changing lemons into lemonade
"The members of the church who had been dispersed went about preaching the word." —Acts 8:4
When the early Christians were chased out of Jerusalem, they went to other towns and chased out unclean spirits. When the Church was being paralyzed and crippled from being persecuted, the wounded Church healed the paralytics and cripples. While the Christians mourned the deaths of martyrs, cities rejoiced because they heard and accepted the gospel (see Acts 8:1-8).
The Lord works everything together for the good of the Church (see Rm 8:28). "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Rm 8:31) The One in us is greater than the prince of this world (see 1 Jn 4:4; Jn 14:30). God's wounded become healers. "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians" (Catechism, 852, Tertullian). "Continually we carry about in our bodies the dying of Jesus, so that in our bodies the life of Jesus may also be revealed" (2 Cor 4:10). "There is no chaining the word of God!" (2 Tm 2:9)
"Despite the increase of sin, grace has far surpassed it" (Rm 5:20). "When I am powerless, it is then that I am strong" (2 Cor 12:10). "In all this we are more than conquerors because of Him Who has loved us" (Rm 8:37).
Prayer: Father, change my mourning into dancing (Ps 30:12).
Promise: "No one who comes will I ever reject." —Jn 6:37
Praise: Pope St. Martin I wrote from his imprisonment, "God sees all things and I trust in Him."
Reference: (To stand strong against persecution, read the Bible daily. For encouragement order, listen to or download at presentationministries.com Ignorance of Scriptures is Ignorance of Christ, CD 82-1, How to Pray the Bible CD 82-3, How to Read the Bible CD 46-3, Principles of Bible Interpretation CD 79-1.)
Rescript: †Most Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Auxiliary Bishop, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, November 6, 2015
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