I am the rule, not the exception. My daughter was sick, and she died. I asked the Lord for a life-saving miracle, and I was denied. I went through what the majority of parents with sick children go through. You can talk about the power of prayer all you want but realistically, most people with terminal illness WILL die from that illness. Most people who are told they will never walk again, WON’T walk again. Lazarus was the exception, NOT the rule. Yet, we sit in mass on Sundays being fed this narrative that if we are true believers, we can be the exception. Well, I’m calling bullsh*t!
I specifically stopped going to mass out of fear of being forced to listen to yet another raised from the dead miracle story such as Lazarus or Jairus’ daughter or the son of the widow. Where they preach about the glorification of God but give no consolation prize to all the parents who have buried their children. Every time a priest tells a miracle story, I silently plead with God that they will say something of comfort to the people in my position. Until today, every time I was let down.
Today, for this week’s Sunday reflection, while Father Mike Schmitz spoke of the story of Lazarus, I rolled my eyes and thought, “here we go again.” However, halfway through it was as if the clouds parted and the sun shone down on me. He dove deeper into this gospel than I ever heard before. Glorification was not even his main point, but it was as if he included it just for me. He said that although Lazarus was raised from the dead to bring glorification to God, the true glorification is in everyone who suffers great loss and still follows God.
“God can be even more glorified in the faith and the trust in the love that DOESN’T get the miracle and still walks forward in faith, still walks forward in trust, still walks forward in love.”
“God can be even more glorified in the faith and the trust in the love that DOESN’T get the miracle and still walks forward in faith, still walks forward in trust, still walks forward in love.”
Father mike schmitz
AMEN TO THAT!!!
Finally, I felt seen! It has been seven years since my daughter died and that was the first true biblical sense of comfort I had felt. What does that tell you about the majority of our sermons today?
I keep saying that when a priest plans a sermon, he should do so prioritizing who will be in the most pain, and tailor it to them. More people have been denied a miracle than given a miracle, yet we are taught to expect it. Then when we ask why not, the best they can give us is some sort of “thy will be done” shrug of the shoulders.
Personally, I believe if we want to connect more people to the church, we should focus on the everyday heroes, the unseen warriors. Rather than grasping at straws trying to bring people into the church by glorifying some miracle performed thousands of years ago that people may or may not even believe, talk about something that they can relate to. Approach the story from a different angle. Make them feel seen.
People go to church for many reasons, but I believe the most crucial are those searching for comfort. When the church misses the mark, it can have catastrophic repercussions. People may stop attending mass or lose their faith altogether. So, it is imperative that we make sure those in pain, feel seen. I felt seen today.
Thank-you Father Mike for changing the momentum for me with his gospel. It’s a whole new ball game!