#and i too loved jesus as martha and mary did

[icaruspendragon]

hiii, this might be weird, but who is Lazarus? I'm not religious, so I've tried searching for who he is, but I can't seem to get a clear answer and was wondering if you could explain him?

ah yes, lazarus of bethany. a man i consider to be equal parts friend and foe.

lazarus lived in bethany with his two sisters, mary and martha. and when we meet him, he’s sick. so much so that his sisters send for jesus of nazareth saying, “lord, your dear friend is very sick.”

jesus of nazareth was in jerusalem when he received the message. and despite being only a few miles from bethany, and despite jesus loving martha and mary and lazarus, he waited. he didn’t go to them straight away. he waited. he waited until lazarus died and then said, “lazarus’ sickness will not end in death. no, it happened for the glory of god so that the son of god will receive glory from this.”  

and when jesus finally made it to bethany he was told lazarus had already died. that he has already been in the grave for four days. and when martha, sister of lazarus got word that jesus was coming, she went to meet him. and mary, sister of lazarus did not. and when martha saw jesus she said to him, “lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

and jesus said to her, “your brother will rise again.”

but then mary arrived and she saw jesus and she fell at his feet and she said, “lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” and she wept over her brother. because she loved him and he was gone. and jesus should have been there. because if jesus had been there, her brother would not have died.

and jesus saw her weeping. and he saw the other people wailing with her. because lazarus was deeply loved. and now he was gone. and they had sent for jesus. they had prayed for a miracle. and that miracle didn’t come until it was four days too late. and they didn’t know that jesus was going to bring lazarus back. they didn’t know that jesus had waited that long to teach a lesson. to prove a point. they just knew jesus was too late. and now they were forced to grieve.

and then a deep anger welled up in jesus. and he was deeply troubled. and jesus asks, “where have you put him?” and the people say, “lord, come and see.” and he does. and when he sees, jesus weeps. when he sees, we get the shortest verse in the bible. a mere two words to sum up an entire town’s grief. two words to convey the loss of a sibling. two words are offered for the preventable death of a loved man.

jesus is four days too late. and jesus?

jesus wept.

and the people who loved lazarus turned to him and said to jesus, “see how much he loved him!”

jesus loved lazarus. and then he let him die.

and some of the people said about jesus “this man healed a blind man. couldn’t he have kept lazarus from dying?”

and then jesus, who knew all along that he would revive lazarus. jesus, who let all those people mourn. jesus, who let those sisters lose their brother. jesus, who let them weep. jesus, who wept with them. that very same jesus said to those who loved lazarus, who mourned him, jesus of nazareth said to them, “didn’t i tell you that you would see god’s glory if you believe?”

and then the stone of lazarus’ tomb was rolled aside. and then jesus looked up to heaven and said, “father, thank you for hearing me. you always hear me, but i said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” and then jesus shouted, “lazarus, come out!” and he did.

lazarus the dead man came out, his hands and feet and face wrapped still in burial cloth. and then jesus of nazareth told them, “unwrap him and let him go!”

and then lazarus of bethany became lazarus of the grave. lazarus of the grave that will never be left behind even though he has risen and relinquished. lazarus of the grave who did not make good his escape unscathed. lazarus of the grave who will now check each darkened doorway as death and his sting is keenly felt.

lazarus was a man. a man whose family loved him. a man whose sisters sent for a miracle. a man whose sisters mourned him in the four days it took for that miracle to show up. a man who was made an example for no reason other than being loved by jesus. a thing that we are all told to be. loved by our savior.

lazarus is a man who makes me wonder three things. firstly, if jesus had been there that my brother may not have died. secondly, if jesus of nazareth too weeps for me. and thirdly, if jesus loves us and we in turn love him too like the scriptures command, why does he use us in the lessons he teaches.

why must we be the men he makes believers of?

so lazarus was just a man whose crime was loving jesus. and martha was just a girl whose crime was loving her brother. and they both suffered a miracle because of it.

[piratefalls]

i have no real opening remarks, so have some fic, mind the tags, and have a good day!

masterlist

did the light hit my blush (when i told you you could be enough?) by matherine

Henry wasn’t eavesdropping. Really, he wasn’t — he had just come home from work at the shelter early, toed off his shoes at the door, and began to settle in when he heard it. “No, Nora,” Alex’s voice groans, floating out into the hall from where his bedroom door must be cracked open. “I can’t tell if he’s just not interested or oblivious. I’ve used my whole arsenal of flirting and Henry’s completely unresponsive.” Or: Alex has been flirting for months. It’s not that Henry didn’t notice — it’s that he thought he couldn’t possibly mean it.

Only Fools by OrchidScript

Henry rolled his eyes. “No. You tell me — that sounds better — why I should bring my ex-hook up to my brother’s wedding?” Pez hummed and half-shrugged. “Why wouldn’t you? He’s the perfect thing to light your gran’s helmet of hair on fire.” Pez set his cup down and leaned forward onto the table. “That’s what Pip encouraged you to do, didn’t he?” “Martha more than Pip, but yes. He did.” Henry sighed. “Then ask Alex.” -- With his brother's wedding a few weeks away, Henry Fox is determined to not show up alone. Not wanting to ask a stranger, he instead turns to Alex, hoping to manufacture something believable from something familiar. Try as he might to keep a level head, Henry can't help falling in love with the man. Will it come around to bite him or will it turn into something more than he had hoped?

kitchen confidential by stutteringpeach

The NDA is approximately a mile long. “Jesus fuck,” Alex splutters. “What, is their favourite film The Menu or something? Am I gonna come out of this one alive?” ~ Or, the one where Alex is hired to cater a private dinner party for Prince Henry and his friends, and it does not go as he expects.

Can You See Me? (I'm Waiting for the Right Time) by affectionatelyrs

“Whose turn was it?” Henry asks while Alex is busy pondering the merits of throwing himself out their fifth-story window and hoping his boner doesn’t take anyone’s eye out on his way down. “Forgive me, but I am a bit tired. Do you think you could take it?” There’s no way that Henry’s not doing this on purpose. He makes words mean things when put in a certain order for a living, for fucks sake. Alex almost quips back depends on how big it is just to see how—or if—Henry would react. “Yeah, um, no problem.” There. Much more normal. He could steal Henry’s job at this rate. “Truth or dare?” - Or, Alex’s world gets flipped on its axis during a game of truth or dare

getting good now by Standinginmoonlight

Alex sighs and balls his hands up into fists, digging them into his eye sockets until he sees stars, and then he’s speaking without his brain giving his mouth permission. “I can’t believe I’m going to marry someone British.” Or: the Love is Blind AU that no-one asked for.

A Sin Better Than Heaven by AnchoredArchangel

“Show me,” the king says, a demand. He sets the vial back down, careless to where it lands compared to where it originated. He leans back against the table, crosses his arms over his chest; chin raised, jaw set- a picture of regality. Henry’s heart is pounding in his chest, the unstable beat of too many horse hooves overlapping, like the canter through the woods that very afternoon before he was shoved from his saddle. For the first time, he considers the possibility that perhaps he had hit his head harder than he realized- against the ground or against the tree, because certainly his hope is misplaced; certainly he is not following this conversation as well as he presumed. “Show you what, Your Majesty?” The king only deigns to move a hand, untucking it from his elbow in order to wave it vaguely. “How your body responds to men.” Or: A criminally loose reimagining of the tent scene from Mary & George, only Alex is a sexually confused king, and Henry's the one who has been sent to seduce him.

it's so hard to get to heaven with my head in my hands by anincompletelist

His mother would have a fit if she could see him now, taking comfort he isn’t owed from men he shouldn’t want it from. But Henry wipes his tears with the back of his hand and Alex begins singing the dulcet tune of a Spanish lullaby and George feels, perhaps for the first time in his life, like he belongs.

Silence & Sound by @nocoastposts

Alex tugs at his hair and tries to focus on choosing his next words. He knows that Henry will help him - that he wants to help him. He knows that all he has to do is say the word. Henry stands and steps closer, holding Alex’s chin firmly and tilting his head up so their eyes are forced to meet. “You need me to clear that lovely head of yours, hm?” “Please,” Alex says in barely a whisper. or: Henry helps Alex fill the silence before indulging in the sound.

baby boy by smc_27

It starts as a joke. Alex taking the piss about how much money Henry has. How he could have anything he wanted, from anyone he wanted, if only he just asked.

all so human with our guards down by maxbegone

“Constant fear is debilitating,” Alex tells him later on. The sun has risen, though it’s barely prominent through the dark clouds in the sky. “Even in the world we live in now, you need to find the things that make it feel…normal.” Of course, Alex isn’t even sure that makes much sense, and he thinks about doubling back on what he just said with something stupid and word-vomitty, whatever pops into his head first, but Henry beats him to it. Much more suitable, and it puts Alex’s mind at ease: “I’m starting to think you’re right.” The world ended three years ago. No more all-night study sessions, no more drag brunch and mimosas, no more societal expectations. But out of everything Alex was expecting from an apocalypse, Henry sure as hell wasn't it.

Dallas, Texas by annesbonny

i thought I knew hopelessness. i thought I'd learned its specific dread years ago There's an assassination attempt on Ellen, Henry is caught up in the damage. Alex is... coping about as well as you would expect.

Best Practice in Sexual Favours by everwitch

They meet at a bar. Alex is young; fresh out of law school, sharp and charismatic and oh-so attractive. The sex is absolutely incredible, and Henry has no regrets. At least not until the morning after when he finds himself opposite Alex in a meeting — equipped with the painful knowledge that Alex’s boss thinks Alex’s only function in said meeting is to sit there and look all pretty. Somebody ought to call HR right about now. Or: when sexual relationships mix with professional ones, Alex and Henry make the most of it.

this is the first time I've felt the need to confess by theprinceandagcd

Alex frantically unlocks his phone and stares at their text thread, at the heart reaction that Henry had left on his most recent message. His thumbs hover uselessly over his screen, trembling as moisture burns his vision. The entire room is thick with uneasiness, heavy enough that it’s hard to breathe, and Alex wants to tell Henry something, wants to reach out and find the solace that Henry so often offers him without even realizing it. But mostly, as his brain finally catches up to what’s actually happening, all Alex can think is that he doesn’t want to die. He tries to come up with a list of reasons why in his head, a comprehensive one that probably should include family and career goals and a million other things, but in the end, in the moment, all he can fucking think about is Henry.

out of the kitchen by rizcriz

Alex looks to his right where Henry’s standing at his own door. Any moment now, Gordon Ramsay is going to tell them to turn the handle and one of them is going to cascade into a new life. He doesn't care if his door doesn’t open; in fact, he’d rather it didn’t. He’s come all this way, he’s proven himself as a chef, but there’s no denying that the man beside him was made for this role. For the last five weeks, he’s watched as Henry’s given his all to every challenge and dinner service. -- or, the Hell's Kitchen au literally nobody asked for.

i love you (ain't that the worst thing you ever heard) by coffeecatsme

Henry doesn’t doubt that, just as much as he doesn’t doubt now that Alex won’t have a single issue with him being trans. In another life, when Henry whispered it in the quiet hours of the night, he didn’t. In another life, when he kissed Henry anyway, he didn’t. In another life. In this one, when Alex meets his eyes, all there is left behind them is a cold glare that freezes Henry to his soul. One year ago, Henry had a whirlwind of a day with Alex after a chance meeting in a coffee shop, only to leave in the morning to protect his heart. He doesn't expect to see Alex again, until he shows up at June's wedding and finds out her brother is the same Alex he hasn't been able to get out of his mind for a year - and he's pissed.

Fragile Things by SatinBirds

Alex does not scare easily. But the moment he sees Henry fall, all breath leaves his body at once.

Trim my Christmas tree by clottedcreamfudge

Henry is a writer, not a mall Santa, but unfortunately this year - thanks to his adorable and conniving nieces and their Aunt Beatrice - he's going to have to be both. This doesn't leave him a great deal of time to pine horribly over the part-time bookseller and Law student over at June Claremont-Diaz's shop, but somehow he manages to jam it in anyway. Ho ho ho.

All Kinds of Wounds by allmylovesatonce

It throws Alex off when it takes longer for the door to close, when he hears Henry’s footsteps but doesn’t hear him approaching. As he listens closer, there are steps on the stairs and eventually the sound of feet on the second floor. Henry avoided him. Henry gets hurt at the shelter and tries to hide it from Alex.

blurred lines by seafloor

Henry is a lovesick writer; Alexander a charismatic bartender. They’re still fated to fall into bed at some point.

keep me up all night/ i wanna scratch your surface by @firenati0n

They step inside, greeted by moonlight streaming through the windows, illuminating their living room in a dreamy light; it’s enough to see outlines and shapes, enough to keep everything just a little bit secretive, a little softer around the edges. Henry moves his hand to flick on the kitchen light, and Alex’s hand shoots out to grab his wrist. Henry looks down at him questioningly, blue eyes sparkling even with the absence of light. Alex always feels a little off-kilter around him, Henry both his center of gravity and his reason for vertigo. He’s stabilizing, and dizzying, and everything. Alex’s thumb and index finger circle Henry’s slender wrist, exerting the slightest pressure. He feels Henry's pulse jump under his thumb. “Get on the couch.”

