"There is an appointed time for everything" (Eccl 3:1), including a "time to weep" (Eccl 3:4). Because of worldwide, unrepented sin, now is the time to weep. Let our "laughter be turned into mourning" (Jas 4:9). The Lord through His Church will command us again: "Yet even now, says the Lord, return to Me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning" (Jl 2:12).
There can be hope in tears, because "sorrow for God's sake produces a repentance without regrets, leading to salvation, whereas worldly sorrow brings death" (2 Cor 7:10). "Those that sow in tears shall reap rejoicing" (Ps 126:5), for "there will likewise be more joy in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent" (Lk 15:7).
Today, let us make acts of contrition, that is, acts of sorrow and hatred for sin. There can be hope in weeping. Weep as Jesus wept (see Lk 19:41).
| PRAYER: | Father, may I see sin as You do. |
| PROMISE: | "Whoever welcomes a child such as this for My sake welcomes Me." –Mk 9:37 |
| PRAISE: | St. Christopher Magallanes and his twenty-four Companions were martyred between 1915 and 1937 in eight separate Mexican states for their faithfulness to the Catholic Church. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College