Wake up! The presence of God…

Awakening is brutal for many, under different circumstances and conditions. Spiritual awakening is also further. It is eloquent about the dead sons of mothers. Jesus came to the town of Naim. “When they approached the city gate, they carried out a dead man… It was a mother’s son. When he saw her … he said to her, “Don’t cry.” “Young man, I say get up!” Jesus returned him to his mother. A great prophet has risen among us (Luke 7:12, 13, 16).

Naim is about 10 km from Nazareth. The name of the city means “pleasant” from the Hebrew word. Several graves carved into stone in the town’s vicinity can still be seen today. The figure of Jesus called “Lord” dominates the Gospel: his Divine Word is so effective that it restores life. This whole Gospel contains a touch of Easter events in four images. “He saw his mother…” Jesus met his Mother on the way to Golgotha. And he certainly saw pain and sorrow on her face. That is the first image. The second is when he meets the crowd at the city gate, weeping over their deceased son. Jesus, as the Son of Mary, met at the city gate with a group of weeping women. The third image is when Jesus returns the son to his mother. Also, to Mary, his Mother, they replaced the Son in her womb, dead. But she knew that he would see the living and the glorified on the third day. And we have the fourth image in the look of Jesus on the grieving mother – the widow, when he compassionately tells her, “Do not cry.” This is how he spoke to the crying Mary Magdalene after his resurrection: “Why are you crying?” And by addressing “Mary,” she recognizes him and addresses him as “Rabbuni” Teacher, Lord.

Jesus’ words from the Gospel are not only addressed to that young man but to all of us. “I say to you, get up!” This does not mean I cannot remain sitting or kneeling, but I must not remain lying down. I must allow God to change my life and destroy my sins that do not let me stand and give God power over my life. If we listen well, the mother is not asking Jesus for anything here. Jesus is the one who takes the initiative and, moved by her sorrow, performs the miracle of the resurrection. God showed interest in us by being baptized, primarily as children, before we could ask. Even our current life is proof that God does not lose interest in us, that another and another follow the first step on his part; he constantly keeps a protective hand over us.

A woman in need found an egg. Šťastná told the family: “Our worries are over. Look, I found an egg. We don’t eat it but let the neighbor’s cat sit on it. Then we will have a chick, and the chick will be a hen. Of course, we will not eat the hen, but we will let her lay more eggs and have more hens. We will not eat these but sell them and buy a calf. We will raise the calf, and it will become a cow, which will have another calf when we have a whole herd. We will then sell and buy… and sell… and believe… And so she talked and gestured until the egg fell out of her hand and broke.

Our resolutions often resemble the ramblings of that woman: I will do… I will say… I will deliver… I promise,… Days and years go by, and we do nothing.