Gospel

Either: John 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.”

Reflection

Jesus had raised other people from the dead, but there was something about his raising of Lazarus that had a tremendous impact on people. He had been in the tomb three days. His body was decaying, and he came into the lives of these two women, Mary and Martha, and promised that he would do what he's always said he would do.

And that is not allowed death to separate someone from us, from God, from themselves. It was powerful, and he wanted so much before he died to get people to believe in him. And there's something in this story when you follow it all the way through, that he really was deeply worried and concerned and perturbed that they yet did not believe. But

Martha makes it clear. It's a process, they're coming to believe.

Closing Prayer

Father, you've made so many promises to us. And we want to believe them with all our heart. And we can say in our head we believe, we believe, and yet we still doubt. We still fear. Help us in this process. Give us patience, knowing that this is the human condition and we will always be growing and changing and becoming more and more like you. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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