On this new day of a brand new week, here is a song just for you.
A message of hope from my favourite moment in the Passion movie, which is not so much a happy message as a bittersweet one, for me. On mission last summer, our theme was "Behold, he makes all things new," which is from Revelations 21:5, and this beautiful song brings me right back to mission. Yesterday at Mass this was in the second reading, and it's one of my all-time favourite passages from the Bible. It's been almost a year since the Impact mission started, and I miss it a lot, but the Lord never stops making things new, and new again - and with so much excitement for what He wants to show me, He is leading me ever onward.
At the beginning of mission, it was hard to imagine just how much God would make the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth and the Impacters ourselves new. But by the end of the summer, we had seen drastic change in our parishes and in individual lives, and the conversions are ongoing. And this summer, we have young people bringing the love of Christ to their own parishes and hometowns - to the extent that the Leading Discovery campaign goal of 25,000 Discovery faith studies by the end of 2013 is within reach!!
For me today, the message of "see I am making all things new" is particularly relevant to the discouragement that is so easy to feel when you see worldwide injustice, particularly the injustice against pre-born children. With ongoing news such as this article on Kermit Gosnell, who is on trial for murdering born-alive babies after botched abortions and using inadequate medical procedures in a squalid environment, it's so easy to feel discouraged about the overwhelming facts that, by brutal means, over 120,000 pre-born human beings are killed daily. I also recently watched the documentary It's a Girl, which shows that all over the world women are still being treated unjustly.
But the thing is, we don't need to worry, because God is making all things new, and because He has overcome the world!
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
'Behold, God's dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people, and God himself will always be with them as their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away.'
The one who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.' Then he said, 'write these words down, for they are trustworthy and true.' He said to me, 'They are accomplished. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give a gift from the spring of life-giving water. The victor will inherit these gifts, and I shall be his God, and he shall be my son.
He is forever making things new. So have faith, and have a great start to your new week!
No comments:
Post a Comment