Did you carefully read the two Scripture verses above? Bible passages with foreign city names often cause our eyes to glaze over. So, let's try a word play instead: "Woe to you, Western Europe! Woe to you, Australia! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. And as for you, United States of America, ‘Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.' "
Ouch! Those words certainly take on a different meaning when the message strikes closer to home. For us in industrialized nations, we must accept partial responsibility for the culture of death contaminating our so-called developed world (see 1 Pt 4:3; cf Lk 9:41).
But "fear not" (Is 41:13). There is hope. With God's grace, you can "prove yourselves innocent…in the midst of a twisted and depraved generation" (Phil 2:15).
Fr. Al Lauer, founder of One Bread, One Body, said, "Witnessing for the risen Christ changes the culture of death into a civilization of life and love." Pray without ceasing (see 1 Thes 5:17). Act when the Lord speaks to your heart. Let's reclaim our culture for Jesus!
| PRAYER: | Father, I will witness "to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). |
| PROMISE: | "May Your compassion quickly come to us." ––Ps 79:8 |
| PRAISE: | St. Bruno founded the Carthusian order of monks. On his deathbed, he declared, "I believe in the sacraments that the Church believes and holds in reverence." |
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