I am especially reminded of a close friend who was passionate about her Faith, saving herself for marriage and very pro life. She was so pro life, she joined Cross Roads- a summer long mission where college students literally walk across the entire country for the sake of the unborn, praying the rosary, offering up their suffering, camping in the country along the way, and stopping only to talk in Churches about being pro life. From my understanding, she no longer believes in any of those things anymore.
I am praying especially hard for her this week as I do the Divine Mercy Novena. Her and I went to the National Shrine of Divine Mercy in Massachusets many years back. Every time I look at Divine Mercy Jesus, I think of her. I am blown away at how it could have happened to someone who knew really knew her faith. I could not say how it happened to her, or how it happens to anybody. There must be a million reasons why people fall away from their faith. But I do know that not I or even you are safe from the same tradgedy if we do not rely on Jesus. The moment I start to think I can do it on my own-- that is the moment I have made the same mistake Adam and Eve made when they fell to the temptation of pride in the Garden of Eden.
We are all saved by Jesus' death and resurrection, but none of us are safe from temptations from the devil. The good news is that we can always turn back and His Divine Mercy will always be there to pick us back up where we left off. Jesus' Mercy is bigger than any sin we could ever commit. God wouldn't have allowed evil, if he were not so powerful to bring good out of it (paraphrasing from St. Augustine). We only have to lay down our pride and say, "Jesus I Trust in You" over and over again.
3 comments:
aw, that was a very good (though sad) post.
Sarah:
Nice reflection.
Sometimes, when things are going well, we can forget about God. We have the delusion of self-sufficiency, Or sometimes if something awful has happened in our lives, we can deny God, as in "How could a loving God let this happen?"
Perhaps one of these possiblities happened to your friend.
God is merciful. Let's pray your friend finds a way back to his heart.
Ohhh, this hit home. I have family who were "On Fire" and brought so many souls to Jesus, who have committed scandal and fallen away. When "The Passion of Christ" came out, I was saying to people that we really need to pray for Mel Gibson, because he will be a big target for Satan. Now I am grieving for the Legionaries of Christ and their loss of leadership and betrayal.
When these things throw me for a loop, I remember what Christ said about the sower and the seeds. How some would show great promise, only to be choked by thorns and carried away by birds. We are none of us safe from the snares of devil and must continually pray that we may withstand the temptations that will come. As Jesus promised, the rains will come and the floods will rise up, but the house on the rock stands firm.
May God protect us and strengthen us and may the Good Shepherd find those lost sheep and bring them back to the fold.
In Christ,
Lucy
www.mysticalrosedesign.blogspot.com
PS Stop by sometime for Pro-Life Tuesdays and Kids Say the Darndest Things Fridays!
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