Prayer Prompt before reading JN 11:1-45: Come, Holy Spirit, teach me how to pray well, interpret the Scriptures for me so that I may know the Truth about who God the Father is and God the Son so that I may know who I am.
“And Jesus Wept.” JN 11:35
Humbly submit your will to God (Thy Will be done) and consecrate yourself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through Mary and Joseph.
Today, John the Evangelist, gives us the last sign, the rising of Jesus’s good friend Lazarus. This sign is God’s redemptive plan for our fallen bodies. We are made of body, soul and Spirit. As I pray, I think about the meaning of the Resurrection. Jesus is showing us today what will happen to dead bodies. They will be raised. This is a very difficult and radical belief. We have all been to a funeral or a graveyard. I don’t see any bodies being raised from the dead, so it is hard to wrap our minds around.
In wrestling with God on this question, He first led me to Peter Kreeft’s book, “Everything You Wanted to Know About Heaven”. Then, I was led to “Heaven, the Heart’s Deepest Longing”. God was telling me that I must live with the end in mind. I needed to know what this great reward was that I was fighting for. This greatly motivated me and increased my faith. Two of the greatest insights I learned was there is a big difference between good and holy and there is only one game in town God vs. Satan and it is happening inside of us.
God then led me to Carl Olsen who wrote “Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead”. I stumbled upon Fr. Spitzer and his work with the Shroud of Turin. All of the scientific data and research with new technology that has proven this Man is rising through this burial cloth and it is from the time of Jesus.
Fr. Spitzer led me to look up near death experiences (NDE), especially of the blind. God then sent me Dr. Eben Alexander’s book, “Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife”. Mrs. Carter and Mrs. Bird bought me this book from the Scholastic Book Fair a long time ago and now God was teaching me even more about what my soul was searching for.
I am interested to see what I find next because this is our destiny. Jesus requires us to believe in His resurrection and the resurrection of our bodies or we have no faith. The research I have done in wresting with God on this question has increased by faith, lessened my worry and anxiety of judgment day and my fears of death. Sr. Mary Francesca says, “We live to die”. The hardest death is dying to self, not physical death says Peter Kreeft. This means we give our life to God and do His will each day instead of whatever we want. It means killing our pride and ego.
In reflecting on the Gospels daily, I have wrestled with God on the most important questions of life and death. I still fear death and judgment day some. I don’t think I would be human or have a fallen human nature if I didn’t, but I worry a lot less about it. I know where to go if I fall into sin, but most importantly through prayer and reading the Gospels I have learned how to trust. My consecration to Jesus through Mary and daily rosary have impacted my life and faith beyond human reasoning.
So, today Jesus gives us the last sign in John’s Gospel. Since Jesus rose from the dead He changed everything about how humans and the world function in 3 fundamental ways according to Bishop Barron’s teaching on the resurrection. https://www.wordonfire.org/resources/article/the-disturbing-fact-of-the-resurrection/5119/
First, this life is not the final horizon. We are created for an afterlife that goes on for eternity. We are all pilgrims on a journey according to Matthew Kelly. I suggest you start reading about it and how to get there. We are earthly creatures with a heavenly homeland. Jesus shares plenty about what the Kingdom of Heaven is like and how to get there.
Second, the tyrants rule is over. There is no human on earth more powerful than God. Jesus is the King of the Universe. Is He King of your universe? God’s love is the most powerful thing in the world. Take time to wrestle with God on this one.
Third, Jesus opened up the Spiritual world for everyone. The chasm that could not be crossed due to Adam and Eve’s Fall now has a bridge to cross if you choose it. God, the Father, made room for glorified bodies in heaven. Jesus has won hope for the hopeless. The resurrection is about hope. Do you have it? Jesus has opened a place where He can bring everyone together in communion. Jesus gave us a way to get back to the Father.
THE FATHER’S GREATEST DESIRE IS OUR FRIENDSHIP!!!! All of this is about one important friendship. He sent his only Son to die for it. He put His Spirit in you to guide you to the Truth and back to him for all eternity. Satan is doing everything he can to snatch this all away! You matter and what you choose matters significantly!
Last, Christianity is the only religion in the world with a past, present, and future. If there is no God and there is no resurrection, what is the point of living?
Today’s challenge: Wrestle with this radical belief that only one religion in the world believes following this one Man who died and rose from the dead. Then, pray and ask Jesus for the grace to believe.
Be a servant, become a saint!
#Christian YODO (You Only Die Once; we will live again!)
Recent Comments