I am the Resurrection and the Life

Martha whom we honor today, is described in the Gospel of Luke as asking Jesus " Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving" Jesus replies "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things" On reflection of this passage I can certainly parallel this to my own life.There are the times that I place the burdens (work, home, family) and the anxiety they bring over my relationship with Jesus. In keeping up with this week's reflection on St. Ignatius and his spirituality, I would like to discuss the significance of Scripture meditation and contemplation in Ignatian Spirituality. In the Spiritual Exercises there is a great deal of time contemplating Christ through way of the scriptures. On the first day of the third week the instructions read: The first Prelude is to bring to memory the narrative; which is here how Christ our Lord sent two Disciples from Bethany to Jerusalem to prepare the Supper, and then He Himself went there with the other Disciples; and how, after having eaten the Paschal Lamb, and having supped, He washed their feet and gave His most Holy Body and Precious
Blood to His Disciples, and made them a discourse, after Judas went to sell his Lord.
The second, a composition, seeing the place. It will be here to consider the road from Bethany to Jerusalem, whether broad, whether narrow, whether level, etc.; likewise the place of the Supper, whether large, whether small, whether of one kind or whether of another.
The third, to ask for what I want. It will be here grief, feeling and confusion because for my sins the Lord is going to the Passion.
You can see that in the contemplation of the Scriptures it is imperative to see the persons, hear the words, and observe the actions. Placing oneself in the narrative. I will write here my thoughts over contemplating John's Gospel account of the Raising of Lazarus in Chapter 11

So the sisters sent word to him, 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."Jesus demonstrates that even in a terrible situation, the death of a friend that our life is about giving glory to God the Father.

So the disciples said to him, "Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved."But Jesus was talking about his death, while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep. So then Jesus said to them clearly, "Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him." Jesus is saying to me that He is glad to help me in my faith journey so I too will believe.

When Jesus arrives, Martha who in the above account from Luke is worrisome, has learned her lesson and comes out to greet Jesus while Mary stays behind. I too can learn from Martha what are truly the important things.

In the discourse that follows you can almost detect Jesus seeing just where Martha is in her journey and likewise Martha is cautious in her responses. 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 to him, "I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day. How many times has my faith been lacking asking Jesus "if only you had done this or that"

Jesus then announce what the Truth is "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?" My answer is yes Lord I do believe, for in You is my Hope & my Salvation.

In this meditation and contemplation one can go very deep into Scriptures discovering truths about God, man and ourselves , even mystical revelations. St. Ignatius gave us a wonderful gift in learning to pray with the Scriptures. God Bless