St. Vincent Pallotti commissioned the painting of the Cenacle Icon depicting the scene in the Upper Room in Jerusalem where Mary and the disciples waited for Pentecost.

Pallotti meditates: “Wherever I shall be, I intend to imagine myself to be together with all creatures in the Cenacle in Jerusalem where the Apostles received the Holy Spirit. I shall remind myself to renew this desire often. As the Apostles were there with Mary, so will I be in spirit with my most beloved Mother and Jesus. As they are my special intercessors, I am confident that they will help me and all other creatures to receive the abundance of the Holy Spirit”.

Looking at the image of the Cenacle I find that there is an open space in front of Mary and it is into that space that I am invited to come in spirit, to find my unique place in the Pentecost experience. I am present there with all that I am, everything that makes up the person I am. And I am present there with other real human beings, with real human situations that need the outpouring and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

You are invited now to go in there into the space reserved for you and imagine what might take place for you. You are welcome as you are and you are also offered of going beyond what you already know, to become more than you already are, with the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Mary’s availability to God is a light to guide us on our way. “Let it be done to me according to Your Word” is the response she makes to God. She responds because she knows that she is loved by Him. We are offered the experience of that same Love and its freedom.