Voted most likely to run away with you by dreamsinthewitchouse

Alex drifts into consciousness in a bed full of tangled limbs and warm, sleep-rumpled skin. He’s lying half on his stomach and half on his side, the shoulder smushed against the bed protesting in a way that tells him he’s going to have a crick in his neck for the rest of the day. But fuck if he cares, with Henry stirring next to him, one of his long legs draped over the back of Alex’s thigh. Alex doesn’t need to open his eyes to know the room is hazy with filtered sunlight, spilling pale yellow through the carelessly drawn curtains.

everything just stops by HypnosTheory

Alex hums, pushing his nose into the side of Henry’s cock. “Let me give you your gift, Hen.” “You’ve already given me my gift,” Henry says, fingers tightening on the edge of the countertop. “Twice.” Alex laughs and takes Henry’s cock back into his mouth. Henry keens, knees shaking. He’s oversensitive already; Alex woke him up with a hand on his cock, and then in the shower surprised him with three fingers against his prostate. Each orgasm was greeted with a happy birthday, baby, which is a phrase that’s starting to have a Pavlovian response on Henry. --- Alex gives Henry all the birthday orgasms - Henry believes turnabout is fair play.

the wrong place by congee4lunch

“I don’t want you, I don’t want anything to do with you, Alexander,” Henry breathes out, his breath ghosting over Alex’s lips. “I just want to feel good.” “Perfect,” Alex grins. “I want the exact same thing, Fox.” henry and alex hate each other. when they're forced to share a hotel room and a bed for a night, they fuck about it.

Total Eclipse by @myheartalivewrites

Alex is not sure what the fuck is happening here. “And if you only hold me tight…” A man—probably the most beautiful man he has ever seen—is up on stage in this karaoke bar, absolutely murdering Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart and he’s pretty sure the guy is crying and it’s one of the most horrifying things he’s ever seen and Alex cannot. Look. Away.

Late Bloomer by @sparklepocalypse

Alex Claremont-Diaz is sixteen years old, and he hasn’t presented. His dad seems to think it’s fine and offers Alex regular reassurance that his cousin Angel hadn’t presented until nearly 20. His mom, though, gets a little crease between her eyebrows whenever she thinks Alex isn’t looking. Presenting is a Big Deal in the Claremont family, and Alex just... hasn’t. So Alex is sixteen, and he’s… a boy. That’s it. Just a boy. Not a boy and an alpha like his friend Marco, or a boy and an omega like his friend Noah. Just a boy.

living in a new normal by @forever-fixating

Henry Fox could write an entire dissertation based on how much information his twin nieces Penelope and Grace have told him about their favorite band, Austin Heat. The girls peppered him with neverending facts since he surprised them with tickets and meet-and-greet passes to their concert at Madison Square Garden last Christmas. -- Henry Fox takes his nieces to a concert of their favorite band, Austin Heat. He gets a bit more than he bargained for when he meets singer and guitarist Alex Claremont-Diaz.

as always, let me know if you want to be tagged in future lists!

tagging @starkfridays @stilesgivesmefeels @midnightsfp @sarahjswift

[elfboyeros]

Favorite Subjects

Wanna Read More or start from the beginning: Hallows Academy Masterlist @karaboutmyart @jj-pines @lerenee

⚠️This chapter contains references to sexual assault/rape ⚠️

Within the dorm room of Amora and Loki, an alarm goes off. Loud and obnoxious Amora, groans out of her slumber, rolling closer to the wall as if she trying to get away from the sound, hugging her red octopus plushie closer to her chest. Before she fell back asleep, she could hear movement, damn, Loki gets up early.

After what felt like only a few minutes, Amora gets hit with something hard, “Jesus!” she yelled.

“Sorry, but I’ve been saying your name for the past five minutes,” Loki replied before Amora opened her eyes seeing a pillow in her head as she stood at the side of the bed.

“Lovely or my actual name?”

“Both,” Loki answered, “As your roommate, I am responsible for getting you up and off to your classes.”

“Are you just saying that because I am new?” Amora asked rubbing her eyes.

“Pretty much, it would be really odd if you were late for your classes, and I wasn’t because we are roommates.”

“You’ve got a point,” Amora groaned, finally sitting up as Loki left for the bathroom, “I guess.”

Stretching, before getting ready for the day wearing a light blush button-up top under a spaghetti stripped, dark rouge, ankle-length dress with a pair of Mary Janes.

“Well, don’t you look stunning,” Loki commented exiting the bathroom.

She wore a band t-shirt that had a pair of scissors to it, at some point, to make it shorter than the original, plain high-waisted gray jeans and a pair of worn olive green Chucks.

“You look nice too,” Amora mumbled, blushing and she ran a brush through her hair.

“They always have some kind of muffins or donuts in the commons if you are a person that enjoys eating breakfast,” Loki commented, gathering her things as Amora did the same.

“You say that like you’re not that type of person,” Amora replied.

Loki shrugged, as she opened the door, “My last few roommates didn’t like having breakfast,” she remarked, as Amora left their dorm room, “or maybe they just didn’t like having breakfast with me.”

They had only known each other for a weekend and Loki hadn’t done much talking about herself. No, she was spilling all kinds of information about the school, the classes they shared (which was most of them), the people to stay away from, and the one story about how the dean’s husband went missing, in addition to asking Amora questions about herself. However, the question of why she was here never came up.

Loki can be abrasive, yet she is obviously respectful, Amora had made a nonverbal line in the sand, the day they met, and Loki noticed somehow and respected her.

“Martha Wise,” Amora stated as she walked out of the Osmanthus hall with Loki.

“Huh?”

“You asked me which serial killer I was most interested in last night and my answer is Martha Wise,” Amora answered.

“And why is that?” Loki questioned.

Amora shrugged, “She poisoned 17 of her family members after they forced her to end a relationship, it seems oddly romantic in a way.”

“Mhm, romantic,” Loki muttered.

“Sorry if that’s weird.”

Loki shook her head, “Not at all, I asked you a question and you gave me an answer, a very interesting answer.”

Amora nodded, as they walked into the commons filled with peers all enjoying conversations with one another and muffins.

“LOKI!” The voice of Euphrasie yelled, grabbing Loki’s and Amora’s attention, they stood behind the common area’s kitchenette counter with the other dorm residents, muffins upon muffins in front of them.

The roommates made their way over to the sunny senior, “I saved you a chocolate muffin,” Euphrasie remarked quietly, before presenting Loki with the chocolate chip-filled muffin, “Don’t tell anyone I did that though, because I’ve been telling a bunch of people we were out.”

“Thanks, Euphrasie,” Loki muttered.

“We’ve got a ton of Banana Nut Muffins,” Euphrasie commented, looking at Amora, “Plus, cream cheese stuffed, blueberry, mix berry, strawberry, raspberry white chocolate aka my personal favorite, pumpkin spice, cherry, and maple ones.”

Amora thought for a moment before Euphrasie added, whispering, “If you want a banana nut muffin, I literally will bring a box full of them by your dorm later.”

“I don’t like bananas so I’ll pass,” The blonde teen replied, “Can I have a cream cheese-filled muffin, please.”

“Sure thing,” Euphrasie retorted before digging in a box in a chair behind them pulling about the muffin Amora wanted and giving it to her, “I’ll find someone else to give all the banana muffins, eventually.”

“Luther likes banana nut muffins,” Loki remarked opening her muffin of how it’s wrapped prison, “Then again, he will eat anything. He’ll take them if no one else wants them.”

“Sweet!” Euphrasie exclaimed, “I’ll see you guys later.”

Amora waved as she and Loki left for the exit.

“Do residents give out food like that every day?” Amora asked attempting to make conversation as they walked toward the main school building.

“It’s normal for treats to be out for anyone who wants a snack, but there are only a few times a semester,” Loki explained, “Although now that Euphrasie is the head RA this year, that might change.”

“She’s very involved,” Amora commented.

“I’ve been here for the past four years, and I’ve known Euphrasie for that whole time, she sees the world like a primary school playground. She must make friends with everyone, and if she doesn’t it’s a bad day.”

Amora giggled at the thought of Euphrasie pouting about not making a friend, and Amora’s laughter made Loki’s cheeks grow hot.

“You, okay?” Amora asked, seeing Loki’s cheeks a bright pink color as if she had just been hit with cold winter air.

Her pear-colored eyes were big and doe-like when they looked over at the British girl. Loki’s flushed face only became darker as Amora continued to glance over.

“I-I’m fine, lovely,” Loki’s voice cracked as she tried to recover and clear her throat “Don’t worry about it’s simple Rosacea.”

Amora looked at her a little confused before entering the main building. The halls filled with students as the two girls walked to their first class together. On one of the upper floors sat their classroom for their first lecture, an AP Gothic Literature class. The class is a smaller size, with three rows of long tables taking up the most space in the room, and only a few people sitting in the classroom with no teacher in sight.

“Oh my god, is that Loki Holloway early to a class,” a boy sitting in one of the chairs in the middle of the class exclaimed.

He has a darker complexion with a box fade, and he’s of the mystical variety given his elf-like ears. He wore a mask over his mouth and a skater-street-style of dress of very feminine colors.

“Oi’ I’m always on time,” Loki replied, making her way over to him while Amora followed.

“Last semester you were late to Mrs. Viloria’s class for half the year,” the girl beside the boy who had just spoken said in a monotone voice. She was white and a natural redhead, her hair large and curly. Wearing a purple jacket and a simple pair of jeans with her nose in a sketchbook

“People can change,” Loki replied, sitting down near them, “These two are Iphigenie and Odysseus.”

“Hi,” Amora commented before sitting down between Odysseus and Loki.

“You’re the American,” Odysseus remarked.

Amora let out a little sound, “I see I’ve been a hot topic.”

“Eurphrasie wasn’t kidding when she said you’ve been the only thing we’ve been talking about,” Loki retorted.

“We get a lot of American tourists but not a lot of American students, I thinks that's why we find you so interesting,” Odysseus explained.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Iphigenie commented, before focusing on her drawings.

“So, do you play D&D?” Odysseus questioned.

“Uh, no, sorry. My best friend is really into it, but I don’t play,” Amora replied. Odysseus nodded, “Well if you ever wanna give it a shot, I’m more than happy to go over the basics with you.”

Amora can tell even with the mask covering his lips he is smiling, “Thanks.”

The classroom soon filled with students, yet the instructor was nowhere in sight even passed the start time for class, there was no adult with the formal education to begin teaching.

“How long has it been Odis?” Loki questioned.

“Uh,” Odysseus sighed checking his watch, “13 minutes.”

“15 minutes and we get to leave,” Amora joked.

Loki chuckled, “Are you actually a troublemaker, lovely?”

“No, but I am willing to skip class if the tea—”

There is then the loud clicking sound of heels against the porcelain floor, making everyone shut up their little conversations, while, who they can only presume is their educator, enters the room. She had a fairer complexion, with white bangs and black hair, and wore a simple national colored bulse and dark striped wide-legged dress pants.

“My apologies, somehow I lost track of time this morning,” she clarified as she pulled out many things from her carry case.

Her voice was similar to Iphigenie, monotone yet more tired, “I’m Mrs. Helvetica Davidson, this is Gothic Literature,” the instructor remarked before beginning to pass out syllabi, “I’m sure you are aware you will be doing a lot of reading in this class there are digital copies on all of the reading material we will have in this class on the school’s Learning Portal.”

“Learning Portal?” Amora asked Loki quietly.

“I’ll show you later this afternoon,” Loki whispered back.

“I don’t like the normal “get to know you” questions, I rather cause violence,” Helvetica commented approaching her whiteboard. Her remark made the class confused, “Not actual violence obviously, just some debate violence,” she added as she began writing on the board.

“My husband and I often have mini-debates, and recently this one has come up.”

Helvetica moved away from the board showcasing what she wrote, ‘Cold showers are better than hot showers.’

“Discuss,” she ordered, before sitting down at her desk.

“Well… a cold shower does help you wake up in the morning,” Odysseus observed after a few minutes of silence.

“That’s assuming everyone takes a shower in the morning,” a student mentioned.

“Taking a hot shower right before bed is the best,” another student said.

“And the steam can help clear the sinus when you take a hot shower,” Amora uttered.

“You have to admit a nice cold shower does jolt you awake,” Loki alleged, “Ice cold water ensures I am awake better than any alarm!”

“You are insane,” Amora muttered.

“Everyone here acting like they take a shower every day,” one student huffed.

“You don’t?!” Another gasped.

“No that’s insane,” Loki joked making Amora giggle, before the class erupted in a loud debate about showering and personal hygiene.

Once class ended Loki walked with Amora to her next class, “Don’t forget we have a break after this class,” she said, stopping at the class door.

“Ya’ know it’s odd, in America we don’t get breaks in the middle of our class periods, I won’t know what to do with the extra 20 minutes,” Amora verbalized.

Loki smiled slightly, “Well you could spend it with me, I can show you one of my favorite places to hide on campus.”

“That sounds like a date,” Amora replied with a smile, making Loki blush a hot pink.

“I-I’m going to go to Algebra now!” Loki almost shouted before leaving Amora to enter her next class, Fashion Studies.

Loki must have bad Rosacea if her face is always red. Nevertheless, Amora looked around the room, seeing an open seat next to a blonde girl around her age, she was wearing a dark red coat dress, with her curls waterfalling down her shoulders.

“Can I sit here?” Amora asked.

The girl looked over at Amora almost turning up her nose in a way, “I guess,” she scoffed.

Amora sat down, getting out a folder for the class, “I’m Amora,” she remarked.

“Cassiopeia,” the girl in crimson sighed.

“Try and stay away from Cassiopeia… she’s will... if I’m an acquired taste, she’s not even tastable.”

Loki did say some things about Cassiopeia, but it’s not up to Loki who Amora does and doesn’t talk to, and who she does and does not get along with.

