Sunday Meditation: Jesus wept over Lazarus to call us to repentance

"Lazarus, come out!" Painting by Duccio di Buoninsegna

Magnificat has an interesting meditation today about Jesus' mercy to Lazarus, a selection from the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas. It relates St. Augustine's belief that the the four days in the tomb represent the "fourfold spiritual death of the sinner." The four deaths include 1) death through original sin which actually brought physical death into the world, 2) death through actual sin against the natural law - something we see big-time in our own culture of death where mothers kill their own children and those enslaved by their own lust sin against their own bodies and those of others, 3) death through actual sin against the written law of God in the Ten Commandments, and 4) actual sin "against  the law of the Gospel and of grace." Think of how often we fail to listen to God's admonitions in the Sermon on the mount when Jesus says, "You have heard it said....but I tell you" when He expands the Mosaic law to embrace a more all-encompassing love that refuses to "look at another in lust" or even to "become angry with your brother."

Sunday Meditation: Parables of Lent -- Dives and Lazarus

The Raising of Lazarus by Sebastiano del Piombo

Jesus captured the imaginations of his listeners with stories. And how compelling those stories are! This week at daily Mass we heard about the rich man Dives and the poor man Lazarus at his gate sitting there wishing he could eat the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. One aspect of the story always strikes me hard.

Did Jesus pick the name Lazarus for the poor man by accident? Hardly! Did He do anything by accident? Just think of the conversation between Dives and Father Abraham. "Send Lazarus to my brothers to warn them so they won't end up in this place." Abraham responds, "They have Moses and the prophets." Dives is convinced that isn't enough. They'll repent if someone comes back from the dead. And how does Abraham respond? "If they won't listen to Moses and the prophets, they won't believe  EVEN IF SOMEONE RISES FROM THE DEAD! 

How many times did Jesus tell this story? No doubt more than once as he traveled around Judea. And how long was it after He told the story before He raised the dead Lazarus from the tomb? Think of it.