Fifth Sunday in Lent
Dear Parishioner,
The raising of Lazarus is often called Jesus’ greatest miracle. Jesus weeps at his friend’s tomb. He feels challenged by the words of Martha and Mary who lament the fact that he has arrived too late to heal his good friend.
I reflect on this gospel and I see the humanness of Jesus. He was limited by time and space. He could not be in all the spots he needed to be to help all the individuals that needed help. Jesus was all powerful in one sense and restricted by many constraints as well. He reflects the dilemma of all those who are in ministry.
There are two choices that a pastoral minister can make. One is to just say that it is impossible to do all the things that need to be done from visiting the sick, to educating the young, to leading all the prayers. What one can do is not even try. If we neglect all things saying it is impossible we absolve ourselves of responsibility.
The other choice is to take each situation as we can. We do what we can, meeting the needs of those who are in the most desperate need. We do not give up. “We do what we can, where we are at, with what we have.” As Pope Francis has often said the church is like a field hospital trying to treat those who are in the most acute need.
Jesus wept in frustration and sorrow. But his love for his friend brought Lazarus out of the grave. We must never give up on our charity. If Christians give up what hope is there for the world? We must do what we can trusting that God will take care of the rest.
Blessings,
Fr. Mark
P.S. Thank you to three parishioners who donated towards our new John Deere mower. We now can go ahead and purchase the lawn mower for the garden committee. This will be a 0 turn mower so mowing should take less time and be more economical.
P.S.S. Thank you to all those who donated blood. We got between 30 to 40 units and there was steady traffic on the 25th. This is a great act of compassion towards those who are sick. The Foresters are to be commended for leading the effort on this.