O Holy Spirit, Enter In (ELW 786, Verse 1)
1 O Holy Spirit, enter in,
and in our hearts your work begin,
and make our hearts your dwelling.
Sun of the soul, O Light divine,
around and in us brightly shine,
your strength in us upwelling.
In your radiance life from heaven
now is given overflowing,
gift of gifts beyond all knowing.
Devotion
Jesus promised an advocate to the disciples in their uncertainty of what would lie ahead. It started to make sense on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem, as the crowd gathered and could understand each other. Peter explains that they aren’t drunk—but filled with the Spirit. The Apostle Paul explained that this Spirit responds to our needs and intercedes for us, with sighs too deep for words to express.
The stories of the Holy Spirit are timeless. “O Holy Spirit, Enter In,” which was written in the 1600’s by Michael Schirmer, is a personal account of what the Spirit does. The Spirit, as Schrimer writes, is in our hearts and that’s where the Spirit’s work begins—in our hearts. We are called to extend that gift as it overflows from our lives to others.
Prayer
O Holy Spirit, enter into our hearts and overflow your love into the world around us. Amen.