The resurrection of Lazarus is doubtless one of the most striking miracles by which Jesus chose to prove his divinity; performed in the neighborhood of Jerusalem in favor of a wealthy and well-known person, four days in the grave; and in the presence of distinguished citizens.
Let us consider the message sent to Jesus as soon as Martha and Mary became aware of their brother’s serious illness: “Lord, he whom you love is sick.” (Jn 11:3)
We learn here that in all our afflictions we should promptly resort to God, and not wait till all human means are exhausted. Also, that we need not set many motives in our petitions for God’s assistance.
St Augustine calls the message of Martha and Mary a model prayer. “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorifed by it.” (Jn 11:4)
Such was our gracious Lord’s sole answer to the message of his friends. Later on he said to his disciples, “Lazarus our friend sleeps” (Jn 11:11).
Those who heard these mysterious words naturally concluded that the state of the sick man did not alarm Jesus. But what could the sisters have thought as they watched their dying brother, after having implored our Lord’s aid with such confidence? It was enough to test their faith and resignation; but they never murmured.
Even Mary’s words when she saw Jesus showed that her faith in him remained: “Lord, if you were here, my brother would not have died.” (Jn 11:32)
Where are our faith and resignation when, after having prayed long and earnestly, our petition is still denied? Do we yield to thoughts that hurt God or at least to impatience?
Discouraged, we tell ourselves what others say aloud, ‘What is the use of prayer?’ St John tells us Jesus loved Martha and her sister Mary, and Lazarus. Although he intended to give proof of his affection by a great miracle, it was our Lord’s will to test them through affliction.
Thus he permitted Lazarus to die, seemingly regardless of the sisters’ grief. He remained three days where he was, then took two days in crossing the Jordan and reached Bethany four days after Lazarus had died.
This is how our Lord deals with his chosen ones. If we face many and bitter trials, conclude therefrom that he loves us. He is preparing for us superabundant happiness and glory. Take courage from the thought.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp716-8
Fruits of humility
This virtue makes us realize that everything good we possess comes from God, both in orders of nature and of grace. Our contribution is weak and erroneous.
Humility has nothing to do with timidity. The humble soul rests in the hands of God; is thus filled with joy and thanksgiving.
The saints were magnanimous people who had done impressive tasks for God’s glory. The humble person is daring because he relies on the grace of Almighty God.
He prays all the time, convinced of his radical dependence on God; constantly grateful. He seems to have a gift for making friends and doing apostolate.
Inasmuch as humility is the foundation for all the virtues, it is especially the foundation for the virtue of charity. By forgetting ourselves, we will be concerned with the welfare of others.
“Humility and charity are the principal virtues. They act as mother hens while the other virtues follow them like little chicks.” (St Francis de Sales, “Letters”, fragment 17)
Conversely, pride is the “mother and root” of every sin, including mortal sin. (St Thomas, “Summa Theologiae”, 2-2, q. 162, a. 7-8) Pride is the greatest single obstacle to the action of divine grace.
Pride and sadness often walk-in-hand. (cf Cassian, “Conferences”, 16) Joy is part of the patrimony of the humble soul.
“Let us turn our eyes towards Mary. No creature ever surrendered herself to the plans of God more humbly than she. The humility of the ‘handmaid of the Lord’ (Lk 1:38) is the reason we invoke her as ‘cause of our joy’.
After Eve had sinned by her foolish desire to be equal to God, she hid herself from the Lord and was ashamed: she was sad. Mary, in confessing herself the handmaid of the Lord, becomes the Mother of the divine Word, and is filled with joy.
“May the rejoicing that is hers, the joy of our good Mother, spread to all of us, so that with it we may greet her, our Holy Mother Mary, and become more like Christ, her Son.” (cf St Josemaria Escrivá, “Friends of God”, 109)
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 5:360-1
The enemy is pride
What is it that impedes this humility, this ‘true godliness’? It is pride, the capital sin that leads to ‘false godliness’.
Pride encourages one, even perhaps in very trivial matters, to follow the subtle prompting which Satan made to our first parents: “your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen 3:5).
Elsewhere in the Scriptures we read that “the beginning of the pride of man is to draw away from God” (Ecclesiasticus 10:14). Indeed this vice, once it has taken root, infects a man’s entire way of life, until it becomes what St John calls “the pride of life” (1 Jn 2:16).
Pride? About what? Sacred Scripture finds both tragic and comic expressions to stigmatise pride: “Why are you so proud, you who are but dust and ashes? Even in life, you are vomiting your entrails. A slight illness: the doctor smiles. The king that reigns today will be dead tomorrow.” (cf Ecclesiasticus 10:9, 11-2)
When pride takes hold of a soul, it is no surprise to find it bringing along a whole string of other vices: greed, self-indulgence, envy, injustice. The proud man is always vainly striving to dethrone God, who is merciful to all his creatures, so as to make room for himself and his ever cruel ways.
We should beg God not to let us fall into this temptation. Pride is the worst sin of all, and the most ridiculous. If, with its multiple delusions, it manages to get a hold, the unfortunate victim begins to build up a facade, to fill himself with emptiness, and becomes conceited like the toad in the fable.
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 5:99, 100
• Our Lady of the Grotto, in the diocese of Lamego, in Portugal. This chapel was cut in the rock, in the same place where an image of the Blessed Virgin had been found. — Vasconcellius, in Descriptio regui Lusitan. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of the Grotto. Lamego, Portugal. In colonial Brazil. In The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, ch. 21. ... Also the name of a 15th-century church in Malta, in which a statue of Mary was recently reported to be weeping red tears; the alleged event was declared false by the Vatican. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady of the Grotto (diocese of Lamego, Portugal). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Our Lady of the Grotto, Lamego, Portugal. (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• Our Lady of the Grotto (Tre Fontane, Italy, 1947). (http://mariedenazareth.com)
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