Reflection: Jesus wept...

Have you suffered a loss?  Have you lost a friend or loved one? Ask Jesus to come with you and go back to that time of loss. Ask Jesus to hold you as you feel the pain. Jesus will weep with you and He will heal you. When you allow Jesus to accompany you into the pain, He will bring goodness and light out of your pain and suffering. When you turn to Him in your loss, He will show you the Glory of God.

So the sisters Martha and Mary sent word about Lazarus to Jesus saying,  “Master, the one you love is ill.” When Jesus heard this He said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”  John 11:3-4

When His friend Lazarus died, Jesus wept. Jesus was Divine and fully human. Martha and Mary were heartbroken.  Martha spoke to Jesus from her heart when He arrived four days after Lazarus died. She asked Jesus why he did not come when Lazarus was ill.  Have you ever been angry with Jesus, asking Him why something bad happened? Where was He? Talk to Jesus about how you felt.  Ask Him where He was.  He will show you He was with you and He is with you now.

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.  When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went 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 said, “I know he will rise, 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 to him, “Yes, Lord.  I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”  He became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?”  They said to him, “Sir, come and see.”  And Jesus wept. John 11:17-35

Jesus needed friends and He loved his friend Lazarus and his sisters, Martha and Mary.  Jesus showed us how we need friends to walk with us on our pilgrimage of life.  Do you have friends to share your joys and sorrows with?  If not, ask Jesus to send you trustworthy friends and thank Him when they come into your life.

Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter: whoever finds one has found a treasure.  Faithful friends are beyond price; no amount can balance their worth.  Faithful friends are life-saving medicine; and those who fear the Lord will find them.  Sirach 6:14-16

The saints are our friends. God has given us the Communion of Saints to pray to and to intercede for us.  Saint Irenaeus, Father of the Church, is a friend of this prayer ministry. He wrote five books titled, Against Heresies, to rebuke the heresies that were harming the early church. He wrote about the Glory of God. "The glory of God is man fully alive, and the life of man is the vision of God. If the revelation of God through creation already brings life to all living beings on the earth, how much more will the manifestation of the Father by the Word bring life to those who see God."  

Jesus allowed His friend Lazarus to die so that he could be raised from the dead. Jesus performed this miracle so that people would come to believe. In this way, Jesus showed God's glory.  Jesus is our friend. When we experience sadness and loss, Jesus is with us. Offer your suffering to Him.  Jesus will use your suffering for God's Glory. Jesus will give you faithful friends to help you along the way. Turn to Jesus and trust in Him in all things. Jesus will never abandon you. He knows the pain of being abandoned by His friends and He knows the joy of true friendship.

Jesus is with us always. Turn to Him.  He will perform miracles in your midst. He gave His Blessed Mother Mary to accompany us and to intercede for us. She is our Mother and she always walks with us. She knows sorrow and suffering.  She loves us and holds us under her beautiful mantle of protection and peace.

I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from My Father. John 15:15