"a time to weep" (eccl 3:4)
"Let my eyes stream with tears day and night, without rest, over the great destruction which overwhelms the virgin daughter of my people, over her incurable wound." —Jeremiah 14:17
Sometimes the best thing to do is cry. Jesus Himself cried (Lk 19:41). He called those weeping "blest" (Lk 6:21). Sometimes, like Jeremiah, we should pray to cry. Many of us reading this have not cried for years. Others cry often but for the wrong reasons. We must cry for things we've never cried for. We may even need to cry for several days (Neh 1:4).
We should pray for some tears to be wiped away (Rv 21:4) and other tears to well up and pour out like a river. Jesus prophesied: "I tell you truly: you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices; you will grieve for a time, but your grief will be turned into joy" (Jn 16:20).
For the Lord to dry our tears, we must first cry. We should not be ashamed to cry, but rather ashamed to not cry, considering the evils in our midst. Tears of sorrow often precede tears of joy. Our Father counts our tears one by one. He stores them in His flask (Ps 56:9).
Prayer: Father, I want to "rejoice with those who rejoice" and "weep with those who weep" (Rm 12:15).
Promise: "The saints will shine like the sun in their Father's kingdom. Let everyone heed what he hears!" —Mt 13:43
Praise: St. Alphonsus did not just mourn over the unholiness of the clergy, but worked to sanctify them as well.
Reference: (Weep over the great spiritual destruction around us and then turn to joy by reading the Bible daily. For encouragement, order any or all of these audio or video tapes: Ignorance of Scripture is Ignorance of Christ, AV 82-1, V-82, How to Read the Bible on audio AV 82-3 or on video V-82, How to Pray the Bible on audio AV 46-3 or on video V-46, Principles of Bible Interpretation, audio AV 79-1, video V-79.)
Rescript: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, February 26, 2006
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