Verba Christi ad sponsam de sororibus et Lazaro resuscitato; et qualiter sponsa et eius filia, ut credo, per sorores et anima per fratrem Lazarum et inuidi per Iudeos designantur; et quomodo Deus cum istis fecit maiorem misericordiam quam cum sororibus Lazari; et qualiter scientes multa loqui et pauca facere indignantur contra bene operantes.
The Resurrection of the Soul
Christ compares the physical resurrection of Lazarus to the spiritual resurrection of the soul, highlighting the greater mercy shown to the believer.
The Son speaks: "There were two sisters, Martha and Mary, who had a brother named Lazarus, whom I raised for them from the dead; and once raised, he served me more afterward than he had before." It was the same with his sisters; although they were close to me and diligent in serving me before their brother was raised, they were found to be much more solicitous and full of devotion afterward. I have done the same for you now in a spiritual way. I have raised up your brother for you—that is, your soul—which had been dead for four days and, stinking, had distanced itself from me through the transgression of my commandments, through twisted desire, the sweetness of the world, and the delight of sin.1 But there were four things that moved me to raise Lazarus. First, because he was a friend while he lived. Second, the love of his sisters. Third, because Mary’s humility earned so much through the washing of my feet that, just as she humbled herself before the guests for my sake, so she might be gladdened and honored before many. Fourth, so that the glory of my humanity might be made manifest. You didn't have these four things because you love the world more than them. Therefore, my mercy toward you—who have earned mercy through no merits of your own—is greater than it was toward those sisters. It is clearly greater, just as spiritual death is more dangerous than bodily death, and the resurrection of the soul is more glorious than the resurrection of the body.
Living in Fervent Devotion
Christ calls the soul to imitate the sisters of Lazarus through humility, fervent love, and unity of heart.
Therefore, because my mercy has gone before your works, welcome me into the home of your heart just as those sisters did, with the most fervent love, loving nothing as much as me, and placing all your trust in me. Humble yourselves with Mary, weeping daily for your sins, and don't be ashamed to live humbly among the proud, or to live with self-control among the self-indulgent, showing others on the outside how much you love me on the inside. You must also be like those sisters, one heart and one soul, strong in your contempt for the world and ready to praise God. And if you do this, then I—who raised your brother, that is, your soul, for you—will defend it so that it isn't killed by the Jews.
The Danger of Empty Words
Christ warns against the hypocrisy of those who speak of virtue without practicing it, contrasting them with the true love of his apostles.
After all, what good would it have done Lazarus to be raised from his first death if he hadn't lived more uprightly in this life, so that he could rise more gloriously into a second and everlasting life? But who are these Jews who seek to kill Lazarus, if not those who are indignant because you live better than they do—those who have learned to speak of lofty things but do little, and who, by chasing after the favor of men, despise the deeds of their predecessors all the more contemptuously the less they deign to understand what is true and higher? Many people are like this: they know how to argue about virtues, but they don't know how to keep them by living virtuously. That is why their souls are in danger; they have plenty of words, but their actions are nowhere to be seen. Did my preachers act like that? Certainly not. They certainly didn't warn sinners with high-flown words, but with a few loving ones, ready to give their own lives for the lives of others. And so, because of their love, others gained love, for the teacher's passion shaped the listener's soul more than words ever could. Now, however, many people speak about me in lofty terms, but no fruit follows, because breath alone doesn't set wood on fire unless sparks and little embers work together with it.
Divine Protection and Fire
Christ promises to protect the soul from the discouragement of others, provided the soul remains willing to be set on fire by his love.
I will guard and protect you from these Jews so that you don't turn away from me because of their words or actions; yet I won't defend you in a way that you suffer nothing, but rather so that you don't give in through impatience. You, for your part, provide the willingness, and I will set your will on fire with my love.
Read the original Latin
Filius loquitur: "Due erant sorores Martha et Maria, que habuerunt fratrem Lazarum, quem eis de morte suscitaui; qui suscitatus plus michi seruiuit postea quam antea.
Sic et sorores eius, que licet familiares et sedule erant in ministrando michi ante fratris suscitacionem, multo tamen magis solliciciores et deuociores postea inueniebantur.
Consimili modo vobiscum nunc feci spiritualiter. Nam suscitaui vobis fratrem vestrum, id est animam vestram, que per quatuor dies mortua fetens alienauit se a me transgressione mandatorum meorum, praua cupiditate, dulcedine mundi et peccatorum delectacione.
Sed quatuor erant, que me ad resuscitandum Lazarum mouebant. Primum quia amicus erat, dum viueret. Secundum dileccio sororum.
Tercium quia humilitas Marie tantum meruit in lauacione pedum meorum, ut, sicut in conspectu conuiuancium se deicit propter me, sic in conspectu multorum letaretur et honoraretur. Quartum ut gloria humanitatis mee manifestaretur.
Ista vero quatuor non fuerunt in vobis, quia diligitis plus illis mundum. Ideo maior est misericordia mea in vobis, qui nullis meritis misericordiam meruistis, quam in illis sororibus;
et tanto plane maior, quanto mors spiritualis periculosior est corporali morte et resurreccio anime gloriosior resurreccione corporali.
Ergo, quia misericordia mea precessit opera vestra, colligite me sicut sorores ille in domum mentis vestre cum caritate feruentissima, nichil diligendo sicut me, totam fiduciam habendo in me,
humiliando vos cum Maria quotidieque plorando peccata vestra, non erubescendo humiliter viuere inter superbos, continentes cum incontinentibus, ostendendo aliis exterius, quantum interius me amatis.
Debetis quoque esse sicut sorores ille cor unum et anima una, fortes ad mundi contemptum et prompte ad Dei laudem. Et si sic feceritis, tunc ego, qui resuscitaui vobis fratrem vestrum, id est animam, defendam eam, ne a Iudeis interficiatur.
Quid enim profuisset Lazaro surrexisse a presenti morte, nisi viuendo honestius in presenti vita gloriosius resurrexisset in secundam et permanentem vitam?
Sed qui sunt Iudei, qui Lazarum querunt interficere, nisi illi qui ex eo indignantur, quod melius hiis viuitis, qui sublimia didicerunt loqui et modica facere, qui fauores hominum sequentes tanto contemptibilius contempnunt facta predecessorum suorum, quanto minus dedignantur vera et alciora intelligere?
Tales sunt multi, qui de virtutibus sciunt disputare sed non eas viuendo virtuose seruare. Ideo et eorum anime periclitantur, quia verba plurima sunt et facta non apparent. Numquid sic fecerunt predicatores mei? Nequaquam.
Ipsi certe monebant peccatores non verbis sublimibus sed paucis et caritatiuis parati dare animas suas pro animabus eorum. Ideo propter caritatem eorum alii obtinuerunt caritatem, nam ardor docentis plus quam verba animum audientis informabat.
Nunc autem plerique loquuntur de me ardua, sed nullus sequitur fructus, quia flatus solus non incendit ligna, nisi et igniculis scintille cooperentur.
Ego ab istis Iudeis custodiam et protegam vos, ne vel per verba vel eorum facta a me discedatis; non tamen ita defendam vos, quin nichil paciamini sed ne per impacienciam succumbatis. Vos enim adhibete voluntatem, et ego cum caritate mea incendam velle vestrum."
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'fetens' (stinking) is a direct allusion to the state of Lazarus in John 11:39.
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