“Wait… you’re the American,” Cassiopeia gasped.

She said it like a slur, Amora giggled, “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to being known as ‘the American’ but yeah.”

“You killed someone. Didn’t you?”

“Excuse me?”

“To be friendly with Loki you must have done something terrible to gain her favor,” Cassiopeia chuckled, “So did you kill someone, giving someone a good beating with your little hands?”

“I-I didn’t—”

“You-You? HA, you, an American, do not come to this school out of the blue for your last year of schooling,” Cassiopeia explained in her own twisted way, her voice is so light and soft, yet she speaks in such a way that makes her sound so intimidating.

Amora was left unable to speak, she only watched the classroom fill with students. All of them were seemingly more friendly than Cassiopeia who she sat beside.

“I bet you hurt someone!” Cassiopeia exclaimed softly, “I bet you have beaten the ever-loving crap out of so many people that your parents didn’t want to put up with you. HA, dressing all cutesy in pink doesn’t just magically make you a good person, like you think it does.”

It’s so childish, everything down to the words being said. So stupid and plain, movies and TV have made better bullies with more interesting insults!

And yet Cassiopeia’s words hurt all the same. Mostly because it’s true!

Amora’s lucky that it’s the first day, the amount of information she retained from her Fashion Studies teacher was far and in-between, which sucks when she saw she could take the class she was excited for.

“Amora?”

She looked down the almost clear hallway, Loki approached as she stood outside the classroom, she was just in.

“Amora, you okay?” The British girl asked.

“I… I met Cassiopeia…”

Loki formed a scowl on her face, as she looked at Amora who looked unbelievably dejected. The brunette grabbed the blonde’s wrist pulling her through the halls, before arriving at an old dark stairwell with a window looking out to the front of the main campus.

“No one is going to come here. We don’t have to talk, we can just stay here,” Loki mentioned, standing on the landing between the two set staircases, looking out the window and watching Helvetica greet someone on a motorcycle with a kiss in the parking lot.

The two girls fall silent for what feels like the first time since they met, there is a sense of comfort within the silence, yet the gloomy look on Amora makes Loki’s stomach turn as the blondie sat on the steps, her knees in her chest.

“If I tell you something,” Amora began, “will promise not to tell anyone?”

“Promise,” Loki replied quickly, “I may like to talk, but I know when to keep my mouth shut.”

Amora smiled at her joke before sighing, “Back in July… there was this pool party at this rich guy’s house, and Bellamy and I got invited. It wasn’t like a stereotypical party - I mean some people were drinking – but we weren’t. Everyone was outside, and Bellamy said she was going inside to get something to drink, and this guy Reese followed her.”

Loki cringed already putting the puzzle together as Amora attempted to make herself smaller, “I heard Bellamy scream, but even though it was loud outside I know my best friend! And he was on top of her and trying to pull off her swimsuit on the kitchen counters! And that’s my best friend! I grabbed the first thing I could find which was a knife and I… I stabbed him, and then I didn’t think that was enough so I punched him in the face a few times… then someone called the police because I stabbed Resse, which I mean I would have done the same thing if I saw someone stab a guy!”

Loki attempted to speak, yet Amora continued, “Cassiopeia was being a bully, and I mean it’s so stupid now! She didn’t even have good insults, she just scoffed and me being friendly with you basically, as if hanging around you makes me a heathen! But she called me a monster and say some crap that was too accurate and… it bothered me because I haven’t told anyone what happened that night!”

The brunette nodded before humming and saying, “Do you of the Gloucester Executioner?”

Amora moved her gaze from her shoes to Loki, who stared out the window with her lips in a thin line, “I think so, Sullivan Holloway, right? He murdered 35 people off and on for 26 years while he was a nurse, it was a big thing like 10 years ago because he was finally arrested.”

“He’s my dad.”

Silent again before Loki spoke up, “Everyone around here knows it, that’s why Cassiopeia says all that shit. I doubt if she knew you were hanging around me, she would been more friendly. She has her ass so far up her own ass that she thinks Lance Luther and I are all going to be crazed murderers. I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing,” Amora scoffed, “You didn’t do anything.”

“I—”

“No, she’s stupid,” Amora replied, making Loki snicker, “Whether I am hanging around you or not shouldn’t matter, it’s not going to make me a horrible person if I’m friends with you.”

“I don’t know,” Loki chuckled, “It might, I could rub off on you.”

Amora giggled a little, “That will never happen, and you are an acquired taste I don’t wish to acquire, remember!”

“Right… Lovely~”

The nickname made the blondie blush in the darkness of the stairwell, “I’m sorry about your dad,” Amora sighed softly.

“I mean that’s why I want to get into psychology and criminal justice,” the brunette shrugged, referring to a past conversation they had the night before, “I want it an idea of why he did what he did, without having to ask him directly.”

Amora hummed, standing up from the stairs, “Thank you for listening… and sharing.”

“No problem… I have to go downstairs for Chemistry, but I’ll see you in Home Economics, okay?”

“Okay,” Amora replied with a slight smile.

There is a moment where they stare at one another, as if something is supposed to happen, yet nothing does and they go in opposite directions, to head to class. Amora to the 3rd floor for Trigonometry and Loki to the first for Chemistry.

She sat at a lab table close to a window with her larger brother, Luther, dressed in a retro gentleman style sitting to her right, and her nerdy brother, Lance, dressed in a more academic style sitting across from her with Odysseus sitting next to him. The teacher had already gone through all the first-day normalcy and allowed his students to chill before their next class. Leaving everyone to chit-chat with one another at their four-seat tables.

“Sis?” Lance asked as Loki stared out the window.

She didn’t respond, still staring out the window her chin resting in her hand as she was lost in thought.

“Loki,” Luther stated elbowing her in the side lightly.

“Huh? What!”

“What’s wrong?” Lance questioned.

“Nothing—”

“Liar,” Luther scoffed, “What’s wrong?”

“I’m worried about Amora,” she sighed.

“Worried how?” Lance asked.

“Cassiopeia was a bitch to her basically because of me,” Loki answered.

“Okay and?” Luther sighed, “Cassiopeia is a bitch to everyone.”

“But she’s being mean to Amora because she is roommates with me, because she is nice to me, and I don’t want to make her life even more horrible just because she’s roommates with me.” Loki exclaimed, “I like Amora, she’s… ha… lovely, I don’t want her to suffer because I exist.”

Loki also felt horrible about all the stuff that Amora told her, but it’s not her place to repeat that story to anyone even her brothers.

“If I can interject,” Odysseus remarked softly, “If Amora didn’t like being around you, she would have already done or said something to infer that.”

“She’s already not like your other roommates,” Luther commented.

Loki nodded, “I’m just worried about her…”

Luther scoffed, “Don’t fall in love too fast, menace.”

A soft pink blush appeared on her cheeks, “I think it’s too late for that.”

The day went on without issue, Amora went on to discover Iphigenie was in her Trigonometry, and even though they didn’t speak to each other that much as being in the class together, it was not that Amora wanted to do much talking. She met Cassiopeia’s twin sister Calliope in her Home Economics class (a class she also had with Euphrasie and Loki) she was much kinder, shyer, and quieter than her sister dispute looked a lot like her. The American girl went on to formally meet Luther and Lance at lunch then followed Loki and Lance to European History that they then had with Odysseus, who she then had Latin with.

Even though the day ended at two o'clock in the afternoon, it had been a long day and all Amora wanted to do was go back to her dorm room and hide in between the sheets of her bed.

When walking back into the dorm hall with Loki the two of them were stopped by Euphrasie.

“Hey, Loki, do you have an Ouija board?” they asked.

“No,” Loki replied, “Lance might, he likes collecting all kinds of board game stuff.”

“Okay, thanks!”

“Why do need an Ouija board?” Amora questioned her voice laced with a tired tone.

“I wanna get a bunch of us together and talk to the ghost on campus!” Euphrasie exclaimed extremely animated, “As soon as I find one we’re all getting together in the storage room and talking to the ghost!”

Loki and Amora watched their classmate run off to find an Ouija board before laughing, “That sounds interesting,” Amora commented as they started walking to their dorm

“Really?” Loki scoffed, “It sounds like a lame excuse to make us all get along.”

“But if there are actually ghosts, it would be cool to communicate with them,” Amora replied.

“So, I guess if we are going to the ghost club?” Loki asked.

“You don’t have to, but I am going whenever it happens,” Amora replied.

“Oh Lovely, if you’re going that gives me more of a reason to go,” Loki responded with a slight smirk. 

[childofchrist1983]

I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. - John 12:46-48 KJV

Can you imagine what the people must have thought? Today, people know about CPR and have defibrillators and all sorts of equipment to save someone who has a heart attack or suddenly stops breathing, and we take for granted that medical science can save people in so many situations.

In Jesus Christ's time on Earth, if you couldn't feel or hear someone breathe, they were dead. And, in fact, they usually did die because there was no way to save them. They must have been both happy and fearful that Jesus saved this child. Happy because she was alive and could rejoin her family; and afraid because they couldn't understand how one could bring anyone back to life. In Luke's version of this miracle, the ruler comes to Jesus because his daughter is sick and asks him to come so that she won't die and while they are on the way, servants come and say she has died, and he shouldn't bother Jesus any longer. Regardless of how it happened, the child lives.

But just like the son of the widow of Naim and Lazarus, and those whom medical science is able to bring back to life, they all died. So will we! But Jesus does bring them and us back to life – eternal life! Whether we are one who was able to be resuscitated or not, like the child in the miracle we will one day die and enter eternal life. Jesus healed those in the Gospels, and God has given the scientists of today the ability to heal as well as to prolong life but this is not our permanent home. Our home in Heaven will be so much better as there will be no more suffering or pain or death. We will live on eternally with all those who have gone before us. Like the widow of Naim and Martha and Mary, we too, need to believe! God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, so that we would believe in Him and be saved, no longer in fear of death. We know that this life is temporary, and that He has prepared a place in His eternal Kingdom of Heaven for each and every one of His children.

Everyday, we must remember to thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for the grace that He poured out for us on the cross at Calvary. He has freed us from the burdens of sin and guilt. May He help us to always walk in His grace and Holy Spirit, not by our own measure. May He give us the humble humility to know that our freedom and eternal salvation is found only in Him, so that His grace may sustain us, and we may never lose sight of His love and light and mercy. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for calling us to Him and to serve Him. May He equip us to do all that He has called us to do so that as He works through us, He may use us to produce fruit, to reach others, and to encourage all brothers and sisters in Christ. May He work all of these things in us and through us for His Kingdom and His glory. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for all His creation, for His miraculous ways and for everything He does and has done for us! Keep the faith and keep moving forward in your walk with Jesus!

Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His Holy Word and for sending His Holy Spirit so that we might have His grace, not only to awaken us and transform our hearts in our spiritual rebirth and guarantee our eternity with Him, but to also call upon Him whenever we are in need. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for all the reminders of His love and mercy and faithfulness within His Holy Word. He is bigger than any challenge or circumstance in our lives. Knowing this within our minds and our hearts, nothing can deter our faith in Him and His Truth. May we all accept Him and His eternal gift of salvation and ask that He would transform our hearts and lives according to His will and ways. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His Holy Spirit who saves, seals and leads us. May we always thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His almighty power and saving grace. For He is our strength, and He alone is able to save us, forgive our sins and gift us eternal salvation and entry into His Kingdom of Heaven.

May we make sure that we give our hearts and lives to God and take time to seek and praise Him and share His Truth with the world daily. May the LORD our God and Father in Heaven help us to stay diligent and obedient and help us to guard our hearts in Him and His Holy Word daily. May He help us to remain faithful and full of excitement to do our duty to Him and for His glorious return and our reunion in Heaven as well as all that awaits us there. May we never forget to thank the LORD our God and our Creator and Father in Heaven for all this and everything He does and has done for us! May we never forget who He is, nor forget who we are in Christ and that God is always with us! What a mighty God we serve! What a Savior this is! What a wonderful LORD, God, Savior and King we have in Jesus Christ! What a loving Father we have found in Almighty God! What a wonderful God we serve! His will be done!

Thanks and glory be to God! Blessed be the name of the LORD! Hallelujah and Amen!

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

3rd April >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on John 12:1-11 for Monday of Holy Week: ‘Leave her alone’.

Monday of Holy Week

Gospel (Except USA)

John 12:1-11

'She had to keep this scent for the day of my burial'.

Six days before the Passover, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom he had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him there; Martha waited on them and Lazarus was among those at table. Mary brought in a pound of very costly ointment, pure nard, and with it anointed the feet of Jesus, wiping them with her hair; the house was full of the scent of the ointment. Then Judas Iscariot – one of his disciples, the man who was to betray him – said, ‘Why wasn’t this ointment sold for three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor?’ He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he was in charge of the common fund and used to help himself to the contributions. So Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone; she had to keep this scent for the day of my burial. You have the poor with you always, you will not always have me.’

   Meanwhile a large number of Jews heard that he was there and came not only on account of Jesus but also to see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead. Then the chief priests decided to kill Lazarus as well, since it was on his account that many of the Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus.

Gospel (USA)

John 12:1-11

Let her keep this for the day of my burial.

Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him. Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said, “Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?” He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions. So Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

   The large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came, not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him.

