Thursday, April 14, 2011

this is how I will read the story of Lazarus for the rest of my life

The family and friends of James sent word to Jesus, saying,
“Master, the one You love is ill.”
When Jesus heard this He said,
“This illness is not to end in death,
but is for the glory of God,
that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Now Jesus loved Travis and his wife and James.
So when He heard that he was ill,
He remained for 61 minutes and three days in the place where He was.
Then after this He said to Archbishop Sheen, St. James, St. Linus, and His blessed mother,
"Let us go back to the NICU.”

When Jesus arrived, He found that James
had already been in the tomb for 61 minutes.

When Travis and Bonnie heard that Jesus was coming,
they went to meet Him;
but others sat at home.
They said to Jesus,
“Lord, if You had been here,
our son would not have died.
But even now we know that whatever You ask of God,
God will give You.”

Jesus said to them,
Your son will rise.”
They said,
“We know he will rise,
in the resurrection on the last day.”

Jesus told them,
I am the resurrection and the life;
whoever believes in Me, even if he dies, will live,
and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.
Do you believe this?”

They said to him, “Yes, Lord.
We have come to believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God,
the One who is coming into the world.”

When Jesus saw them weeping and the friends and family who had come with them weeping,

He became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said,
“Where have you laid him?”
They said to Him, “Sir, come and see.”

And Jesus wept.

So everyone said, “See how He loved him.”
But some of them said,
“Could not the One who opened the eyes of the blind man
have done something so that this baby would not have died?”

So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb.
It was a crib, and it was surrounded by equipment.
Jesus said, “Take away the equipment.”
Bonnie, the dead man’s mother, said to Him,
Lord, by now there will be severe injury;
he had been dead for 61 minutes.”

Jesus said to her,
Did I not tell you that if you believe
you will see the glory of God?”

So they took away the equipment.
And Jesus raised His eyes and said,
“Father, I thank You for hearing Me.
I know that You always hear Me;
but because of the crowd here I have said this,
that they may believe that You sent Me.”
And when He had said this,
He cried out in a loud voice,
James Fulton, come out!”
The dead man came out,
tied hand and foot with wires and tubes and IVs,
and his face was wrapped in a cloth.
So Jesus said to them,
“Untie him and let him go.”

Now many of the friends and family who had come to Travis and Bonnie
and seen what He had done began to believe in Him.


I realize that I am "messing" with Sacred Scripture, but I hope you all understand that I mean absolutely no disrespect for the words of the Gospel.  Praised by Jesus Christ who makes all things new!

13 comments:

JoAnna Wahlund said...

oh, wow, Bonnie, I got chills reading this. I don't think it's disrespectful in the slightest.

Mia Jude said...

beautiful :)

Kelly said...

That.is. beautiful.

Elizabeth said...

That was beautiful, it brought tears to my eyes. As a parent I can imagine all that you've been through, but I'm sure that pales in comparison to the reality of your experiences. This really helped make it more understandable, make the reality of the miracle Jesus has given your family more amazing to this outsider who is reading your story.

May God continue to bless your family! :) (and thank you for sharing this with us!)

Anonymous said...

I'm reading through tears. This story of old is now real, tangible, and relatable because of James's healing. Praise God!

Anonymous said...

Once again you made me cry. I love you Bonnie and miss you and your little ones!

Ashley

Jude and Alisha said...

Oh Bonnie, so beautiful. Thank you for blessing us with your words, your faith, and your son.

Anonymous said...

When the gospel of Lazarus' resurrection was read at Mass Sunday I thought of James.
Mom

katie b. said...

I thought of James during this scripture reading at Mass last week, too! Bonnie, I love what you did with the reading! Scripture is meant to be personal and applicable in every area of our lives. This is exactly as God wants you to read it now :)

Anonymous said...

Reading how the Gospel is now a real and tangible experience for you and your family gave me chills and brought tears to my eyes. GOD IS AMAZING AND GOOD!
I pray that He continues to watch over James and the family.
Love you all and miss you
Kate

Anonymous said...

Crying here, too! God bless you all!

Sarah Hedman said...

oh wow!! I love that! Praise Jesus!!!!!

Kim said...

Crying here, too. God bless you all.