Jesus' disciples asked why He spoke to the crowds in parables. He answers them in today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13.
In the first reading from Jeremiah 2, the LORD says this, "I remember the devotion of your youth..." and then, "Two evils have my people done: they have forsaken me, the source of living waters; They have dug themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that hold no water."
Were you brought up in the faith, perhaps a very devout household, only to fall away in your teen or early adult years? I did. And that phenomenon is epidemic today. The amount of young people who leave the faith after Confirmation is staggering. As a parent, it is heartbreaking. I know that everyone has their own faith journey to undergo. Let's daily pray that those who were faithful in their youth and have fallen away will return to the Lord with their whole hearts. Pray that God will send someone into their lives to help guide them back.
Father, speak into the hearts of those who have abandoned the faith of their youth and bring them back to you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
I pray this on the daily! Alas, I am not ignorant of the responsibility I had in my children’s falling away.
Like you, I was blessed to return to Him after turning away. Now, I feel my mother’s pain as I live with my own children leaving Him.
I believe that I may have shared this sage advice from our pastor before. Since it was so helpful:
Do 90-in-90; 90 Masses, in 90 days, and 90 Communions – for those only He can save!
They have not changed yet, but I have🙏🙏🙏