parabolic
"They knew well enough that He meant the parable for them." —Mark 12:12
Jesus is the same today as yesterday (see Heb 13:8). Therefore, He continues to tell parables. Jesus will arrange little scenes in our lives as living parables.
Often, such parables are God's way of convicting us of our sins (see Mk 12:12; 2 Sm 12:1ff). Although we will be tempted to deny that these parables are for us, we know well enough that Jesus has meant them for us. At this point, we can either repent of our sins or leave Jesus (see Mk 12:12).
To help us repent, let's pray the following prayers:
- Jesus, open my eyes to the parables right before me.
- Jesus, put a new parable into my life today.
- Jesus, may I have repeated flashbacks of old parables until I repent.
- Jesus, may I take Your parables to heart, go to Confession, and repent of my sins.
Praying these prayers will reveal that the routine circumstances of our lives are charged with meaning. In our everyday life, the Lord will confront and convict us, encourage and heal us, and motivate and empower us. Our lives will be full of repentance and excitement. They will be full of living parables.
Prayer: Jesus, may I be easy for You to talk to.
Promise: Jesus "has bestowed on us the great and precious things He promised, so that through these you who have fled a world corrupted by lust might become sharers of the divine nature." —2 Pt 1:4
Praise: Sts. Marcellinus and Peter converted their jailer and his family, and they were all martyred together.
Reference: (For a related teaching, order our tape on The Necessity of Confession for Renewal on audio AV 70-1 or video V-70.)
Rescript: †Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, January 4, 2008
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