Collect for 5th Sunday Lent- Raising of Lazarus.

COLLECT SERIES

The Mass: Collect Series Icon.

 COLLECT

By Your help, we beseech You Lord our God,

May we walk eagerly in that same charity

 with which, out of love for the world,

Your Son handed Himself over to death.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,

who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God for ever and ever.

 REFLECTION QUESTIONS

In making this prayer tangible for during the week, the following reflection questions emerged:

1.    1. How can I contemplate the love of Jesus by dying on the cross?
2.    How far does my love go? Does it have conditions/demands attached to it?
3.    How can I let go of any conditions/demands that my love might have this coming week?
What can I do to let go?
4.    How will I extend my love to replicate in some way the love of Jesus this coming week?

 GOSPEL REFLECTION.

In the first reading we hear (through live streamed Mass) and/or read the story of Lazarus who died and whose death and raising to life ended up being the final straw for the pharisees who decided that Jesus must go. 

The important thing to remember is that Jesus is the first person to be risen from the dead, not Lazarus, since Jesus is the first in all things.  Why do the Church teach this?  Lazarus, although Jesus did bring him back to life had to die again like any other human being.

However, there are some interesting points of the story which we should note.

1.    When Jesus first hears that Lazarus is ill, He did not go to him straightaway. This does not mean Jesus did not care. He showed His disciples to face the fear of going to Jerusalem and with Martha and Mary to stir their faith.

2.    Both Martha and Mary in their own way let Jesus know that if He had been there, Lazarus would not have died. In other words, they knew Jesus could have healed him.  Yet they did not know what He would do that was far greater.  We too have our dreams/goals/desires and Jesus does not mind if we, like Martha and Mary tell Him how we feel. After all Martha and Mary were disappointed with Jesus. They had sent the message 2 days before and yet Jesus waited. We too have to share our dreams, desires and hopes with Jesus. Sometimes we too have to wait for God’s time not our own. It can be a hard lesson because we often need it now. God’s timing is always perfect even if we do not have enough faith to believe. Martha and Mary believed in Jesus but they were not backward in coming forward in sharing their disappointment with Him.

3.    From the raising of Lazarus, a greater good came to pass.  From the waiting until he had died and bringing him back to life, many more people came to believe in Him and also, the trigger for His own death was finally put into place as a result.

In this current epidemic, we earnestly ask God for a cure, for and end to the crisis. Yes, we should do this. It is urgent. Yet, we do not know what good God will bring from it. Some people have already died and many grieve for them. We pray for their salvation of their souls.   However, let us also have faith in God that He will bring good from this epidemic- bringing the world to its knees- 

• ·        has it made you rethink your priorities- what is really important in your life? 
• ·         Has it made you love Jesus more and long for Him now that we cannot attend Mass in person and receive Him sacramentally?
• ·         Has it caused you to pray more for the world- for one another?

I am not suggesting that having this epidemic is a great thing. No, it has brought so much suffering.  However, let us also remember it brings with it many blessings in different forms if we look out for it.

 It has the potential to restore our dry bones and help us to live again.  I encourage you to look for the blessings. I have started a blessing book where I note down the blessings, I have received each day through this lock down. It has certainly helped me to

• ·         refocus on prayer,
• ·          value the Mass even more and to long for Jesus to receive Him sacramentally.
• ·       think of times I received Jesus and took communion for granted- made little thanksgiving or a poor thanksgiving for such a great gift.
• ·         understand the value of a spiritual communion.
• ·         think of times when I could have gone to Mass during the week and chose to watch TV instead. 
• ·         to open my bible more regularly and take time to dwell on God’s word.
• ·         Appreciate the gift of the Sacrament of reconciliation.
• ·         Stir my faith and say yes- I am not going to let my faith die during this crisis.
• ·         Appreciated the gift of my parish community.

What has the lockdown done for you so far?  What blessings have you received from God?  

How has Jesus raised you to life through this experience?