The Spirit enabled them to proclaim. // Acts 2:4
My prayer group meets every two weeks. Just seven of us, we meet faithfully over video conference to discuss our prayer and to share intentions. We are currently working through an Ignatian workbook. It’s taking us about one year to complete this work, and then we’ll move on to the next.
I don’t know what I’d do without these women. It’s not just that they help keep me accountable to my prayer, and it’s not only the fact that I know they are praying for me and for all the women I minister to through my retreats and speaking. It’s not even the fact that I learn so much from them as they share about their prayer lives.
It’s that every time we meet, it’s like a mini-Pentecost. We gather in our own virtual Upper Room and wait for the Holy Spirit to descend upon us. We are “all in one place together,” (Acts 2:1) and something about our gathering in anticipation of the Holy Spirit brings Him about. He comes because we gather and wait for Him together, trusting in His ability to bless us, to “enable us to proclaim” His good works—first to one another and then to the world around us.
I know it can be a challenge to find a good small group. But I’d encourage you, if you can’t find one, start one. I started this group myself, just reached out to prayerful women I knew and admired and suggested we start meeting regularly. Those who said yes, said yes, and we’ve been together ever since.
I’ve heard the Apostles referred to as the Church’s first small group ministry. There’s a reason Jesus encourages us to seek Him in community. Powerful graces are unleashed when we link arms and seek the Lord together. We were created for community, as surely as the Trinity is a community, Three Persons in One.
Are you struggling to find community? Are there two women you might invite to meet regularly, even for something as simple as a monthly Rosary? There’s no shame in humble beginnings.
Liz Kelly Stanchina is a jazz singer who met Jesus in late-night adoration. She is the community leader for women’s formation at the Word on Fire Institute and the author of more than a dozen award-winning books, including Jesus Approaches, Love Like a Saint, and the Blessed is She Advent devotional A Thrill of Hope. She holds advanced degrees in creative writing and Catholic studies. She is trained as a spiritual director, leading retreats and speaking around the world with a particular focus on helping women to flourish in their faith. Visit her website at LizK.org or follow her on Instagram at LizKToday.
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