Reflections (14)

(i) Monday of Holy Week

Today’s first reading from Isaiah speaks of the servant of the Lord who ‘does not break the crushed reed, nor quench the wavering flame’. It is a description that fits Mary, the sister of Lazarus, in today’s gospel reading. It is six days before Passover, the feast during which Jesus would endure his passion and death. There is a sense in which at this moment Jesus is something of a crushed reed and a wavering flame. At this vulnerable moment in his life, he encounters a servant of the Lord. Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, renders him a service of love, anointing his feet with costly ointment and wiping them with her hair. She did this in the presence of Judas who would go on to crush the reed even further and attempt to extinguish the wavering flame. Jesus was deeply appreciative of Mary’s loving service. He experienced it as an anointing, strengthening him for his coming passion and death, ‘Leave her alone; she had to keep this scent for the day of my burial’. We think of Jesus as the self-giving servant; he once declared that he had come not to be served but to serve. Yet, this was a time in his life when he needed to be served and it was a woman who recognized his need of service. The risen Lord continues to serve us in his love, but he also needs us to serve him from time to time, especially as he comes to us in the crushed reeds and the wavering flames of our own time and place.

And/Or

(ii) Monday of Holy Week

We are at the beginning of holy week during which we reflect on the final journey of Jesus. Most of the people Jesus encountered on that final journey were hostile to him. Yet, according to this morning’s gospel reading, six days before the feast of Passover during which Jesus was crucified, he experienced great kindness. Not only is he the guest at the table of a family that he loves, one member of that family, Mary, went to great expense to render him a very thoughtful service. She anointed his feet with very expensive perfume and dried them with her hair. A little later in the same gospel, Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. Mary, the sister of Lazarus, anticipates that servant gesture of Jesus. She gives herself to Jesus in a way that corresponds to how Jesus would give himself to his disciples, and to all of us. Jesus interprets Mary’s action as preparing him for his death and burial. At the beginning of the last week of his life, Jesus experienced great kindness from Mary of Bethany. What Mary did for Jesus we are called to do for each other. On our own journey through life, we may meet people who make our journey more difficult. We will also experience people like Mary who support us on our journey, and, hopefully, we can be for others what Mary was for Jesus, a kindly and generous presence in an often hostile world.

 And/Or

(iii) Monday of Holy Week

Gratitude is something that rises up within us when we feel that we have been graced or blessed by someone. We give thanks to God in response to the many ways that God has graced in and through the gift of his Son, Jesus. If we have been greatly graced, our gratitude is all the greater. In this morning’s gospel reading, Mary behaves as someone who has been greatly graced. Jesus has brought her brother, Lazarus, back to life from death. In response to such an extravagant gift, Mary displays her gratitude in an extravagant way. She anoints the feet of Jesus with very expensive perfume, and she dries his feet with her hair. Judas did not appreciate such extravagance; he saw it as a waste. He did not appreciate Mary’s extravagant gratitude because he did not recognize the extravagant way he was being graced by God through the person of Jesus. He had so little recognition of being graced by Jesus that he went on to betray him. Our lives are to be an act of thanksgiving to God who has abundantly blessed and graced us through the life, death and resurrection of Christ. Sometimes that might lead us to do extravagant things that other people simply won’t understand or appreciate.

 And/Or

(iv) Monday of Holy Week

In this morning’s gospel reading, Mary, the sister of Lazarus, does something extravagant for Jesus, anointing the feet of Jesus with very costly ointment and then wiping them dry with her hair. This was her way of expressing gratitude to Jesus for the service he rendered to her family in raising her brother, Lazarus, to life. Whereas Judas tried to make little of her extravagant gesture, Jesus graciously received her generous outpouring of gratitude. We all have something to be grateful for. We have all been graced in some way. The ultimate source of every good gift we receive in life is the Lord. It is to him, above all, that we express our gratitude. This Holy Week we remember with gratitude how Jesus gave us the greatest gift anyone could give, the gift of his life. ‘No one has greater love than this’, said Jesus, ‘to lay down one’s life for one’s friends’. Jesus gave his life so that we may have life and have it to the full. This Holy Week we allow ourselves to be touched by that great and generous love, and like Mary in today’s gospel reading, we give expression to our gratitude in our own personal way.

 And/Or

(v) Monday of Holy Week

In this morning’s gospel reading, Mary, the sister of Lazarus, anoints the feet of Jesus with very costly ointment. It was an extravagant gesture which, in the context, could be understood as an expression of love and gratitude to Jesus for restoring Lazarus to life. A very negative spin is put on Mary’s action by Judas who interprets it as a waste of good money that could have been given to the poor. Jesus, however, comes to the defence of Mary, interpreting her action as a timely anointing in preparation for his death and burial, which was imminent, and, indeed, which Judas would help to bring about. Good deeds, such as Mary’s good deed, will always be open to misinterpretation. Jesus himself is the ultimate example of someone whose good deeds were interpreted in the most negative way possible, as the works of Satan. In today’s gospel reading, it is Mary not Judas who is put before us by the evangelist for our admiration and our imitation. Like here, we too have been greatly blessed and graced by the Lord. Like her, we are called to respond to how we have been graced by giving ourselves generously to the Lord and to all that he might be asking of us, regardless of how that might be perceived by others.

 And/Or

(vi) Monday of Holy Week

Much of the story of Holy Week is the story of how badly Jesus was treated. The principal characters are either actively hostile towards him or fail him miserably. Yet Holy Week begins with the story of a woman’s outpouring of love for Jesus. Jesus who, in John’s gospel, goes on to wash the feet of his disciples in water, first has his own feet anointed with costly anointment by Mary, the sister of Lazarus. Her act of love for Jesus anticipates his act of love for his disciples. In the gospel reading, Mary stands over against Judas who dismisses her gesture of love and gratitude as a waste of money. Jesus defends Mary’s costly love, recognizing it as a sign of his own costly love. One of the last questions Jesus asks in John’s gospel is, ‘Do you love me?’ which he addressed to Simon Peter. It is a question addressed to each one of us. In our struggle to answer that question with our lives, we can look towards Mary, the sister of Lazarus, for inspiration. She models for us that love for the Lord which is the only proper response to the Lord’s love for us. It is a love for the Lord which shows itself in our love for each other. That is why when Peter declared his love for Jesus, Jesus immediately directed him towards the other disciples, ‘Feed my sheep... my lambs’. We are all called to feed each other with the Lord’s love.

 And/Or

(vii) Monday of Holy Week

The week during which Jesus is to suffer so much begins with an act of kindness towards him from a friend. In the previous chapter the evangelist had said that Jesus loved, Mary and Martha and Lazarus. This was a family to whom Jesus was close and who gave him hospitality and support. In thanksgiving for delivering their brother from death, the two sisters, Mary and Martha, put on a dinner for Jesus. Mary showed her appreciation of Jesus in a very dramatic way. She anointed his feet with very costly ointment and then dried them with her hair. It was a gesture Jesus greatly valued; he recognized it as an anointing in preparation for his coming death. He was being strengthened by this gesture of love and appreciation for the ordeal that faced him. Judas, in contrast, devalued Mary’s action, accusing her of wasting money that could have been given to the poor. Unlike Mary, Judas would not be a support to Jesus in his hour of need. We all need support when we are vulnerable and facing down a difficult road. Mary models for us the kind of attentive love that can be a light in someone’s darkness. We can anoint people by our attentive and caring presence at a time when things are stacked against them. The Jesus of Holy Week, the suffering Son of Man, comes to us in many guises, and it is Mary, rather than Judas, who shows us how to respond to his presence.

 And/Or

(viii) Monday of Holy Week

This morning’s gospel reading describes a very extravagant action by Mary, the sister of Lazarus, whom Jesus had just raised from the dead. We are told that she anointed the feet of Jesus with a pound of very costly ointment and then wiped his feet with her hair. It was a gesture of loving appreciation for Jesus’ life-giving ministry to her family. Yet, her action was strongly criticized by Judas as a waste of money that could have been given to the poor. He interpreted what Mary did in a very negative manner. He belittled it. Jesus, in contrast, saw Mary’s action for what it was and defended her against Judas’ criticism. The same action was interpreted very differently by Judas and Jesus. We can all be prone to seeing the negative in a situation or a person, while being blind to the good that is also obviously there. This then impacts on the way that we talk about that situation or that person or that group. Jesus once spoke a parable about a field of wheat in which weeds had been sown. We are all a little bit like that field, a mixture of the good and the not so good. If we only notice and comment upon what is not so good we can be missing a whole other dimension. This morning’s gospel reading at the beginning of Holy Week invites us to see with the eyes of Jesus rather than with the eyes of Judas. It calls on us to celebrate goodness, generosity and love, wherever it is to be found, even when it is not perfect. We also need to recognize those qualities in ourselves when they are there to be seen, rather than focusing only on what is wrong in our lives.

And/Or

 (ix) Monday of Holy Week

This is the beginning of Holy Week. It is the week when we contemplate the final week of Jesus’ life, which turned out to be a way of the cross, a journey through a dark valley. In the course of this week, Jesus will be shown very little love. Yet, right at the beginning of the week, according to our gospel reading, he experienced an outpouring of human love. Jesus had brought Lazarus back from death to life. In gratitude for this life-giving work, Martha, Mary and Lazarus put on a dinner in his honour. In the course of that meal, Mary expressed her loving gratitude to Jesus in her own very personal way, anointing his feet with expensive perfume and weeping them with her hair. The presence of Judas, who criticizes Mary’s action, brings the passion of Jesus very close. Yet, in this hour of darkness for Jesus, Mary’s loving action stands out as a bright light. Jesus interpreted her action as preparing him for his death and burial. She was strengthening him for the painful road that lay ahead. Her loving deed for Jesus at the beginning of the week in some way anticipates God’s own loving deed for Jesus at the end of the week when God took Jesus through death into a new life, in raising him from the dead and, thereby, raising with him all who believe in him. Mary anticipated God the Father’s loving and life-giving work on behalf of Jesus. She reminds us of our own baptismal calling to do the work of God, to bring love where there is hatred, life where there is death, light where there is darkness.

 And/Or

(x) Monday of Holy Week

The gospel reading for next Thursday, Holy Thursday, is the account of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples with a basin of water and wiping them with a towel. It was an act of loving service that pointed forward to the greater act of loving service he would perform for them and for all humanity on the following day when he would lay down his life as the good Shepherd. In today’s gospel reading, Mary performs an act of loving service for Jesus that looks ahead to his act of loving service on Holy Thursday. Rather than washing the feet of Jesus with water, she anoints his feet with very costly ointment, and rather than wiping his feet with a towel she wipes then with her hair. During the following six days, Jesus would be treated with total disrespect; he would be made to suffer the most ignominious death imaginable by crucifixion. However, at this meal, Jesus is shown a tender love and respect by Mary, the sister of Lazarus. Jesus interprets her gesture as preparing him, strengthening him, for what lies ahead. Mary was anointing him in advance of his death and burial. As Jesus entered his darkest hour, a ray of light shone through Mary. This woman inspires us to become a ray of light in whatever darkness others may be experiencing. Whenever we do something, no matter how small, to support those who are walking through their own valley of darkness, it is the Lord that we are serving.

 And/Or

(xi) Monday of Holy Week

The story of Holy Week begins with the lovely scene in today’s gospel reading. In a week when so many men let Jesus down or, worse, inflict terrible violence on him, a woman, Mary, the sister of Lazarus, shows him great respect and love. Jesus would go on to wash the feet of his disciples. Mary goes even further. She anoints the feet of Jesus with very costly ointment and wipes them with her hair, and the scent of her ointment filled the whole house. The love Jesus would show his disciples, she shows to him. To that extent, she is very much a Jesus figure. She is a beacon of light at the beginning of a very dark week for Jesus. Even though Jesus gave himself in love to others, he experienced deadly hostility from some. In a similar way, Mary’s act of extravagant love for Jesus was met with hostility by one person in particular, Judas Iscariot. Judas saw Mary’s gesture as a waste of money that could have been given to the poor. Jesus, however, saw it differently. He experienced Mary’s gesture as an anointing to strengthen him for his passion and death that was imminent, ‘she had to keep this scent for the day of my burial’. The scent that Mary’s gesture created was the tangible expression of her faith in Jesus and her love of him, even in the face of hostility. We can learn from Mary to remain faithful and loving, even when the expression of our faith and love is misunderstood and criticized. Saint Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians, says, ‘we are the aroma of Christ to God’. Like Mary, the sister of Lazarus, we are to convey something of the aroma, the scent, of Christ, by our faith in Jesus and the love of others that flows from our faith.

 And/Or

(xii) Monday of Holy Week

In today’s gospel reading, Mary, the sister of Lazarus, anoints the feet of Jesus. A few days later, Jesus will wash the feet of his disciples. Mary’s service of Jesus, anointing his feet, anticipates the way that Jesus will serve his disciples at the last supper. Mary’s service of Jesus was her grateful and loving response to Jesus’ act of raising her brother Lazarus from the dead. She experienced the Lord’s service of her family in a very personal way, and, now she serves the Lord in return. Having received something precious from the Lord, the gift of life for her beloved brother, she now wants to give something precious back to the Lord. Her gift was precious in financial terms. Judas declares that it was worth three hundred denarii, which was a lot of money at that time. Jesus appreciated Mary’s gift not so much for its financial value, but because of its timely quality. Jesus was just about to enter into his passion and death, and Mary anointed Jesus to strengthen him for this ordeal that lay ahead. As Jesus declares in the gospel reading, ‘she had to keep this scent for the day of my burial’. Mary’s gesture of loving service was a response to Jesus’ loving service of her family and it strengthened him for his loving service of all humanity that lay ahead, which would cost him his life. The action of Mary portrays what is at the heart of our life as followers of Jesus. Like her, we too have been graced by Jesus’ loving service of us and, like her, we seek to give back to the Lord from what we have received from him. Our lives, in that sense, are to be an act of loving service of the Lord, in gratitude for his service of us.

