Always Connected

This year on the Feast of All Saints' we here the gospel account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.

First his sisters, Martha and Mary confront Jesus - "Lord, if you had been here our brother would not have died." Mary weeps. Martha talks more. Jesus weeps. Some of the bystanders are moved by Jesus' tears, "See how he loved him!" But others still look for someone to blame, "Why can't Jesus fix this!"

In times of anxiety, in times when we feel pressure from the crowds, in times when we are struggling to "fix" what is wrong and put an end to what is hurting, we can try and practice what Jesus does in this moment.

Acceptance - Jesus is present to what is happening.

Listening - Jesus listens to Martha, Mary and the crowd.

Awareness - Jesus allows himself to feel

Prayer - Jesus prays. Jesus prays aloud to remind all of us that he lives fully trusting that he is always connected to God, God is always listening.

Jesus then does what he is called to do through God. He brings Lazarus back to life and the people are told, "Unbind him and let him go."

God points us to life, in relationship with others we learn how to live freely. We can't do it alone. We are always connected to God - do we trust that, do we live that way? We are always called to life - what are the "dead" parts of ourselves, our relationships? We are always connected to each other - what saints can you call upon, the ones who have gone before or the ones among us to help unbind you and lead you to life?

You can listen to the preached sermon here: