Arise, lift up your heads. Your deliverance is at hand
We are told in the Acts of the Apostles that one day Peter and John were going up to the Temple to pray and they met a man born lame who was begging for alms. Then Peter said to him, "I have neither silver nor gold; but what I have, that I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, rise up and walk..." (Acts 1:1).
In the name of Jesus Christ... This is how we must begin again in our apostolate and in our struggle against everything that tries to separate us from God. This is our strength. We do not start over again out of a personal commitment, as if we were trying to affirm that we can do things. We can't do anything.
It is precisely when we feel weak that the strength of Christ dwells in us. And it is a powerful strength! Like St. Peter who, after that lost night in which he had caught nothing, throws his nets back into the sea only because the Lord commands him to do so: "Master," he says, "we have been weary all night and have caught nothing; but because you say so, I will let down the net "13.In spite of the fatigue, in spite of the fact that it is not the time for fishing, those men will again take up the nets, which they were already washing for another day. The human elements that made fishing advisable have been left behind. The reason for starting the task again is Peter's trust in his Lord. Peter obeys without further reasoning.
The foundation of our hope is that the Lord wants us to begin again every time we have had a failure, perhaps apparent, in our interior life or in our apostolate. "Because you tell me so, Lord, I will begin again." If we live this way, we will eliminate forever in our lives the ghost of discouragement, which has plunged so many souls into spiritual mediocrity and sadness.
Begin again... Jesus tells us with special intimacy in these days when Christmas is approaching. "When your heart falls, lift it up, humbling yourself deeply before God with recognition of your misery, not marveling that you have fallen, for there is nothing admirable about sickness being sick, weakness being weak, and misery being mean. Nevertheless, detest with all your strength the offense you have done to God, and, with courage and confidence in His mercy, pursue the path of virtue which you had abandoned."
Hablar con Dios