 And/Or

(xiii) Monday of Holy Week

In today’s first reading, God, speaking through the prophet Isaiah, identifies his servant as one who brings true justice to the nations and in doing so does not break the crushed reed, nor quench the wavering flame. The early church recognized in Jesus the realization of this portrayal of God’s servant. Jesus came to bring God’s justice, the justice of the kingdom of God, to all nations. In doing so he did not break the crushed reed nor quench the wavering flame. He was attentive to the vulnerable, the weak, the lost, the isolated, the rejected, the various crushed reeds and wavering flames of his time and place. The Lord is attentive to all of us now who feel vulnerable and weak, lost and isolated, as we struggle with the consequences of this virus. He invites us to be attentive to him who is attentive to us, opening our hearts to his presence with us. During the last week of his life, the week in which he endured his passion and death, Jesus himself became a crushed reed and a wavering flame. The scene in today’s gospel reading is placed six days before the Passover, the Jewish feast in the course of which Jesus would be crucified. It is the beginning of the last week of Jesus’ life, during which he becomes the crushed reed and the wavering flame. Many people in the course of that week will be intent on breaking this crushed reed and quenching this wavering flame. Some of these are mentioned in our gospel reading, Judas who would betray Jesus, the chief priests who would hand him over to Pilate. Yet, the scene is dominated by a woman who displays an outpouring of tender love towards this now vulnerable human being, anointing his feet with ointment and drying them with her hair. At the beginning of a week when Jesus will suffer from the worst instincts of the human spirit, he experiences an outpouring of gratitude and tender loving care from a woman. She serves Jesus, as Jesus would go on to serve his disciples by washing their feet. In her own way, she gives expression to the portrayal of the servant in the first reading. She exemplifies the tender loving care that is so much in evidence in these anxious times and which stand out as a light in the darkness. She shows us what it means to love others as Jesus has loved us.

 And/Or

(xiv) Monday of Holy Week

We are at the beginning of Holy Week. According to today’s gospel reading, at the beginning of the last week of Jesus’ life, which was to end so brutally, he experienced the hospitality and the loving care of friends. Jesus had brought light and joy into the darkness and sadness of this family by raising Lazarus from the dead. Now they wanted to express their gratitude to him by hosting a meal for him. One member of the family, Mary, went further, performing an act of extravagant generosity that displayed sensitivity and tenderness towards Jesus. Jesus interpreted Mary’s action as an anointing in preparation for his coming death. She was strengthening him for the journey ahead. At this meal, over against Mary’s generous act stood Judas who would betray Jesus to death and who objected to Mary’s deed as a waste of money. Judas is portrayed as a hypocrite, complaining about a waste of money while helping himself to money from the common fund that was to serve the needs of Jesus and the group of disciples. We are invited to identify with Mary in today’s gospel reading. Like her, we have been greatly blessed by the Lord. He died and rose from the dead so that we may have life to the full. He came among us full of grace and truth and from his fullness we have all received. Mary encourages us to give back to the Lord from all he has given to us. We can do this by serving the Lord in all who are vulnerable and in need, just as Mary served the vulnerable and needy Jesus on this occasion. The Lord comes to us in what the first reading calls the crushed reeds and wavering flames of our day, those who are longing for the kind of tender and sensitive love that Mary showed to Jesus. As Jesus says in the gospel reading, ‘you have the poor with you always’.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[roman-catholic-mass-readings]

29th July >> Mass Readings (USA)

Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus

    on 

Friday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time.

Friday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Colour: White)

(Readings for the feria (Friday))

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Friday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First Reading

Jeremiah 26:1-9

All the people gathered about Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah, this message came from the LORD: Thus says the LORD: Stand in the court of the house of the LORD and speak to the people of all the cities of Judah who come to worship in the house of the LORD; whatever I command you, tell them, and omit nothing. Perhaps they will listen and turn back, each from his evil way, so that I may repent of the evil I have planned to inflict upon them for their evil deeds. Say to them:  Thus says the LORD: If you disobey me, not living according to the law I placed before you and not listening to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I send you constantly though you do not obey them, I will treat this house like Shiloh, and make this the city to which all the nations of the earth shall refer when cursing another.

   Now the priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah speak these words in the house of the LORD. When Jeremiah finished speaking all that the LORD bade him speak to all the people, the priests and prophets laid hold of him, crying, “You must be put to death! Why do you prophesy in the name of the LORD: ‘This house shall be like Shiloh,’ and ‘This city shall be desolate and deserted’?” And all the people gathered about Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 69:5, 8-10, 14

R/ Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Those outnumber the hairs of my head    who hate me without cause. Too many for my strength    are they who wrongfully are my enemies.    Must I restore what I did not steal?

R/ Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Since for your sake I bear insult,    and shame covers my face. I have become an outcast to my brothers,    a stranger to my mother’s sons, Because zeal for your house consumes me,    and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.

R/ Lord, in your great love, answer me.

But I pray to you, O LORD,    for the time of your favor, O God! In your great kindness answer me    with your constant help.

R/ Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Gospel Acclamation

John 8:12

Alleluia, alleluia. I am the light of the world, says the Lord; whoever follows me will have the light of life. Alleluia, alleluia.

Either:

(The following reading is proper to the memorial, and must be used even if you have otherwise chosen to use the ferial readings).

Gospel

John 11:19-27

I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God.

Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother [Lazarus, who had died]. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Or:

(The following reading is proper to the memorial, and must be used even if you have otherwise chosen to use the ferial readings)

Gospel

Luke 10:38-42

Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.

Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

--------------------------------------------

Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus

(Liturgical Colour: White)

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Friday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First Reading

1 John 4:7-16

If we love one another, God remains in us.

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only-begotten Son into the world so that we might have life through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.

   This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us of his Spirit. Moreover, we have seen and testify that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world. Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God. We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.

   God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11

R/ I will bless the Lord at all times. or R/ Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

I will bless the LORD at all times;    his praise shall be ever in my mouth. Let my soul glory in the LORD;    the lowly will hear me and be glad.

R/ I will bless the Lord at all times. or R/ Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Glorify the LORD with me,    let us together extol his name. I sought the LORD, and he answered me    and delivered me from all my fears.

R/ I will bless the Lord at all times. or R/ Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,    and your faces may not blush with shame. When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,    and from all his distress he saved him.

R/ I will bless the Lord at all times. or R/ Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

The angel of the LORD encamps    around those who fear him, and delivers them. Taste and see how good the LORD is;    blessed the man who takes refuge in him.

R/ I will bless the Lord at all times. or R/ Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Fear the LORD, you his holy ones,    for nought is lacking to those who fear him. The great grow poor and hungry;    but those who seek the LORD want for no good thing.

R/ I will bless the Lord at all times. or R/ Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Gospel Acclamation

John 8:12

Alleluia, alleluia. I am the light of the world, says the Lord; whoever follows me will have the light of life. Alleluia, alleluia.

Either:

Gospel

John 11:19-27

I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God.

Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother [Lazarus, who had died]. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Or:

Gospel

Luke 10:38-42

Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.

Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

[yhwhrulz]

Morning and Evening with A.W. Tozer Devotional for April 26

Tozer in the Morning The Barrenness of Busyness

Satan's distracting words often come from the most unexpected quarters. Martha would call Mary away from sitting at the feet of the Master. Sometimes, if we are not careful, our best friend may distract us. Or it might be some very legitimate activity. This day's bustle and hurly-burly would too often and too soon call us away from Jesus' feet. These distractions must be immediately dismissed, or we shall know only the "barrenness of busyness."

The multiplying agencies and the extraneous activities of much of the current gospel "programming" may distract us if we are not wary and lead us into some meandering by-path that comes to a dead end. Our genius is preserved by sticking at the task of worldwide evangelization that God has called us to by the tried and proven methods that God has blessed, thereby avoiding the slough of an effete denominationalism on the one hand and unproductive, fevered activity on the other.

In a world like ours, we need to master the art and keep at the business of dismissing distractions.

Tozer in the Evening JOURNEY OF THE HEART

I object to the charge that "Tozer preaches experience." I preach Christ, the Savior-that is my calling! But I am positive about the validity, the reality and the value of genuine Christian experience. We can talk to Jesus just as we talk to our other friends. As a boy, I was not a Christian. I did not have the privilege of growing up in a home where Christ was known and loved. God spoke to me through a street preacher who quoted the word of Jesus, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." That invitation let me know that Jesus is still calling "Come now!" I went home and up into the attic. There in earnest prayer I gave my heart and life to Jesus Christ. My feet had taken me home and into the attic. But it was my heart that went to Jesus! Within my heart I consented to go to Jesus. I have been a Christian ever since that moment.

Copyright Statement This material is considered in the public domain.

[curtiscroachblog]

God will speak - so listen

Word for Today written by Bob and Debby Gass

Wednesday 3rd April 2024

'I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge.' John 5:30 NKJV

Jesus did only those things placed in his mind by his Father. And he wants you to learn to live that way too. You ask, 'Is such a life possible?' Yes, it's not only possible, it's essential to fulfilling God's will for your life. The Bible says that Mary took time to listen to Jesus, but her sister Martha didn't because she was too busy 'serving' (see Luke 10:40). You can get so busy serving the Lord that you lose your sensitivity to his voice and end up preoccupied with secondary things. You learn to hear from God by making time to hear from him!

Fifteen times in the New Testament, Jesus said, 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear' (Matthew 11:15 NKJV)! When you became a new creation in Christ, you got new spiritual ears, but you must learn how to use them. Indeed, that must become one of the highest priorities in your life. A newborn child has the ability to hear but doesn't understand what he or she is hearing; understanding takes time, it takes learning, it takes attention, it takes intimacy with his or her parents. When Jesus met the two disciples on the road to Emmaus following his resurrection, they didn't recognise him. But he loved them, so 'he opened their minds so they could understand' (Luke 24:45 NIV).

As you look back over your life, you'll recognise times when God walked and talked with you but you didn't understand what he was saying. No problem! God is patient, and he will work with you and develop you.

[jdgo51]

God Will Help You Get Through Grief

Today's inspiration comes from:

God Will Help You

by Max Lucado

"'We don’t discuss graveyards to brighten our day. Cemeteries aren’t typically known for their inspiration. But an exception was found in a graveyard near Bethany. And that one exception is exceptional.

A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling Him,

Lord, your dear friend is very sick. — John 11:1-3 NLT

John weighted the opening words of the chapter with reality: “A man named Lazarus was sick.” Your journal might reveal a comparable statement. “A woman named Judy was tired.” “A father named Tom was confused.” “A youngster named Sophia was sad.”

Lazarus was a real person with a real problem. He was sick; his body ached; his fever raged; his stomach churned. But he had something going for him. Or, better stated, he had Someone going for him. He had a friend named Jesus, the water-to-wine, stormy-sea-to-calm-waters, picnic-basket-to-buffet Jesus. Others were fans of Christ. Lazarus was friends with Him.

So the sisters of Lazarus sent Jesus a not-too-subtle message: “Lord, Your dear friend is very sick.”

They appealed to the love of Jesus and stated their problem. They did not tell Him how to respond. No presumption. No overreaching or underreacting. They simply wrapped their concern in a sentence and left it with Jesus. A lesson for us perhaps?

Christ responded to the crisis of health with a promise of help.

But when Jesus heard about it He said, ‘Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this’. — John 11:4 NLT

It would have been easy to misunderstand this promise. The listener could be forgiven for hearing “Lazarus will not face death or endure death.” But Jesus made a different promise: “This sickness will not end in death.” Lazarus, we learn, would find himself in the valley of death, but he would not stay there.

The messenger surely hurried back to Bethany and told the family to take heart and have hope.

Yet

He [Jesus] stayed where He was for the next two days. — John 11:6 NLT

The crisis of health was exacerbated by the crisis of delay. How many times did Lazarus ask his sisters, “Is Jesus here yet?” How many times did they mop his fevered brow and then look for Jesus’ coming? Did they not assure one another, “Any minute now Jesus will arrive”? But days came and went. No Jesus. Lazarus began to fade. No Jesus. Lazarus died. No Jesus.

When Jesus arrived at Bethany, He was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. — John 11:17 NLT

“Israel’s rabbinic faith taught that for three days a soul lingered about a body, but on the fourth day it left permanently.”1 Jesus was a day late, or so it seemed.

The sisters thought he was.

When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet Him. But Mary stayed in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if only You had been here, my brother would not have died’. — John 11:20-21 NLT

Jesus meets us in the cemeteries of life.

She was disappointed in Jesus. “If only You had been here.” Christ did not meet her expectations. By the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been dead for the better part of a week. In our day his body would have been embalmed or cremated, the obituary would have been printed, the burial plot purchased, and the funeral at least planned, if not completed.

I know this to be true because I’ve planned many funerals. And in more memorials than I can count, I’ve told the Lazarus story. I’ve even dared to stand near the casket, look into the faces of modern-day Marthas, Marys, Matthews, and Michaels and say, “Maybe you, like Martha, are disappointed. You told Jesus about the sickness. You waited at the hospital bed. You kept vigil in the convalescent room. You told Him that the one He loved was sick, sicker, dying. And now death has come. And some of you find yourselves, like Mary, too bereaved to speak. Others, like Martha, too bewildered to be silent. Would you be willing to imitate the faith of Martha?”

