Monday, April 3, 2023

He is calling for us

(Side chapel where the skull of Lazarus rests, in the Cathedral of St. Mary Major, Marseilles, France)

I read once that Our Lord knew that by raising His friend Lazarus from the dead, at the request of Martha and Mary, that He was signing His own death warrant. He knew, in His Eternal Wisdom, that this very public undeniable miracle would push the angry, resentful Pharisees over the edge and precipitate them into directly seeking His crucifixion. Yet He did it anyway. What an act of friendship!

Martha and Mary Magdalene were mourning the loss of their sweet brother Lazarus, and Our Lord came to visit. Martha saw Him first and ran to greet Him. Then she came back and told her sister that He desired her to come too. Here are some words of encouragement for us today, reminding us that Our Lord calls for us every day, in many different ways.

"What must have been the joy of St. [Mary] Magdalen when her sister came and said secretly to her: 'The Master is here and calls you!' 

"We have nothing to envy the blessed [penitent]: at every moment messengers come to tell us, in secret, on the part of Our Lord: 'The Master is here and calls you!' Every creature of God fulfills this good office towards us; on each one He left His divine mark, not only when He created it, but also when He repaired it as God-Man, by the use He made of it and the blessing He gave it, for 'The Father hath given all things into His Hands.' He gave back to them the capacity which they had since the beginning of the world, of leading us to God."

~ Lieutenant-Colonel M. de S. "Draw Near to Jesus: Turn to His Heart" (imprimatur 1923).

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