weedeater
"When the crop began to mature and yield grain, the weeds made their appearance as well." —Matthew 13:26
It's summertime, and you still may be doing some weeding in your garden. If you ask Jesus to help, you may be surprised when He says He doesn't do weeding until harvest time (Mt 13:29-30). However, Jesus would be willing to change your weeds into wheat. This would both double your crop and get rid of your weeds, not by pulling but by changing them.
It's very easy to notice the many weeds in the Church. The doubt, hypocrisy, confusion, and gossip of the weeds make life miserable for the Church. Our work of evangelization is also hindered because the world is turned off to Jesus by the sinful behavior of the weeds. It seems best for everybody to pull the weeds. But the Lord knows that once they're pulled, they're dead. So He lets the weeds live and the wheat suffer for a while so that the weeds will have the maximum opportunity to repent and become wheat.
Rejoice when you suffer redemptively, for this means that there's time for the weeds to change and for the harvest to double.
Prayer: Father, may I repent, evangelize, pray, and suffer for the maximum harvest.
Promise: "This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words of His." —Ex 24:8
Praise: St. Bridget served God as wife, mother, foundress, author, mystic, and saint.
Reference: (For a related teaching, order our tape on Redemptive Suffering on audio AV 75-1 or video V-75.)
Rescript: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, December 20, 2004
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