Winter night in Scarborough!
Picture by Priscilla Mesciovecchio
The Holy Spirit inspired our blog.
Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus
Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
“Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?
Tell her to help me.”
The Lord said to her in reply,
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her.”
Emphasis mine Luke 10:38-42
Today was interesting because the story of the death of Lazarus was presented in both the Gospels of St. John and St. Luke for today’s readings, St. Luke’s being the optional reading.
In St. John’s Gospel we have the story of Martha going out to meet Jesus to tell Him that if He had been there her brother wouldn’t have died. Jesus asks Matha if she believes Lazarus would rise again, and Martha gives a beautiful profession of faith.
Why this is interesting for me is it was Martha who was in the kitchen prior to the current events, and complaining that Mary was not helping her, which was the reading in Luke’s Gospel that we printed.
So the only conclusion I am able to reach, was Martha may have been working BUT she was listening, and when asked, gave Jesus a beautiful profession of Faith.
“I am the resurrection and the life;
whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,
and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?”
She said to him, “Yes, Lord.
I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God,
the one who is coming into the world.” Underline mine
At The Veterans Home Sunday, I received a note from Donna, saying that her dad Leo, had gone home to Jesus. I was both filled with Joy, and I was also sad.
Joy because I fully believe Leo is with Jesus, because he was a Joyful man, who had four daughters and one son, who every Sunday as many could make the Communion Service did, and they participated.
Sad, because I realized that the Joy I had had because of our relationship, over the past two or three years would come to an end.
Joy entered into my life again when I saw Donna and Cindy with Leo’s sister, who is also at the Veterans Home, and Donna told me they would continue to come until Evett goes home to Jesus.
Leo’s children have chosen the better part, to honor their parents and their Aunt by being with them at a very important time in their lives, going and participating in a Communion Service.
Both Leo and Evett are in the Memory section of the V/A and if the girls don’t show up there is no one to bring them down to the service, and they all enJoy touching Jesus, the prayers said, and the songs sung.
Prayer:
If you want to grow in Love, Joy, Peace this is a result of growth in Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.
Sidebar:
After Mass the other day I met a man who told me they, he and his wife, were applying to go into an upscale retirement community, where their needs would be taken care of as they were needed.
He didn’t seem joyful. It’s a step in life, and, quite frankly, it’s a hard step.
Behind him Jim, who we have written about in prior blogs, came out of Mass.
Jim, and two other men I know, made the decision to take care of his wife at home. Jim’s wife had cancer and Alzheimer’s.
Jim, we reported a few weeks ago, left the care of his wife to his daughters while he went to his sister’s funeral, and after being away for three days was filled with Joy to be back taking care of his wife, who has since gone home to Jesus.
Joy isn’t the word I would use for the task of taking care of the house and a spouse that has Alzheimer’s, but Jim used that exact word.
John took care of his wife and she had Alzheimer’s, and he told me they became closer than any other period of time in their married life.
ODD?
Louie took care of his wife with Alzheimer’s and, since we lived next door, I saw first hand the love he poured on his wife, singing songs, reading to her and playing games.
Yesterday I met a person who is faced with the same issue, taking care of their spouse, and they told Gail and I, I also have a life to lead. This was not the response of the above three men.
And,
We might add many others in our life who have made a similar decision to take care of their spouse, but I didn’t have as close of a connection as I did with Jim, John and Louie.
And,
I don’t believe the Joy they felt will be felt by this person.
I can’t believe how this all came about; talk about God working in our life.
I thanked God we don’t have the money to even consider going into an institution like we first mentioned, and I made the silent vow that I would take care of Gail, if care was needed, and the thought filled me with Joy.
Up until I met the above three men, I had always thought this type of care was impossible for me to perform (this is the thinking of the world). Now I know with the strength of the Holy Spirit weeeeeee can do anything.
Oh by the way, I forgot until Roger who reads the blogs for mistakes, reminded me, that he and I took care of Mom for over ten years, and when she went home to Jesus each of us felt a sense of Joy for the chance to meet her needs in her last years,BUT, our care wasn’t 24/7 like Jim, John, and Louie, and I also remember that when Mom went home to Jesus, I didn’t cry, because I had done everything I could do to make her life as Joyful as possible.
It’s interesting to me how God brings people into our lives who give us answers to the truly hard questions, and does it in a way that answers the entire question.
Picture:
This was a winter night here in Scarborough!
Picture by Priscilla Mesciovecchio
Please keep Snapping!
And if you want the ten calling cards shown above, email me and I will send you my address, send me a STAMPED self-addressed envelope and I will send you ten cards.
The offer for the cards is sadly for American readers only. The Post office won’t accept foreign stamps.
If you want a copy of the prayers we discussed.
Send an email to: fprince101@gmail.com
Remember, if you want to submit a picture, please do not include people. We have to get permission from that person to use their photograph.
Disclaimer:
We decided to share with you that I do use Google AI for spelling, punctuation, and helping me find a Bible verse. BUT we go to the Bible to print out the verse we find. If we do use Google AI it will be noted. I believe in a while this type of disclaimer will be needed on all created works.