Look again at her words:

Lord, if only You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give You whatever You ask. — John 11:21-22 NLT, emphasis mine

How much time do you suppose passed between the “if only” of verse 21 and the “even now I know” of verse 22? What caused the change in her tone? Did she see something in the expression of Christ? Did she remember a promise from the past? Did His hand brush away her tear? Did His confidence calm her fear? Something moved Martha from complaint to confession.

Jesus responded with a death-defying promise:

Jesus told her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ ‘Yes,’ Martha said, ‘he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.’ Jesus told her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in Me will live, even after dying… Do you believe this?’ — John 11:23-26 NLT

The moment drips with drama.

Look to whom Jesus asked this question: a bereaved, heartbroken sister. Look at where Jesus stood as He asked this question: within the vicinity, perhaps in the center, of a cemetery. Look at when Jesus asked this question: four days too late. Lazarus, His friend, was four days dead, four days gone, four days buried.

Martha has had plenty of time to give up on Jesus. Yet now this Jesus has the audacity to pull rank over death and ask, “Do you believe this, Martha? Do you believe that I am Lord of all, even of the cemetery?” Maybe she answered with a lilt in her voice, with the conviction of a triumphant angel, fists pumping the air and face radiant with hope. Give her reply a dozen exclamation marks if you want, but I don’t. I hear a pause, a swallow. I hear a meek

Yes, Lord,… I have always believed You are the Messiah, the Son of God, the One who has come into the world from God. — John 11:27 NLT

Martha wasn’t ready to say Jesus could raise the dead. Even so, she gave Him a triple tribute: “the Messiah,” “the Son of God,” and “the One who has come into the world.” She mustered a mustard-seed confession. That was enough for Jesus.

Martha fetched her sister. Mary saw Christ and wept. And

when Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within Him, and He was deeply troubled. ‘Where have you put him?’ He asked them. They told Him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Then Jesus wept. — John 11:33-35 NLT

What caused Jesus to weep? Did He cry at the death of His friend? Or the impact death had on His friends? Did He weep out of sorrow? Or anger? Was it the fact of the grave or its control over people that broke His heart?

It must have been the latter because a determined, not despondent, Jesus took charge. Jesus told them to roll the stone away. Martha hesitated. Who wouldn’t? He insisted. She complied. Then came the command, no doubt the only command ever made to a cadaver. Jesus, prone as He was to thank God for impossible situations, offered a prayer of gratitude, and then Jesus shouted, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in grave-clothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, ‘Unwrap him and let him go!’ — John 11:43-44 NLT

“Don’t miss the message of this miracle,” I love to say at funerals, although careful not to get too animated, because, after all, it is a memorial service. Still, I indulge in some excitement. “You are never alone. Jesus meets us in the cemeteries of life. Whether we are there to say goodbye or there to be buried, we can count on the presence of God.”

He is

Lord both of the dead and of the living. — Romans 14:9 ESV

An encore is scheduled. Lazarus was but a warm-up. Jesus will someday shout, and the ingathering of saints will begin. Graveyards, ocean depths, battlefields, burned buildings, and every other resting place of the deceased will give up the dead in whatever condition they might be found. They will be recomposed, resurrected, and re-presented in the presence of Christ. Salvation of the saints is not merely the redemption of souls but also the recollection of souls and bodies.

When we are in Christ, we grieve, but we grieve with hope. Lazarus is proof of this. His death proved that our Savior grieves death with us. Jesus cares and understands and feels the weight of death just like we do. But as the conqueror of death, Jesus knows death is not the end. It is simply the beginning of a life we cannot imagine during our lives on earth. So grieve here, today. Receive the comfort of Christ in your sorrow, but hold fast to the promise that the sorrow you feel in the night makes way for joy in the morning.

Father, I know You are my comforter. I know You are strong when I am weak. I know You are hope when I am hopeless. I need all these from You today — comfort, strength, and hope — because I cannot muster them on my own. When I am deep in grief, all I see is darkness, and all I feel is hopeless. But You empathize with this pain. You know it well. Remind me of Your love during this time. Remind me that I can share my thoughts and struggles with You. You are not afraid of negative feelings. Hold me as I walk through this season of grief. Don’t let me run away from it, but also don’t let me fall into despair. Guide me toward the hope and light I have in Christ. In His name, amen.

Bruner, Gospel of John, 664."'

Excerpted with permission from God Will Help You by Max Lucado, copyright Max Lucado.

[lindajenni]

oct 4

belief, not understanding

"did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" — john 11:40

mary and martha could not understand what their Lord was doing. both of them said to Him, “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” back of it all, we seem to read their thought: “Lord, we do not understand why you have stayed away so long. we do not understand how you could let death come to the man whom you loved. we do not understand how you could let sorrow and suffering ravage our lives when your presence might have stayed it all. why did you not come? it is too late now, for already he has been dead four days!”

and to it all Jesus had but one great truth: “you may not understand; but I tell you if you believe, you will see.”

abraham could not understand why God should ask the sacrifice of the boy; but he trusted. and he saw the glory of God in his restoration to his love. moses could not understand why God should keep him forty years in the wilderness, but he trusted; and he saw when God called him to lead forth israel from bondage.

joseph could not understand the cruelty of his brethren, the false witness of a perfidious woman, and the long years of an unjust imprisonment; but he trusted, and he saw at last the glory of God in it all.

jacob could not understand the strange providence which permitted the same joseph to be torn from his father’s love, but he saw the glory of God when he looked into the face of that same joseph as the viceroy of a great king, and the preserver of his own life and the lives of a great nation.

and so, perhaps it may be in your life. you say, "i do not understand why God let my dear one be taken. i do not understand why affliction has been permitted to smite me. i do not understand the devious paths by which the Lord is leading me. i do not understand why plans and purposes that seemed good to my eyes should be baffled. i do not understand why blessings i so much need are so long delayed.

"friend, you do not have to understand all God’s ways with you. God does not expect you to understand them. you do not expect your child to understand, only believe. some day you will see the glory of God in the things which you do not understand." — j.h. mcC

it is comforting to think of trouble, in whatever form it may come to us, as a heavenly messenger, bringing us something from God. in its earthly aspect it may seem hurtful, even destructive; but in its spiritual out-working it yields blessing. many of the richest blessings which have come down to us from the past are the fruit of sorrow or pain. we should never forget that redemption, the world’s greatest blessing, is the fruit of the world’s greatest sorrow. in every time of sharp pruning, when the knife is deep and the pain is sore, it is an unspeakable comfort to read, “my Father is the husbandman.”

doctor vincent tells of being in a great hothouse where luscious clusters of grapes were hanging on every side. the owner said, “when my new gardener came, he said he would have nothing to do with these vines unless he could cut them clean down to the stalk; and he did, and we had no grapes for two years, but this is the result.”

there is rich suggestiveness in this interpretation of the pruning process, as we apply it to the christian life. pruning seems to be destroying the vine, the gardener appears to be cutting it all away; but he looks on into the future and knows that the final outcome will be the enrichment of its life and greater abundance of fruit.

there are blessings we can never have unless we are ready to pay the price of pain. there is no way to reach them save through suffering. — dr. miller

public domain content taken from streams in the desert by mrs. charles cowman.

i think there comes a time in everyone's walk when they have to go by just "blind faith." by that i mean without without inclination or feeling, without any confirmation or support. just blind faith saying to self, "i know my God and this cannot stand!" it doesn't matter what it looks like, feels like, smells like or tastes like. senses be damned but God be true.

we continue on in faith, knowing that God has something better waiting for us. like the gardener doing sharp pruning, when the knife is deep and the pain is sore we remember again our Father is the the Husbandman. we have His promise to cling to: "[I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [assuredly not!]" heb 13:5 ampc

[allsoulspriory]

God’s Resources

Is anything impossible for the Lord? I will return to you when the season comes round again, and Sarah will have a son.” — Gen 18:14

‘Oh, Lord God, you did indeed make heaven and earth by your mighty power and great strength. Nothing is too hard for you! — Jer 32:17

There is no doubt as to the identification of these three guests that suddenly appeared before the tent door of Abraham. We are expressly told that “Jehovah appeared unto him.” It was thus that our Lord anticipated His Incarnation. He came incognito, and “His delights were with the sons of men” (Pro 8:31). During His earthly life, He loved the homes of men, lodged with Peter and Zacchaeus, and in the lovely home where Mary loved, and Martha served. After His resurrection, He tarried with two of them in the village inn. So He will come to thy heart and mine. Though He is the High and lofty One, who inhabits Eternity, He will plead for admission to sup with us and we with Him (Rev 3:20). But He often comes disguised as a wayfaring man, hungry and athirst. Let us “run to meet Him,” remembering Mat 25:40.

God is no man’s debtor; He always pays for His lodging, hence His promise to Sarah! She laughed with disbelief, but is anything too hard for the Lord? That is one of God’s unanswered questions. It has accosted the human conscience all down the ages. Let us look away from the difficulties nature imposes on Him, who holds the oceans in the hollow of His Almighty hand. Then we can stand with Him on the mountainside and plead for Sodom; then God Himself will draw us on to ask for more and yet more, till, when our faith gives out, He will do something far in advance of all that we asked or thought.

Prayer

Now unto Him, that can exceed abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, World without end. Amen.

[fr-martin-gospel-reflections]

26th March - ‘I am the resurrection and the life’, Reflection on today’s gospel reading (Jn 1:1-45)

Fifth Sunday of Lent

One of the great gifts in life is friendship. We value friends who remain faithful to us in good times and in bad, when all is well with us and when life goes against us. Sometimes we become friends with a whole family, which is a very special blessing. The family might invite us to join them for important events in their lives. We rejoice with them when they celebrate. We also share in their sorrows. If some misfortune comes to the family, we are deeply touched by it.

Today’s gospel reading shows that Jesus was a friend of the family of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. Jesus needed friends, just like the rest of us, and this family of two sisters and a brother had come to befriend him. When he called to them, he knew he was among friends; he could relax in their company. The gospel readings says simply, ‘Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus’. This was the love of friendship. When the sisters sent word to Jesus about their seriously ill brother, they simply said, ‘Lord, the one you love is ill’. If we hear that a close friend is ill, we try to visit them straight away. Yet, when Jesus heard that Lazarus was ill, ‘he stayed where he was for two more days’ before finally saying to his disciples, ‘Let us go Judea’, to Bethany, the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. Jesus deliberately waited until Lazarus died before going to Bethany; he let Lazarus die. If he really loved Lazarus, why did he wait? We sense the sisters’ sense of disappointment, and even anger, in their words to Jesus when he finally arrived, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died’. It is as if they were saying, ‘Why weren’t you here when we needed you most?’ Martha and Mary were people of faith who struggled to understand why the Lord hadn’t come in time to heal their brother when they sent for him. As people of faith, we too can find ourselves wondering why the Lord doesn’t respond to our call for help with much greater urgency. Whey do our loved ones die when we have prayed so hard for them to get better? Why does the Lord let them die?

In reality, Jesus’ delay in coming to Mary and Martha was an expression of his love for them. It was because he loved them that he delayed. He wanted to show the sisters, and his disciples, that God’s life giving power at work through him could not only heal the sick but could also bring life to those who had died. Jesus went on to raise Lazarus from the dead and restore him to his sisters. Of course, Lazarus would die again someday, as would Martha and Mary. However, in raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus was showing that he had power over death. His restoring Lazarus to physical life was a sign that he could bring all who believe in him to eternal life. That is why the real climax of this story is not so much Jesus restoring Lazarus to physical life but the words he speaks to Martha, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though they die, they will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die’. These are words which are not just addressed to Martha but also to his disciples, including all of us who seek to be his disciples today. They are words that have given hope to grieving believers down through the centuries. Jesus is saying that the bond with him which our faith in him creates in this life will not be broken by death. Our communion with him, which is the fruit of our faith, will endure beyond death. Indeed, our communion with the Lord will be deepened beyond death as we come to share in his own risen life. There is a sense in which we already share in the Lord’s risen life here and now through our faith in him, and we will have a much fuller and richer sharing in his risen life beyond death.

Having made that wonderful promise to Martha, he asks, ‘Do you believe this?’ It is a question that is addressed to us all. He is asking, ‘Do you believe that my love for you will never end, that my friendship endures beyond death?’ The family of Martha, Mary and Lazarus represent us all. Jesus who befriended this family befriends us all. Later on in this gospel of John, in the setting of the Last Supper, Jesus will say to his disciples, who represent us all, ‘I do not call you servants any longer… I have called you friends’. We often speak of life-long friends. The Lord’s friendship lasts not just for our earthly lives but endures into eternal life. His greatest expression of friendship towards us was his death on the cross. As he said in that setting of the last supper, ‘No one has great love than this, to lay one’s life for one’s friends’. Through his death, and resurrection, Jesus continuously draws us to himself in love, thereby bringing us to share in his own risen life over which death has no power.

