Lenten Gospel Reflections: 13 April 2014 ~ Passion/Palm Sunday

Behold, the hour is at hand...” ~Matthew 26:45

During the last 24 hours of his physical life on earth Jesus had many experiences and he encountered many different people. Likewise we too will meet a lot of people and do a lot of things this coming week.

As we enter Holy Week ask yourself, “Where will I meet Christ this week? Will I encounter Christ at a quiet reflective dinner with friends, or will I meet him when a close friend or coworker betrays my trust? Perhaps I will meet Christ while praying in a quiet garden, or some other contemplative place; or perhaps when I am confronted by angry, judgmental people. 

Will I encounter Christ when I am judged by others; because of my race, nationality, religion, age, sexual orientation, opinions, physical appearance or even the way I dress. Will I realize Christ’s presence whether people are cheering me or jeering me. Will I meet Christ in the friend who tells me what I don’t want to hear, but need to hear? Or, will I hope to find Christ in the person who only tells me what I want to hear for their own personal benefit.

Will I find him when I am with my family and friends or when I am abandoned by all of them?

At the end of the week will I drag my cross laden with problems, resentments, disappointments, failures,        personal tragedies, shame and unhappiness to the top of a hill finding the only person there willing to help is Christ? In that encounter, he will smile and say, “Let me take that from you. I can handle it”.

Blessed Holy Week.

© 2011 James E. Carper.  All rights reserved.

Lenten Gospel Reflections ~ 6 April 2014: The Raising of Lazarus ~ John 11: 1-45

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ~John 11:21

How often in our lives do we ask, “God, where were you? Why weren’t you here for me? Why did you let this happen?” Mary’s statement contains this question, “Where were you; if you had only been here this would not have happened?”

Like it or not most of us think we can “manage” our lives. We convince ourselves that everything will be OK provided we organize everything and control the outcome. Technology has provided us with a plethora of gadgets to help us along the way. We are wired in and electronically organized against any and all possible scenarios. Somehow it all gives us a false sense of security.

And yet, the unexpected, like death, still comes. As a hospice nurse once said to me, “only in America do we think death is an option.” It is only when things go wrong that we turn to God and ask: Why? Or perhaps why me?

As stewards of the 24 hours God gave us today we realize “time management” is an oxymoron. We can’t manage time.  We can only make decisions about what we will do with the time we are given. Regardless of how we choose to spend it, Jesus is always with us.

After he is raised from the dead Lazarus is released from his “burial bands”. We too are bound with the bands of worry, frustration and fear. Worry, frustration and fear from which our electronic calendars and organizers can’t protect us. During this Lenten season we have the opportunity to die to ourselves and rise to Christ. In so doing, we too will be released from our bands of worry, frustration and fear.

In this story of the resurrection of Lazarus Jesus, who himself suffers physical death shortly thereafter, seems to say, “Don’t worry, I am always here, even when it seems I’m not; even in the face of death.”

© 2011 James E. Carper.  All rights reserved.