The Unprofitable Servant: Lazarus, Come Forth!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Lazarus, Come Forth!

Rembrand'ts The Raising of Lazarus

Christ commanded Lazarus to come forth from the tomb. To me, He extends not a command but an invitation. That invitation is to be raised from the dead and share in the glory of His Kingdom. Before I can share in His Glory, I must also share in His Passion. I have to detach myself of everything that contributes to my own decay. It's a tall order and the state of the world today tells us not too many people are interested in accepting this invitation. I am, but I am weak. Christ knows this. He knows that I need His help. He is only too glad when I plead with Him to help me. The beauty of a Catholic grammar school education is how many sayings stay with you throughout your life. Sayings like:

God helps those who help themselves!

I have to make an effort. I can't just sit at home on Sunday and say "God knows what's in my heart, I don't have to belong to a church for Him to know I love Him".

I can't continue to wallow in the same sin and say "God made these things for me to enjoy, He does not expect me to deprive myself of this or that pleasure."

I can't carry the decay of sin around with me and say "I know God forgives me, so I don't have to confess this to a priest, who is a weak human being himself."

I can't spend the bare minimum in prayer and demand God's friendship only when it suits me.

I can't continue to harbor the decay of jealousy, resentment and impatience with others and expect God to ignore my faults simply because He loves me. It is precisely because He loves me that He wants to help me shed myself of these sins.

I'm always intrigued by the fact that Christ delayed His visit to Lazarus, Martha and Mary, yet wept with the sisters when He saw their grief. He had to permit things to happen so that the greater glory of God would come from it. Still, His heart being both human and divine, He was moved with pity by how much they mourned their brother.

There are times when it seems very hard to carry on, when I begin to question whether something I cannot even comprehend is worth the trials and tribulations of this life. In these instances, the Lord makes me wait longer than I think He should to show me that He is listening. But when He responds, what relief and what joy! St. Therese wrote about this when discussing faith in Story of a Soul (p. 142)

"...the One Whose Heart watches even when He sleeps made me understand that to those whose faith is like that of a mustard seed He grants miracles and moves mountains in order to strengthen this faith, which is still small; but for His intimate friends, for His Mother, He works no miracles before testing their faith. Did He not allow Lazarus to die even after Martha and Mary told Him he was sick?....But after trial, what reward! ... Lazarus raised from the dead! Thus Jesus acted toward His little Therese, after having tried her for a long time, He granted all the desires of her heart."

4 comments:

AnonymousApril 10, 2011 at 9:45 AM
What a wonderful reflection! Thanks Joyce and have a blessed Sunday.~Theresa
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Mary ChristineApril 10, 2011 at 11:22 AM
Jesus wept. The shortest sentence in the Bible. It chokes me up every time I hear it, as I did today.

This was a beautiful reflection. Thank you.
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peetApril 10, 2011 at 12:08 PM
I think the visible liturgical life
the Church is offered as a mercy,
not a chore.

To be able to relate to God in
prayer, through Christ and our
blessed saints, is a manifestation
of grace. I think the catechism
backs me up on that.

He cares about what we do because He
loves a contrite and faithful heart.

Good reflection on your part.

Pax Christi,

P.
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MannyApril 10, 2011 at 8:54 PM
I love the Lazarus story. And Fr. Veras had a great homily today on connecting it with God's signs in our daily life. I wish I could remember his homilies, but I could never reconstruct them. I remember the gist but he tells his homilies in such a improvised way that one just absorbs it and left to wonder how he just did that.
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Mary, Queen of Peace

