On Sundays, Night Prayer will focus on an element from the day's celebration of Mass. Tonight we'll pray from the day's gospel:
Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill.
So the sisters sent word to Jesus saying, “Master, the one you love is ill.” When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death: it is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, but when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he remained in the place where he was for two days. Then, after this, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea. Our friend Lazarus is asleep - but I am going to awaken him.” But the disciples said to him, “Lord, if he’s asleep, he’ll be saved.” But Jesus was talking about his Lazarus’ death, while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep. So then Jesus said to them clearly, “Lazarus has died. And I am glad for your sake that I wasn’t there, so that you may believe. Let’s go to him.”When Jesus finally arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away. And many people had come out to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him; but Mary sat at home.
Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here -- my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God -- God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha replied, “I know he will rise, Lord - in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”
When Martha had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying, “The teacher is here and is asking for you.” As soon as Mary heard this, she rose quickly and went out to him, for Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still where Martha had met him. Now, when those who were with her in the house, comforting her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her weeping and the people who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said, “Sir, come and see.” And Jesus wept. So the people said, “See how he loved him.” But some of them said, “Couldn’t he who opened the eyes of that blind man have done something so that Lazarus wouldn’t have died?”
Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, said, “Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days.” Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe - you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.” And having said this, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.”
Now many of those who had come to Mary and seen what Jesus had done began to believe in him.
Night Prayer
 |
| Jesus Wept by Dr. Linda Rozelle-Shannon |
Jesus Cries by Riley Clemmons
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please THINK before you write
and PRAY before you think!