permeation
"Eventually the whole mass of dough began to rise." —Matthew 13:33
In our culture of death, many Christians are preoccupied with crisis intervention so as to minimize damages inflicted on an eroding, lukewarm Christianity. Although the ones doing this are often making heroic sacrifices, the Lord, being all-powerful, is not interested in mere damage control.
Some Christians, more bold and less tamed by secular humanism, dare to challenge our anti-Christian culture. They intend to infiltrate the world and compete with it. They set up Christian businesses, watch Christian TV programs, read Christian newspapers, etc. These are steps in the right direction, but the Lord wants so much more.
The all-powerful, all-loving God wants us not merely to infiltrate the world but to permeate it. We are to act as the leaven, through which "eventually the whole mass of dough" begins to rise (Mt 13:33). We are to turn the world "upside down" (Acts 17:6, our transl). We are to flip the secular humanistic culture by discovering and inventing the means of permeating it with the Gospel (Catechism, 899). This seems impossible, but "nothing is impossible with God" (Lk 1:37).
Prayer: Jesus, every knee will bend and every tongue proclaim that You are Lord (Phil 2:10-11).
Promise: "I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to Me, says the Lord; to be My people, My renown, My praise, My beauty." —Jer 13:11
Praise: St. Peter warned heretics against trying to "hurl themselves against the Rock of Peter."
Rescript: †Most Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Auxiliary Bishop, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, December 29, 2012
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