Wake up, wake up you sleepy head; get up, get up, get out of bed!
Some of us may recognize this tune from our youth when mom or dad would sing this to us to rouse us from a good night's sleep. Maybe some of us have sung these very lyrics to our own children and grandchildren.
A good night's sleep is indeed a good thing. Yet no matter how much we need or even like sleep, at some point, it's time to get up and get going.
As people of faith, it is time to arise from our sleep.
In today's readings we hear of two young men who have fallen asleep. They are both the sons of widows and their deaths bring the expected anguish and grief that is common for such a loss. When Jesus meets the funeral procession in the city of Nain he is moved with great compassion for this widowed mother. Beyond her very real grief, Jesus would have known that this woman, already grieving the loss of her husband, and now her son, would also be left destitute because there would be no remaining male heir in her household. If the loss of two loved ones would not be enough, this woman would also lose all the wealth and possessions held by her husband and then her son. Women, in that day and culture, were not allowed to own wealth. Perhaps aware of all these facts, Jesus, moved with that great compassion, stops the funeral procession and commands the young man, arise! Rise from your sleep and live. And Jesus gave him to his mother. Notice something quite remarkable here; Jesus did this on his own. In other words, no one asked Jesus to raise this young man from the dead. No request was made, no petition was offered, Jesus simply acted.
Perhaps familiar with the story from 1st Kings, which was our 1st reading today, the people were reminded of what happened with Elijah's intercession with God to raise another child from death to life was granted. That is why the onlookers called out that a great prophet was with them and that God has visited his people. One is left to wonder how much of that last statement they really understood for Jesus is more than just a great prophet; he is God, in the 2nd person of the Trinity and he indeed has visited his people. And like he does in the Gospel when he says arise; he calls us today to arise as well! Wake up you sleepy headed Catholics! Arise from your spiritual slumber! I have great work for you to do!
Just as Jesus laid his hand on the coffin, he lays his hand on us, as his body of believers, and he asks us to wake up from sinfulness and live a life more fully trusting in him. As he restored the young mans life and gave him back to his mother, Jesus wants us to be fully awake and restores us to Holy Mother Church!
That awakening, that rising from sin may simply be to heal ourselves spiritually. Jesus may be calling some of us back to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Only in the confession of our sins and in sincerely receiving Him in Holy Communion can we sing out, like our Responsorial Psalm today, I will praise you Lord for you have rescued me!
That awakening, that rise up is also a call for us, restored to life, to defend and protect our Mother; not the widows from todays Scripture readings, but His one true Church. As in many past generations, our Mother, the Church, is under great attack. The Church stands as the last line of defense in these 21st century challenges of abortion on demand, growing calls for euthanasia, the out of control message that marriage needs to be defined and the sinfulness of sexual lust and greed. Unlike the political correctness and secularization of our day, it is our Mother, the Church, that stands alone and boldly proclaims: NO!, not our way, not the go along to get along way, NO, God's way. Are we awake yet? Have we arisen from our sleep? What do I do, what witness do I give, what amount of my prayer life is devoted to my Mother, the Church established by Jesus?
In the week ahead, can we pray with this Gospel and see in it's meaning the spiritual call on all us, just like the call to that young man in the coffin, ARISE! And after we reflect and pray, can we inform ourselves of the Church's bold teachings of God's ways and commit ourselves to proclaim those truths, in charity yes, but in clarity too?
Wake up, wake up you sleepy heads, get up, get up, get out of bed. There's work for us to do; the work of our Mother, the Church. May She never be left widowed and orphaned because we will ARISE!
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