The Church is renewed through a "vale of tears." We don't just pray and work for renewal; we cry for it. We will see the light through our tears when we love enough to weep bitterly (Rv 5:4) for Jesus to "open the scroll" (Rv 5:5), that is, reveal His plan for renewing the Church. The Lord wants to give us "full knowledge of His will through perfect wisdom and spiritual insight" (Col 1:9). He knows that without a vision for renewal, we will flounder (see Prv 29:18, JB).
However, the devil tries to prevent us from receiving God's revelation for renewal. He will even attempt to obstruct the path of God's angels to prevent them from revealing to us God's plan for renewal (see Dn 10:12-13). If we keep on crying, not in self-pity but in repentance for our sins and in love for God and others, we will get the message, see the light, and renew the Church.
Do you love enough to stop crying for yourself and start crying for the Church? Do you love enough to keep crying even for years? If so, the Lord can use you to renew the Church. Then you will cry tears of joy.
| PRAYER: | Father, "oh, that my head were a spring of water, my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night over the slain of the daughter of my people!" (Jer 8:23, NAB) |
| PROMISE: | "You made of them a kingdom, and priests to serve our God, and they shall reign on the earth." –Rv 5:10 |
| PRAISE: | Rev. Parsons has such a devotion to God's word that he reads through the entire Bible more than ten times each year. |
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