A parent called me distraught because their highly autistic child cannot sit through sessions, so they thought this meant they can’t be Baptized.

A teen couldn’t participate in the weekend Confirmation Retreat their parish required because they suffer from terrible anxiety.

An elderly person’s adult kids thought it safest to take their Driver’s License away after a couple of fender-benders, so they feel confined to their home.

These are people’s stories who have called in the past week.

For me, my grief seems to have confused my mind, weighs down my body and has broken my heart.

He cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.” John 11:43-44

In this coming Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus raises His friend Lazarus from the dead.

Each of us may be going through something that binds us and keeps us from life.

I hear Jesus calling each of us by name and saying in these words of the Gospel,

“Come out!”

“Worry, untie them and let them go.”

“Anxiety, untie them and let them go.”

“Growing older, untie them and let them go.”

“Grief, untie them and let them go.”



This fifth week of Lent, think about what Jesus is trying to free you from so that you may have life abundantly, glorifying God.

Continued Lent Blessings!