The following message came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
Stand at the gate of the house of the LORD,
and there proclaim this message:
Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah
who enter these gates to worship the LORD!
Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:
Reform your ways and your deeds,
so that I may remain with you in this place.
Put not your trust in the deceitful words:
“This is the temple of the LORD!
The temple of the LORD! The temple of the LORD!”
Only if you thoroughly reform your ways and your deeds;
if each of you deals justly with his neighbor;
if you no longer oppress the resident alien,
the orphan, and the widow;
if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place,
or follow strange gods to your own harm,
will I remain with you in this place,
in the land I gave your fathers long ago and forever.
But here you are, putting your trust in deceitful words to your own loss!
Are you to steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury,
burn incense to Baal,
go after strange gods that you know not,
and yet come to stand before me
in this house which bears my name, and say:
“We are safe; we can commit all these abominations again”?
Has this house which bears my name
become in your eyes a den of thieves?
I too see what is being done, says the LORD.
-Jeremiah 7:1-11
This was the reading from the Old Testament on Saturday when we had our mass at the end of summer retreat. Fr. Kevin Augustyne gave this incredible homily about this passage and it really struck a chord with me. He said that today, the Church is experiencing very much what Jeremiah was preaching against, saying in vain "the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord" and leaving it at that. The Church is dying for a renewal, the time has come, she's waiting. He went on to say that we who have been blessed with incredible education in the truth of the faith and have had incredible experiences like FOCUS or Totus Tuus or NET or Life Teen need to stand at the gates. We are obliged to be the ones to bring the renewal that the Church is dying for. There are too many Catholics who are just going through the motions, and it's time to renew what has been suffering for so long. Don't be afraid to stand at the gates and proclaim the truth, shake things up, be courageous, use words, do whatever is necessary to get the point across to those who have not had the opportunities that we have had.
Stand at the gate of the house of the LORD,
and there proclaim this message:
Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah
who enter these gates to worship the LORD!
Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:
Reform your ways and your deeds,
so that I may remain with you in this place.
Put not your trust in the deceitful words:
“This is the temple of the LORD!
The temple of the LORD! The temple of the LORD!”
Only if you thoroughly reform your ways and your deeds;
if each of you deals justly with his neighbor;
if you no longer oppress the resident alien,
the orphan, and the widow;
if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place,
or follow strange gods to your own harm,
will I remain with you in this place,
in the land I gave your fathers long ago and forever.
But here you are, putting your trust in deceitful words to your own loss!
Are you to steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury,
burn incense to Baal,
go after strange gods that you know not,
and yet come to stand before me
in this house which bears my name, and say:
“We are safe; we can commit all these abominations again”?
Has this house which bears my name
become in your eyes a den of thieves?
I too see what is being done, says the LORD.
-Jeremiah 7:1-11
This was the reading from the Old Testament on Saturday when we had our mass at the end of summer retreat. Fr. Kevin Augustyne gave this incredible homily about this passage and it really struck a chord with me. He said that today, the Church is experiencing very much what Jeremiah was preaching against, saying in vain "the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord" and leaving it at that. The Church is dying for a renewal, the time has come, she's waiting. He went on to say that we who have been blessed with incredible education in the truth of the faith and have had incredible experiences like FOCUS or Totus Tuus or NET or Life Teen need to stand at the gates. We are obliged to be the ones to bring the renewal that the Church is dying for. There are too many Catholics who are just going through the motions, and it's time to renew what has been suffering for so long. Don't be afraid to stand at the gates and proclaim the truth, shake things up, be courageous, use words, do whatever is necessary to get the point across to those who have not had the opportunities that we have had.
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