98. Fifth Sunday of Lent

Meditations no. 144 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Vocation is a grace from God which we have to guard well.

If God did not love sinners, he would not have come down to earth from heaven. He loves us so much that he never ceases doing us good, even when we do not respond. He showers his graces upon us repeatedly with divine persistence. I will open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you home into the land of Israel; and you shall know that I am the Lord when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live.

God is determined to sanctify his children. He gives them his constant protection; and he has given us our vocation, which after Baptism is the greatest grace of all. How patient God has been with us ever since that unforgettable day when he called us! How persistent he has been through our means of formation! How steady his fatherly protection has been for each of us!

If we love him, our response will be to hold this divine gift in high esteem, protecting it and watchfully guarding it as a treasure. God’s enemies do not let up in their attacks; we must be alert. Grace demands our cooperation. St John Chrysostom says that a vocation proceeds from grace and needs our watchfulness and our efforts to preserve it. It requires our personal cooperation in order to attain our goal, to lay the last stone in our life of self-giving.

My children, our Father said on one occasion, the fact that we said “Yes” to our Lord is already a good start: a start which needed God’s impulse, the help of his grace, because it was supernatural. At the same time it needed our free will, which we employed to tell our Lord, “I love you above all things. You are everything for me.”

To begin is certainly something, but then we have to persevere, to persevere till the end! I’ll say it again: what is important is not to begin but to finish. To begin is certainly something, but to finish is everything. Think how any battle could be the last one in our life, and it would all have been pointless if we had won the earlier ones and yet lost the final one. Victory in war is always decided by the last battle.

When we make a mistake we must correct it, always being ready to start anew.

In Bethany, near Jerusalem, lived Martha, Mary and Lazarus, our Lord’s family friends. One day, Lazarus fell ill and his sisters sent word to him saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” St Augustine notes that they did not tell him to come, since the news alone is enough for one who loves. They did not dare tell him to come and cure him. Nor did they dare say, “Command that he be cured from where you are, and the effect will take place here…” The sisters said nothing of that sort. They only said: Lord, the one you love is sick. It is enough that you know, since you do not neglect your loved ones.

Nevertheless, when our Lord received the news of Lazarus’ illness, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. This could sometimes happen to us, our Father tells us. Lord, see, I am sick. Lord, you died on the Cross out of love for me: come and heal me. And it seems as though Jesus does not hear our prayer. Trust, my child, and persevere in calling upon that loving Heart. See what he tells his disciples: Lazarus, amicus noster, dormit: he sleeps, our friend is sleeping. Our Lord understands that we can fall asleep. He wants us to trust in him. No matter what happens, he can bring us back to life.

At other times, Jesus does not wait for us to tell him anything. It is enough for us to be humble, and weep over our own wretchedness and the fact that we are made of clay. Our Lord’s mercy is infinite and his immense Wisdom knows all our good desires, all our love for him. And he also knows that everything, all those divine things, are carried in a clay vessel which can easily break. What happens then? We do what is usually done to broken clay vessels: the pieces are put back together, and it takes on a special charm once the staples which hold the pieces together are in place. The clay vessel continues being useful. Using an Italian phrase, I like to say that a vase like that, whose broken pieces are held together by staples, é un amore, is a delight. And I am sure that in God’s eyes, it will be the same.

My children, do not let your past falls, nor the possibility of future mistakes, worry you. Let’s abandon ourselves into God’s hands. Let’s present him with those desires of holiness and apostolate which are the common aim of us all, and which have made us members of this supernatural family. And then the vase will not break; and even if it does, it will be mended; and it will acquire a new charm and will continue being useful in a marvellous way, both for our own holiness and for the apostolate too.

The resurrection of Lazarus: everything has a remedy.

Two days later, Jesus told his disciples: Let us go into Judea again … Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awake him out of sleep.

The news that our Lord was on his way reached Bethany four days after Lazarus had been buried. Martha was unable to control herself, and went to meet Jesus, saying: Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

Have you seen how affectionately and trustingly Christ’s friends addressed him? Lazarus’ sisters very naturally reproached him for his absence. “We sent you word! If only you’d been here!” Don’t you feel like saying, “Lord Jesus, come and teach me how to treat you in the same friendly, loving way as Martha, Mary and Lazarus did, and as those first twelve did, who may have followed you, at first, for reasons that were not very supernatural.”

A very moving and striking dialogue then took place between Jesus and the two sisters. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. His tears moved those who were standing by, but some said: Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?

A large stone covered the entrance to the tomb. Lazarus was dead and decaying. Iam foetet. The air was foul. The scent of the myrrh and aloes that had been used for embalming the body of that friend had given way to the stench of death. Don’t you see? our Father asks us. Apparently, there was no more that could be done. How often have I told you that our faithfulness is forged out of the struggle of every moment, with all our wretchedness and errors! Woe betide those who do not fight! They lose their interior life, and it’s very difficult to raise a dead person to life. Nevertheless you have seen how the dead do come back to life when they hear the voice of God: Lazare, veni foras - Lazarus, come out.

My dear children: if earthly things don’t move you, at least let Christ’s voice move you. Consider my voice as the voice of God at this moment: “Lazare, veni foras!” The dead man came out. Don’t you see? Lazarus came back to life because he heard God’s voice and he wanted to get out of that state. If he had not wanted to move, he would not have come back to life. And what about you? Do you want to?

And now let’s make a resolution. Always have faith in God. Always hope in God. Always love God. He will never abandon us, even if we seem rotten.

Let us always give thanks to God, because, in the words of the Liturgy, as a man like us Jesus wept for Lazarus his friend. As the eternal God, he raised Lazarus from the dead. In his love for us all, he lifts us up to everlasting life.

And let us love our Lady with real devotion, as her children. Our Father has written: If you look for Mary, you will necessarily find Jesus; and you will learn, in greater and greater depth, what there is in the Heart of God.