Opening Prayer
Dear Lord, it seems that you are so madly in love with your creatures that you could not live without us. So you created us; and then, when we turned away from you, you redeemed us. Yet you are God, and so have no need of us. Your greatness is made no greater by our creation; your power is made no stronger by our redemption. You have no duty to care for us, no debt to repay us. It is love, and love alone, which moves you.
—Catherine of Siena, 1347-1380
TEXT
John 11:28-33 CEV
After Martha said this, she went and privately said to her sister Mary, “The Teacher is here, and he wants to see you.” As soon as Mary heard this, she got up and went out to Jesus.
He was still outside the village where Martha had gone to meet him. Many people had come to comfort Mary, and when they saw her quickly leave the house, they thought she was going out to the tomb to cry. So they followed her. Mary went to where Jesus was. Then as soon as she saw him, she knelt at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
When Jesus saw that Mary and the people with her were crying, he was terribly upset.
Hosea 13:14 NIV
I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?