Excerpt from Empowered Prayer: Spiritual Warfare by our Mother Foundress

“His disciples recalled the words of Scripture, ‘Zeal for Your House will consume Me. ’” (Jn 2:17)

St. Paul said we need to have on the footgear of zeal “to propagate the Gospel of peace” (Eph 6:15). The great gift that the Holy Spirit stirs up within us is the gift of Piety. Jesus couldn’t have stayed on the Cross without this gift operating. All of these gifts are seen very clearly in the Scriptures and within Jesus Himself because He had the fullness of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was using the same gifts within Jesus that He uses within the Body of Christ. It’s amazing.

The footgear of zeal is the gift of Piety that makes us fall deeply in love with the Father and with all those whom the Father has created. So it’s zeal for the Father’s glory and it’s zeal for the Father’s children, for souls. It’s a double-edged sword, you might say. Jesus went on the Cross because He loved us. That’s true, but that was not His primary reason. His primary love, His first love, is for the Father. He went on the Cross first and foremost for the greater honor and glory of the Father. What would make the Father happiest was if all of us could come Home. This is how we get involved also. Out of this gift of Piety, we lay down our lives for people, for souls, and for God’s cause. This is where the zeal comes from because it gives joy to the Father.

The Father wants all of His children to come Home. His joy will be complete when we’re all there. This gift of Piety leads us to sacrifice, to go to the Cross and stay there, and to continue making up now in our bodies what is still lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of the Body, which is the Church (Col 1:24).

“For the sake of the joy that lay before Him He endured the Cross, despising its shame, and has taken His seat at the right of the throne of God.” (Heb 12:2)