[dailychapel]

John 12:1-50 NLT - 1 Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus--the man he had raised from the dead. 2 A dinner was prepared in Jesus' honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him. 3 Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus' feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance. 4 But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, 5 "That perfume was worth a year's wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor." 6 Not that he cared for the poor--he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples' money, he often stole some for himself. 7 Jesus replied, "Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me." 9 When all the people heard of Jesus' arrival, they flocked to see him and also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead. 10 Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too, 11 for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted them and believed in Jesus. 12 The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors 13 took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted, "Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the LORD! Hail to the King of Israel!" 14 Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said: 15 "Don't be afraid, people of Jerusalem. Look, your King is coming, riding on a donkey's colt." 16 His disciples didn't understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into his glory, they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about him. 17 Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, and they were telling others about it. 18 That was the reason so many went out to meet him--because they had heard about this miraculous sign. 19 Then the Pharisees said to each other, "There's nothing we can do. Look, everyone has gone after him!" 20 Some Greeks who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration 21 paid a visit to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee. They said, "Sir, we want to meet Jesus." 22 Philip told Andrew about it, and they went together to ask Jesus. 23 Jesus replied, "Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory. 24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels--a plentiful harvest of new lives. 25 Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. 26 Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me. 27 "Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, 'Father, save me from this hour'? But this is the very reason I came! 28 Father, bring glory to your name." Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, "I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again." 29 When the crowd heard the voice, some thought it was thunder, while others declared an angel had spoken to him. 30 Then Jesus told them, "The voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out. 32 And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself." 33 He said this to indicate how he was going to die. 34 The crowd responded, "We understood from Scripture that the Messiah would live forever. How can you say the Son of Man will die? Just who is this Son of Man, anyway?" 35 Jesus replied, "My light will shine for you just a little longer. Walk in the light while you can, so the darkness will not overtake you. Those who walk in the darkness cannot see where they are going. 36 Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light." After saying these things, Jesus went away and was hidden from them. 37 But despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done, most of the people still did not believe in him. 38 This is exactly what Isaiah the prophet had predicted: "LORD, who has believed our message? To whom has the LORD revealed his powerful arm?" 39 But the people couldn't believe, for as Isaiah also said, 40 "The Lord has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts--so that their eyes cannot see, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and have me heal them." 41 Isaiah was referring to Jesus when he said this, because he saw the future and spoke of the Messiah's glory. 42 Many people did believe in him, however, including some of the Jewish leaders. But they wouldn't admit it for fear that the Pharisees would expel them from the synagogue. 43 For they loved human praise more than the praise of God. 44 Jesus shouted to the crowds, "If you trust me, you are trusting not only me, but also God who sent me. 45 For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me. 46 I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark. 47 I will not judge those who hear me but don't obey me, for I have come to save the world and not to judge it. 48 But all who reject me and my message will be judged on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken. 49 I don't speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50 And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say."

[wolint]

THE LORD IS NEVER LATE

John 11:1,3-5,7-9,11-17,19-25 TPT In the village of Bethany there was a man named Lazarus, and his sisters, Mary and Martha. Mary was the one who would anoint Jesus’ feet with costly perfume and dry his feet with her long hair. One day Lazarus became very sick to the point of death. [3] So his sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, our brother Lazarus, the one you love, is very sick. Please come!” [4] When he heard this, he said, “This sickness will not end in death for Lazarus, but will bring glory and praise to God. This will reveal the greatness of the Son of God by what takes place.” [5] Now even though Jesus loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, he remained where he was for two more days. [7] Finally, on the third day, he said to his disciples, “Come. It’s time to go to Bethany.” [8] “But Teacher,” they said to him, “do you really want to go back there? It was just a short time ago the people of Judea were going to stone you!” [9] Jesus replied, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight in every day? You can go through a day without the fear of stumbling when you walk in the One who gives light to the world. But you will stumble when the light is not in you, for you’ll be walking in the dark.” [11] Then Jesus added, “Lazarus, our friend, has just fallen asleep. It’s time that I go and awaken him.” [12] When they heard this, the disciples replied, “Lord, if he has just fallen asleep, then he’ll get better.” [13] Jesus was speaking about Lazarus’ death, but the disciples presumed he was talking about natural sleep. [14] Then Jesus made it plain to them, “Lazarus is dead. [15] And for your sake, I’m glad I wasn’t there, because now you have another opportunity to see who I am so that you will learn to trust in me. Come, let’s go and see him.” [16] So Thomas, nicknamed the Twin, remarked to the other disciples, “Let’s go so that we can die with him.” [17] Now when they arrived at Bethany, which was only about two miles from Jerusalem, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. [19] Many friends of Mary and Martha had come from the region to console them over the loss of their brother. [20] And when Martha heard that Jesus was approaching the village, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed in the house. [21] Martha said to Jesus, “My Lord, if only you had come sooner, my brother wouldn’t have died. [22] But I know that if you were to ask God for anything, he would do it for you.” [23] Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise and live.” [24] She replied, “Yes, I know he will rise with everyone else on resurrection day.” [25] “Martha,” Jesus said, “You don’t have to wait until then. I am the Resurrection, and I am Life Eternal. Anyone who clings to me in faith, even though he dies, will live forever.

John’s accounts of when Lazarus of Bethany was on his deathbed, Martha and Mary, his sisters, sent Jesus an urgent message imploring His assistance tells us that God is punctual. How can this be though, when Jesus stayed where He was? Why did He do that? Does this mean Jesus can be late? Would the Lord arrive too late to help and deliver us when we need Him? ABSOLUTELY NOT! THE LORD IS NEVER LATE! So many already think the Lord is late. They have prayed, fasted and waited but feel that since the Lord did not turn up when they asked, it means He’s late or may not even answer them. There is a lesson in every adversity and the process must be completed before the change, otherwise, we would find ourselves repeating the process to gain what is required. Remember the significance of names? Check out the significance and ironic meaning of Lazarus: Lazarus is synonymous with the Hebrew, “Eliezer.” meaning “my God is help.” And God did help! The Lord was aware of Lazarus’s sickness, He mentions it to the disciples, and then goes on to proclaim that “the sickness is not unto death. Why?  Yet Jesus made no move to travel to Bethany He waited two extra days before setting out, timing His arrival to be exactly on the fourth day after Lazarus’ death in verse seventeen.  Jesus was at least one day’s journey away from Bethany and by the time the message reached him, Lazarus had already died. The Lord is purposefully intentional in all He does, and the maximum glory of everything goes to Him alone. If Jesus had arrived “too early” the Jews would not have seen this event as a miracle because the Jewish tradition believes that the soul of a deceased person was believed to linger behind, hovering over the dead body for three days, desperately trying to get back inside the body. So introduces the reason why Jesus stayed two days longer. No room for doubt or dispute! He wanted the people to see his power over death, maximizing His glory in verse five. Some would ask why Jesus didn’t come on time to heal Lazarus, Jesus’ answer in verse fifteen points us again to maximum glory, healing Lazarus was not in His plan but that would have happened if He had come too early, this was an occasion to manifest the glory of God to man, and to establish our faith. Timing is everything to the Lord according to Ecclesiastes 3, the Lord is never late or too early. It was a miracle to see Lazarus was dead, at least for the disciples, as no person had come to announce it to them. It was a greater miracle to raise a dead man than to cure a sick man. And it was a greater miracle, to raise one that had been buried for four days, and in whose body, putrefaction might have begun to take place, than to raise one that just died. Don’t give up, God would never be late to help you or too early to miss you, He will arrive on time, He is punctual because time belongs to Him. The Lord is never late. Shalom Women of light international prayer ministries.

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

25th March >> Fr. Martin's Reflections / Homilies on Today's Mass Readings (Inc. John 12:1-11) for Monday of Holy Week: ‘She had to keep this scent for the day of my burial’.

Monday of Holy Week

Gospel (Except USA) John 12:1-11 'She had to keep this scent for the day of my burial'.

Six days before the Passover, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom he had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him there; Martha waited on them and Lazarus was among those at table. Mary brought in a pound of very costly ointment, pure nard, and with it anointed the feet of Jesus, wiping them with her hair; the house was full of the scent of the ointment. Then Judas Iscariot – one of his disciples, the man who was to betray him – said, ‘Why wasn’t this ointment sold for three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor?’ He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he was in charge of the common fund and used to help himself to the contributions. So Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone; she had to keep this scent for the day of my burial. You have the poor with you always, you will not always have me.’ Meanwhile a large number of Jews heard that he was there and came not only on account of Jesus but also to see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead. Then the chief priests decided to kill Lazarus as well, since it was on his account that many of the Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus.

Gospel (USA) John 12:1-11 Let her keep this for the day of my burial.

Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him. Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said, “Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?” He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions. So Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

The large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came, not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him.

Reflections (14)

(i) Monday of Holy Week

Jesus seems to have been very close to the family of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Shortly before our gospel reading the evangelist declared, ‘Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus’. On that occasion, Jesus brought new life to Lazarus, lifting the veil of grief and despondency from the whole household. As a gesture of appreciation for all Jesus did for this family, they gave a dinner for him, according to our gospel reading. They hosted Jesus to a meal. In that culture, it was customary for the host to give a basin of water and a towel to guests to wash the dust of the roads off their feet before eating. However, on this occasion, one of the family went much further. Mary anointed the feet of Jesus with very costly ointment, and then wiped them with her hair. It was an extravagant outpouring of loving service. According to the gospel reading, Judas was scandalized by this gesture, considering it a waste of money. Jesus, however, could see the gesture for what it was, an act of loving service, an anointing to strengthen him for his immanent passion and death, ‘She had to keep this scent for the day of my burial’. At the beginning of a week when Jesus would be treated in the most disrespectful way imaginable, Mary of Bethany showed him the utmost respect. She was like the servant in the first reading who was careful not to break the crushed reed nor quench the wavering flame. Here was a moment of light in what was a dark week. We live in dark times, with many a crushed reed being broken further by war, violence, betrayal and famine. Our calling is to keep creating moments of light in the darkness by our gestures of loving service of others. Our often small, hidden, gestures of kindness can help people to see ‘the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living’, in the words of today’s Responsorial Psalm.

And/Or

(ii) Monday of Holy Week

We are at the beginning of holy week during which we reflect on the final journey of Jesus. Most of the people Jesus encountered on that final journey were hostile to him. Yet, according to this morning’s gospel reading, six days before the feast of Passover during which Jesus was crucified, he experienced great kindness. Not only is he the guest at the table of a family that he loves, one member of that family, Mary, went to great expense to render him a very thoughtful service. She anointed his feet with very expensive perfume and dried them with her hair. A little later in the same gospel, Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. Mary, the sister of Lazarus, anticipates that servant gesture of Jesus. She gives herself to Jesus in a way that corresponds to how Jesus would give himself to his disciples, and to all of us. Jesus interprets Mary’s action as preparing him for his death and burial. At the beginning of the last week of his life, Jesus experienced great kindness from Mary of Bethany. What Mary did for Jesus we are called to do for each other. On our own journey through life, we may meet people who make our journey more difficult. We will also experience people like Mary who support us on our journey, and, hopefully, we can be for others what Mary was for Jesus, a kindly and generous presence in an often hostile world.

And/Or

(iii) Monday of Holy Week

Gratitude is something that rises up within us when we feel that we have been graced or blessed by someone. We give thanks to God in response to the many ways that God has graced in and through the gift of his Son, Jesus. If we have been greatly graced, our gratitude is all the greater. In this morning’s gospel reading, Mary behaves as someone who has been greatly graced. Jesus has brought her brother, Lazarus, back to life from death. In response to such an extravagant gift, Mary displays her gratitude in an extravagant way. She anoints the feet of Jesus with very expensive perfume, and she dries his feet with her hair. Judas did not appreciate such extravagance; he saw it as a waste. He did not appreciate Mary’s extravagant gratitude because he did not recognize the extravagant way he was being graced by God through the person of Jesus. He had so little recognition of being graced by Jesus that he went on to betray him. Our lives are to be an act of thanksgiving to God who has abundantly blessed and graced us through the life, death and resurrection of Christ. Sometimes that might lead us to do extravagant things that other people simply won’t understand or appreciate.

And/Or

(iv) Monday of Holy Week

In this morning’s gospel reading, Mary, the sister of Lazarus, does something extravagant for Jesus, anointing the feet of Jesus with very costly ointment and then wiping them dry with her hair. This was her way of expressing gratitude to Jesus for the service he rendered to her family in raising her brother, Lazarus, to life. Whereas Judas tried to make little of her extravagant gesture, Jesus graciously received her generous outpouring of gratitude. We all have something to be grateful for. We have all been graced in some way. The ultimate source of every good gift we receive in life is the Lord. It is to him, above all, that we express our gratitude. This Holy Week we remember with gratitude how Jesus gave us the greatest gift anyone could give, the gift of his life. ‘No one has greater love than this’, said Jesus, ‘to lay down one’s life for one’s friends’. Jesus gave his life so that we may have life and have it to the full. This Holy Week we allow ourselves to be touched by that great and generous love, and like Mary in today’s gospel reading, we give expression to our gratitude in our own personal way.

And/Or

(v) Monday, Holy Week

In this morning’s gospel reading, Mary, the sister of Lazarus, anoints the feet of Jesus with very costly ointment. It was an extravagant gesture which, in the context, could be understood as an expression of love and gratitude to Jesus for restoring Lazarus to life. A very negative spin is put on Mary’s action by Judas who interprets it as a waste of good money that could have been given to the poor. Jesus, however, comes to the defence of Mary, interpreting her action as a timely anointing in preparation for his death and burial, which was imminent, and, indeed, which Judas would help to bring about. Good deeds, such as Mary’s good deed, will always be open to misinterpretation. Jesus himself is the ultimate example of someone whose good deeds were interpreted in the most negative way possible, as the works of Satan. In today’s gospel reading, it is Mary not Judas who is put before us by the evangelist for our admiration and our imitation. Like here, we too have been greatly blessed and graced by the Lord. Like her, we are called to respond to how we have been graced by giving ourselves generously to the Lord and to all that he might be asking of us, regardless of how that might be perceived by others.

