this is  a short reflection upon story from Luke Gospel, where Jesus brings to life dead men.

links to the readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/091713.cfm

In today’s gospel a man has died and is being carried by others.

This dead man may symbolize our own dead dreams, our unfulfilled aspirations, these parts of our being, of our very soul, which were killed- or put into sleep- or otherwise made silent, such that we could achieve a particular level of “success”, or to do something we know is wrong and unethical, or to cheat someone, or to follow our fleshly desires.
We carry those things in us.
We carry dead men in us.

It can manifest itself in forgiveness that is changed into a grudge against someone;
…Love changed into indifference or unconcern;
…Chastity changed into lust, adultery, and pornography;
…Talents, gifts, charisma, changed into laziness;
…Generosity changed into fear and avarice;
…Gratitude changed into sadness, despair, jealousy, and hopelessness;
…Peace change into anger and hatred.

We carry these dead men in us, along with an exhaustive list of excuses and reasons we should do these things.

And then we meet Jesus.

To truly meet Him we must simply stop.
We need to stop during adoration, during prayer, during confession, during the Eucharist.
We must stop to feel His touch, to hear His words which bring freedom and healing.
He comes to us with a healing touch and new life very often. He is full of compassion for our misery.

So why does the miracle not happen for us? Why do we not arise from our “deadness”?
Why? Because we do not want it.
Why? Because we believe that “this” is our real life.
Because we don’t know how to live without the dead men in us.
We are so accustomed to the odor of death, of sin and despair, because we grew into it slowly.
We want to believe that it is God’s fault that we do not arise…but it is our own.

Let us pray, that we may be willing to see the obstacles which block the healing, love, forgiveness, generosity, and the peace of God and that we may be willing to give those things to God, and that we allow Him to take death from us and give us life again.