with you from the start"?

A New Review this Easter: Alleluia! Alleluia!

 A New Review this Easter: Alleluia! Alleluia!

Our classic, "Sing to Jesus", just got a new review in time for EASTER!

Living Waters - 'Sing to Jesus'

Review by Daniel Deprè

“Sing To Jesus” is a crowd pleasing jam that is a heck of a lot of fun. There is something very endearing about this song as it’s truly welcoming and warm. It has a classic rock vibe that calls to mind the stylings of Neil Young and The Cars. The song is well arranged, and the vocals are sure to inspire anyone to sing along. This is the kind of song you want to see performed live so you can really feel it’s positive energy and chant the chorus with the band.

Lyrically, this is a song about singing to Jesus when you are feeling the blues. The songs heartwarming nature lends itself to the lyrics which are offering Jesus’ love to lift you up out of the gutter. It’s nice how approachable the lyrics are in the way they are written. They are kind and catchy. “Sing to Jesus when you’re feeling blue, he will show you just what to do, Jesus knows about hurt and pain”. The Chorus than employs some really catchy Non-lexical vocables that are easy to get a hang of.
The arrangement is the traditional classic rock setup and it totally jams with confidence and pride. The piano and acoustic guitar fill in the middle nicely with some ornamentation and rhythmic accompaniment. The electric guitar gets to show off a bit with a few short solos that are busy and impressive. The guitar also gets to give some grit to the song by playing low with lots of distortion in a few of the verses. The vocals are warm and thrive in their mid-range zone, allowing anyone to sing along. The harmonies add a really nice texture as well to the vocals, especially in the chorus’ where a whole group of vocals are introduced. It really creates the sensation of togetherness. “Sing To Jesus” is a forgiving song that will bring the light of Jesus back into your life. Stream on Spotify Connect on Facebook For more information, please visit Living Waters website

Mike Answers the Question!

 Mike Answers the Question!

I recently asked the question, 'was this our best vocal performance?' about "Let It Reign. Mike provided this thoughtful response to me:

I never considered myself a solid vocalist, but I am better with age. You have always had the powerful voice. But we are all in this one together. I have a fresh view now. Josh’s powerful orchestration, adding your visuals, our excitement for a new song with a great LW theme, recording live together, in His Spirit; certainly one of our best over-all performances. Then you bring it to life with the video! I do consider this my best LW song. It was a gift that came so quickly. It enhances my faith. I hope it does that for everyone who listens and watches.

Michael McBride

 Discovered Pictures!

We found some pictures from our ground-breaking concert at the cathedral in Boston circa 1988. We sang with Dana and opened for John Michael Talbot. We were dressed up! It's clear we are playing "There's a Woman" in at least one of these pictures; that has such a 'classical' flavor to it.

It looks like we are playing the intro to "There's A Woman" w/Greg on synth

Mark is singing "Perfect Gift-Song" solo

John Michael Talbot!