And/Or

(vi) Monday of Holy Week

Much of the story of Holy Week is the story of how badly Jesus was treated. The principal characters are either actively hostile towards him or fail him miserably. Yet Holy Week begins with the story of a woman’s outpouring of love for Jesus. Jesus who, in John’s gospel, goes on to wash the feet of his disciples in water, first has his own feet anointed with costly anointment by Mary, the sister of Lazarus. Her act of love for Jesus anticipates his act of love for his disciples. In the gospel reading, Mary stands over against Judas who dismisses her gesture of love and gratitude as a waste of money. Jesus defends Mary’s costly love, recognizing it as a sign of his own costly love. One of the last questions Jesus asks in John’s gospel is, ‘Do you love me?’ which he addressed to Simon Peter. It is a question addressed to each one of us. In our struggle to answer that question with our lives, we can look towards Mary, the sister of Lazarus, for inspiration. She models for us that love for the Lord which is the only proper response to the Lord’s love for us. It is a love for the Lord which shows itself in our love for each other. That is why when Peter declared his love for Jesus, Jesus immediately directed him towards the other disciples, ‘Feed my sheep... my lambs’. We are all called to feed each other with the Lord’s love.

And/Or

(vii) Monday of Holy Week

The week during which Jesus is to suffer so much begins with an act of kindness towards him from a friend. In the previous chapter the evangelist had said that Jesus loved, Mary and Martha and Lazarus. This was a family to whom Jesus was close and who gave him hospitality and support. In thanksgiving for delivering their brother from death, the two sisters, Mary and Martha, put on a dinner for Jesus. Mary showed her appreciation of Jesus in a very dramatic way. She anointed his feet with very costly ointment and then dried them with her hair. It was a gesture Jesus greatly valued; he recognized it as an anointing in preparation for his coming death. He was being strengthened by this gesture of love and appreciation for the ordeal that faced him. Judas, in contrast, devalued Mary’s action, accusing her of wasting money that could have been given to the poor. Unlike Mary, Judas would not be a support to Jesus in his hour of need. We all need support when we are vulnerable and facing down a difficult road. Mary models for us the kind of attentive love that can be a light in someone’s darkness. We can anoint people by our attentive and caring presence at a time when things are stacked against them. The Jesus of Holy Week, the suffering Son of Man, comes to us in many guises, and it is Mary, rather than Judas, who shows us how to respond to his presence.

And/Or

(viii) Monday of Holy Week

This morning’s gospel reading describes a very extravagant action by Mary, the sister of Lazarus, whom Jesus had just raised from the dead. We are told that she anointed the feet of Jesus with a pound of very costly ointment and then wiped his feet with her hair. It was a gesture of loving appreciation for Jesus’ life-giving ministry to her family. Yet, her action was strongly criticized by Judas as a waste of money that could have been given to the poor. He interpreted what Mary did in a very negative manner. He belittled it. Jesus, in contrast, saw Mary’s action for what it was and defended her against Judas’ criticism. The same action was interpreted very differently by Judas and Jesus. We can all be prone to seeing the negative in a situation or a person, while being blind to the good that is also obviously there. This then impacts on the way that we talk about that situation or that person or that group. Jesus once spoke a parable about a field of wheat in which weeds had been sown. We are all a little bit like that field, a mixture of the good and the not so good. If we only notice and comment upon what is not so good we can be missing a whole other dimension. This morning’s gospel reading at the beginning of Holy Week invites us to see with the eyes of Jesus rather than with the eyes of Judas. It calls on us to celebrate goodness, generosity and love, wherever it is to be found, even when it is not perfect. We also need to recognize those qualities in ourselves when they are there to be seen, rather than focusing only on what is wrong in our lives.

And/Or

(ix) Monday of Holy Week

This is the beginning of Holy Week. It is the week when we contemplate the final week of Jesus’ life, which turned out to be a way of the cross, a journey through a dark valley. In the course of this week, Jesus will be shown very little love. Yet, right at the beginning of the week, according to our gospel reading, he experienced an outpouring of human love. Jesus had brought Lazarus back from death to life. In gratitude for this life-giving work, Martha, Mary and Lazarus put on a dinner in his honour. In the course of that meal, Mary expressed her loving gratitude to Jesus in her own very personal way, anointing his feet with expensive perfume and weeping them with her hair. The presence of Judas, who criticizes Mary’s action, brings the passion of Jesus very close. Yet, in this hour of darkness for Jesus, Mary’s loving action stands out as a bright light. Jesus interpreted her action as preparing him for his death and burial. She was strengthening him for the painful road that lay ahead. Her loving deed for Jesus at the beginning of the week in some way anticipates God’s own loving deed for Jesus at the end of the week when God took Jesus through death into a new life, in raising him from the dead and, thereby, raising with him all who believe in him. Mary anticipated God the Father’s loving and life-giving work on behalf of Jesus. She reminds us of our own baptismal calling to do the work of God, to bring love where there is hatred, life where there is death, light where there is darkness.

And/Or

(x) Monday of Holy Week

The gospel reading for next Thursday, Holy Thursday, is the account of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples with a basin of water and wiping them with a towel. It was an act of loving service that pointed forward to the greater act of loving service he would perform for them and for all humanity on the following day when he would lay down his life as the good Shepherd. In today’s gospel reading, Mary performs an act of loving service for Jesus that looks ahead to his act of loving service on Holy Thursday. Rather than washing the feet of Jesus with water, she anoints his feet with very costly ointment, and rather than wiping his feet with a towel she wipes then with her hair. During the following six days, Jesus would be treated with total disrespect; he would be made to suffer the most ignominious death imaginable by crucifixion. However, at this meal, Jesus is shown a tender love and respect by Mary, the sister of Lazarus. Jesus interprets her gesture as preparing him, strengthening him, for what lies ahead. Mary was anointing him in advance of his death and burial. As Jesus entered his darkest hour, a ray of light shone through Mary. This woman inspires us to become a ray of light in whatever darkness others may be experiencing. Whenever we do something, no matter how small, to support those who are walking through their own valley of darkness, it is the Lord that we are serving.

And/Or

(xi) Monday of Holy Week

The story of Holy Week begins with the lovely scene in today’s gospel reading. In a week when so many men let Jesus down or, worse, inflict terrible violence on him, a woman, Mary, the sister of Lazarus, shows him great respect and love. Jesus would go on to wash the feet of his disciples. Mary goes even further. She anoints the feet of Jesus with very costly ointment and wipes them with her hair, and the scent of her ointment filled the whole house. The love Jesus would show his disciples, she shows to him. To that extent, she is very much a Jesus figure. She is a beacon of light at the beginning of a very dark week for Jesus. Even though Jesus gave himself in love to others, he experienced deadly hostility from some. In a similar way, Mary’s act of extravagant love for Jesus was met with hostility by one person in particular, Judas Iscariot. Judas saw Mary’s gesture as a waste of money that could have been given to the poor. Jesus, however, saw it differently. He experienced Mary’s gesture as an anointing to strengthen him for his passion and death that was imminent, ‘she had to keep this scent for the day of my burial’. The scent that Mary’s gesture created was the tangible expression of her faith in Jesus and her love of him, even in the face of hostility. We can learn from Mary to remain faithful and loving, even when the expression of our faith and love is misunderstood and criticized. Saint Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians, says, ‘we are the aroma of Christ to God’. Like Mary, the sister of Lazarus, we are to convey something of the aroma, the scent, of Christ, by our faith in Jesus and the love of others that flows from our faith.

And/Or

(xii) Monday of Holy Week

In today’s gospel reading, Mary, the sister of Lazarus, anoints the feet of Jesus. A few days later, Jesus will wash the feet of his disciples. Mary’s service of Jesus, anointing his feet, anticipates the way that Jesus will serve his disciples at the last supper. Mary’s service of Jesus was her grateful and loving response to Jesus’ act of raising her brother Lazarus from the dead. She experienced the Lord’s service of her family in a very personal way, and, now she serves the Lord in return. Having received something precious from the Lord, the gift of life for her beloved brother, she now wants to give something precious back to the Lord. Her gift was precious in financial terms. Judas declares that it was worth three hundred denarii, which was a lot of money at that time. Jesus appreciated Mary’s gift not so much for its financial value, but because of its timely quality. Jesus was just about to enter into his passion and death, and Mary anointed Jesus to strengthen him for this ordeal that lay ahead. As Jesus declares in the gospel reading, ‘she had to keep this scent for the day of my burial’. Mary’s gesture of loving service was a response to Jesus’ loving service of her family and it strengthened him for his loving service of all humanity that lay ahead, which would cost him his life. The action of Mary portrays what is at the heart of our life as followers of Jesus. Like her, we too have been graced by Jesus’ loving service of us and, like her, we seek to give back to the Lord from what we have received from him. Our lives, in that sense, are to be an act of loving service of the Lord, in gratitude for his service of us.

And/Or

(xiii) Monday of Holy Week

In today’s first reading, God, speaking through the prophet Isaiah, identifies his servant as one who brings true justice to the nations and in doing so does not break the crushed reed, nor quench the wavering flame. The early church recognized in Jesus the realization of this portrayal of God’s servant. Jesus came to bring God’s justice, the justice of the kingdom of God, to all nations. In doing so he did not break the crushed reed nor quench the wavering flame. He was attentive to the vulnerable, the weak, the lost, the isolated, the rejected, the various crushed reeds and wavering flames of his time and place. The Lord is attentive to all of us now who feel vulnerable and weak, lost and isolated, as we struggle with the consequences of this virus. He invites us to be attentive to him who is attentive to us, opening our hearts to his presence with us. During the last week of his life, the week in which he endured his passion and death, Jesus himself became a crushed reed and a wavering flame. The scene in today’s gospel reading is placed six days before the Passover, the Jewish feast in the course of which Jesus would be crucified. It is the beginning of the last week of Jesus’ life, during which he becomes the crushed reed and the wavering flame. Many people in the course of that week will be intent on breaking this crushed reed and quenching this wavering flame. Some of these are mentioned in our gospel reading, Judas who would betray Jesus, the chief priests who would hand him over to Pilate. Yet, the scene is dominated by a woman who displays an outpouring of tender love towards this now vulnerable human being, anointing his feet with ointment and drying them with her hair. At the beginning of a week when Jesus will suffer from the worst instincts of the human spirit, he experiences an outpouring of gratitude and tender loving care from a woman. She serves Jesus, as Jesus would go on to serve his disciples by washing their feet. In her own way, she gives expression to the portrayal of the servant in the first reading. She exemplifies the tender loving care that is so much in evidence in these anxious times and which stand out as a light in the darkness. She shows us what it means to love others as Jesus has loved us.

And/Or

(xiv) Monday of Holy Week

We are at the beginning of Holy Week. According to today’s gospel reading, at the beginning of the last week of Jesus’ life, which was to end so brutally, he experienced the hospitality and the loving care of friends. Jesus had brought light and joy into the darkness and sadness of this family by raising Lazarus from the dead. Now they wanted to express their gratitude to him by hosting a meal for him. One member of the family, Mary, went further, performing an act of extravagant generosity that displayed sensitivity and tenderness towards Jesus. Jesus interpreted Mary’s action as an anointing in preparation for his coming death. She was strengthening him for the journey ahead. At this meal, over against Mary’s generous act stood Judas who would betray Jesus to death and who objected to Mary’s deed as a waste of money. Judas is portrayed as a hypocrite, complaining about a waste of money while helping himself to money from the common fund that was to serve the needs of Jesus and the group of disciples. We are invited to identify with Mary in today’s gospel reading. Like her, we have been greatly blessed by the Lord. He died and rose from the dead so that we may have life to the full. He came among us full of grace and truth and from his fullness we have all received. Mary encourages us to give back to the Lord from all he has given to us. We can do this by serving the Lord in all who are vulnerable and in need, just as Mary served the vulnerable and needy Jesus on this occasion. The Lord comes to us in what the first reading calls the crushed reeds and wavering flames of our day, those who are longing for the kind of tender and sensitive love that Mary showed to Jesus. As Jesus says in the gospel reading, ‘you have the poor with you always’.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[catolinewsdailyreadings]

Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus

Readings of Friday, July 29, 2022

Reading 1

Jer 26:1-9

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah, this message came from the LORD:  Thus says the LORD: Stand in the court of the house of the LORD and speak to the people of all the cities of Judah who come to worship in the house of the LORD; whatever I command you, tell them, and omit nothing. Perhaps they will listen and turn back, each from his evil way, so that I may repent of the evil I have planned to inflict upon them for their evil deeds. Say to them:  Thus says the LORD: If you disobey me, not living according to the law I placed before you and not listening to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I send you constantly though you do not obey them, I will treat this house like Shiloh, and make this the city to which all the nations of the earth shall refer when cursing another.

Now the priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah speak these words in the house of the LORD. When Jeremiah finished speaking all that the LORD bade him speak to all the people, the priests and prophets laid hold of him, crying, “You must be put to death! Why do you prophesy in the name of the LORD: ‘This house shall be like Shiloh,’ and ‘This city shall be desolate and deserted’?” And all the people gathered about Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 69:5, 8-10, 14

R./ Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Those outnumber the hairs of my head who hate me without cause. Too many for my strength are they who wrongfully are my enemies. Must I restore what I did not steal? R./ Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Since for your sake I bear insult, and shame covers my face. I have become an outcast to my brothers, a stranger to my mother’s sons, Because zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me. R./ Lord, in your great love, answer me.

But I pray to you, O LORD, for the time of your favor, O God! In your great kindness answer me with your constant help. R./ Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Gospel

Jn 11:19-27

Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother [Lazarus, who had died]. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”