the miracle of repentance
"From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day, I have sent you untiringly all My servants the prophets. Yet they have not obeyed Me." —Jeremiah 7:25-26
The Lord untiringly sent prophets to the Israelites for several centuries. Yet generation after generation refused to listen to the Lord and repent. In fact, later generations did even worse than their fathers (Jer 7:26). The situation became so bad that the word "faithfulness" disappeared from the Israelites' vocabulary (Jer 7:28).
We likewise live in an age of generational sin. In some areas, we may not have obeyed the Lord for centuries. We may not even know anyone who has repented. There may be no historical record of anyone repenting of certain sins for the last few centuries. We have such cultural blind spots to some sins that we may even consider it wrong to repent.
Therefore, to repent of sin, especially generational sin, is truly a miracle. Only by God's grace can we even see the need to repent. Only by God's intervention can we repent of any sin. Repentance is so humanly impossible that God became a human being and died on the cross to make it possible. Thus, we can see why there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents then over ninety-nine righteous people (Lk 15:7). Repentance is that great of a miracle. Repent!
Prayer: Father, may I go to Confession and live supernaturally.
Promise: "If it is by the finger of God that I cast out devils, then the reign of God is upon you." —Lk 11:20
Praise: Sts. Perpetua and Felicity were both nursing their infants when they were arrested for being Christians. They refused to be intimidated (Mt 10:26) into denying Jesus by the threat of losing their babies. God was faithful to their witness and arranged for the safe care of their babies before they were martyred.
Reference: (For a related teaching, order our leaflet The Secret of Confession or our tape on audio AV 44-3 or video V-44.)
Rescript: †Most Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Auxiliary Bishop, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, September 13, 2012
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