Ever glorious and blessed Mary, Queen of Virgins, Mother of Mercy, hope and comfort of dejected and desolate souls, through that sword of sorrow which pierced thy tender heart whilst thine only Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord, suffered death and ignominy on the cross; through that filial tenderness and pure love He had for thee, grieving in thy grief, whilst from His cross He recommended thee to the care and protection of His beloved disciple, St. John, take pity, I beseech thee, on my poverty and necessities; have compassion on my anxieties and cares; assist and comfort me in all my infirmities and miseries, of every kind whatsoever. Thou art the Mother of Mercies, the sweet comforter and only refuge of the needy and the orphan, of the desolate and afflicted. Cast, therefore, an eye of pity on a miserable, forlorn child of Eve, and hear my prayer; for since, in just punishment of my sins, I find myself encompassed by a multitude of evils, and oppressed with much anguish of spirit, wither can I fly for more secure shelter, O amiable Mother of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, than under the wings of thy maternal protection? Attend, therefore, I beseech thee, with an ear of pity and compassion, to my humble and earnest request. I ask it, through the bowels of mercy of thy dear Son; Through that love and condescension wherewith He embraced our nature, when, in compliance with the divine Will, thou gavest thy consent, and whom, after the expiration of nine months thou didst bring forth from the chaste enclosure of thy womb, to visit the world, and bless it with His presence. I ask it, through that anguish of mind wherewith thy beloved Son, our dear Saviour, was overwhelmed on the Mount of Olives, when He besought His eternal Father to remove from Him, if possible, the bitter chalice of His future passion. I ask it, through the threefold repetition of His prayers in the garden, whence afterwards, with dolorous steps and mournful tears, thou didst accompany Him to the doleful theatre of His death and sufferings. I ask it, through the welts and bruises of His virginal flesh, occasioned by the cords and whips wherewith He was bound and scourged, when stripped of His seamless garment, for which His executioners afterwards cast lots. I ask it, through the scoffs and ignominies by which He was insulted; the false accusations and unjust sentence by which He was condemned to death, and which He bore with heavenly patience. I ask it, through His bitter tears and bloody sweat; His silence and resignation; His sadness and grief of heart. I ask it, through the blood which trickled from His royal and Sacred Head, when struck with the sceptre of a reed and pierced with His crown of thorns. I ask it, through the excruciating torments He suffered, when His hands and feet were fastened with gross nails to the tree of the cross. I ask it, through His vehement thirst, and bitter potion of vinegar and gall. I ask it, through His dereliction on the cross when He exclaimed, "My God! my God! why hast Thou forsaken me?" I ask it, through His mercy extended to the good thief, and through His recommending His precious soul and spirit into the hands of His eternal Father before He expired, saying, "It is consummated." I ask it, through the blood mixed with water, which issued from His Sacred Side when pierced with a lance, and whence a flood of grace and mercy has flowed to us. I ask it, through His immaculate life, bitter passion and ignominious death on the cross, at which nature itself was thrown into convulsions, by the bursting of rocks, rending of the veil of the Temple, the earthquake, and the darkness of the sun and moon. I ask it, through His descent into hell, where He confronted the Saints of the old law with His presence, and led the captivity captive. I ask it, through His glorious victory over death, when He arose again to life on the third day, and through the joy which His appearance for forty days after gave thee, His blessed Mother, His Apostles, and the rest of His Disciples; when in thine and their presence He miraculously ascended into heaven. I ask it, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, infused into the hearts of His Disciples, when He descended upon them in the form of fiery tongues, and by which they were inspired with zeal in the conversion of the world, when they went to preach the gospel. I ask it, through the awful appearance of thy Son, at the last dreadful day, when He shall come to judge the living and the dead, and the world, by fire. I ask it, through the compassion He bore thee in His life, and the unspeakable joy thou didst feel at thine assumption into heaven, where thou art eternally absorbed in the sweet contemplation of His divine perfections. O glorious and ever blessed Virgin! comfort the heart of thy supplicant, by obtaining for me, (Mention your prayer intention here...) And as I am persuaded my Divine Saviour doth honour thee as His beloved Mother, to whom He refuses nothing, because thou asketh nothing contrary to His honour, so let me speedily experience the efficacy of thy powerful intercession, according to the tenderness of thy maternal affection, and His filial loving heart, who mercifully granteth the requests and complieth with the desires of those that love and fear Him. Wherefore, O most blessed Virgin, beside the object of my present petition, and whatever else I may stand in need of, obtain for me also of thy dear Son, our Lord and our God, a lively faith, firm hope, perfect charity, true contrition of heart, unfeigned tears of compunction, sincere confession, condign satisfaction, abstinence from sin, love of God and my neighbour, contempt of the world, patience to suffer affronts and ignominies, nay, even, if necessary, an opprobrious death itself, for love of thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Obtain likewise for me, O sacred Mother of God, perseverance in good works, performance of good resolutions, mortification of self-will, a pious conversation through life, and, at my last moments, strong and sincere repentance, accompanied by such a lively and attentive presence of mind, as may enable me to receive the last Sacrament of the Church worthily, and die in thy friendship and favour. Lastly, obtain through thy Son, I beseech thee, for the souls of my parents, brethren, relatives and benefactors, both living and dead, life everlasting, from the only Giver of every good and perfect gift, the Lord God Almighty, to Whom be all power now and forever. Amen.

Prayer of St. Bonaventure

Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul with the most joyous and healthful wound of Thy love, and with true, calm and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may ever languish and melt with entire love and longing for Thee, may yearn for Thee and for thy courts, may long to be dissolved and to be with Thee.
Grant that my soul may hunger after Thee, the Bread of Angels, the refreshment of holy souls, our daily and super substantial bread, having all sweetness and savor and every delightful taste.
May my heart ever hunger after and feed upon Thee, Whom the angels desire to look upon, and may my inmost soul be filled with the sweetness of Thy savor; may it ever thirst for Thee, the fountain of life, the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the fullness of the house of God;
may it ever compass Thee, seek Thee, find Thee, run to Thee, come up to Thee, meditate on Thee, speak of Thee, and do all for the praise and glory of Thy name, with humility and discretion, with love and delight, with ease and affection, with perseverance to the end; and be Thou alone ever my hope, my entire confidence, my riches, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and tranquility, my peace, my sweetness, my food, my refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my portion, my possession, my treasure; in Whom may my mind and my heart be ever fixed and firm and rooted immovably. Amen.

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God Bless You!

The Unprofitable Servant

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Lazarus, Come Forth!

4 comments:

Mary, Queen of Peace

St Michael the Archangel

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

St. Teresa Benedicta of The Cross