Meditating is simply fixing one's mind. In offering us the Luminous Mysteries, Pope John Paul II suggested that we are not limited to the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries in our prayer and reflection. The little meditations below reflect upon the Raising of the Daughter of Lazarus in an age of Sex-Trafficking. The Gospel account is found in Mark 5:21-43; Matthew 9:18-26 and Luke 8: 40-56.
Our Father
Grieved parents send for Jesus, hoping he will come to their home and heal their sick daughter. Loving parents throughout the world grieve for the loss of their children to sex-trafficking. Sadly, other parents raise up their children, especially their infant girls, to hand them over to the sex industry as sources of family income. Heaven weeps!
Hail Mary!
The girl's father is named Jairus, which translates He will be awakened. The world needs men to be awakened to the threats raised up against children - to become the guardians and protectors of children in every place.
Hail Mary!
When Jesus arrived at Jairus' home he took the girl's parents and Peter, James and John (three of the twelve apostles) into the child's room. Only some people know about the new global slavery of sex- trafficking, but enough to tell the truth of what is happening. Pray that we would start to talk about what we know.
Hail Mary!
Along the way, servants arrive to tell Jesus "Don't bother, the girl has died, there's nothing to do." There are cynics everywhere whose response to the problems of the day are, "Too bad, that's just the way it is." A cynic is someone for whom everything pushes down. It is a spiritual affliction.
Hail Mary!
In the painting, the nameless girl is already partly shrouded and prepared for burial. We hear of children being primed for lives of the deepest darkness which will bury them in utter degradation, lonely sadness, ruin and even death.
Hail Mary!
The gospel tells us that Jesus grasped the young girl by the hand. Grasping, suggests that Jesus was essentially yanking her back - reclaiming her from death to life. More than 100,000 American children need to be grasped - yanked back - from the deep shadows of sex-trafficking.
Hail Mary!
Is the Face of Jesus the white-light-source which floods the girl and the space surrounding her? White is the color of fullness - Jesus grabs her hand to lift her up into the fullness of life. This is where children belong.
Hail Mary!
Do we notice that the artist has placed a wreath of flowers at the foot of the bed? Has someone left funeral flowers already? Perhaps. Or they might symbolize the innocent and delicate girlhood which Jesus restores.
Hail Mary!
The gospel tells us "the little girl immediately got up and walked around." This is the global task: to get young girls and boys trapped in sex slavery back on their feet and walking again in their own dignity.
Hail Mary!
Congresswoman Linda Smith went to Mumbai, India where she witnessed the filthy disorder of the prostitution district. When she came across a baby girl, the age of her granddaughter, she heard an inner voice say, 'Touch her." After the gospel-girl is raised up, Jesus gives the instruction, "Give her something to eat." He skips rituals and drama. Instead, he lifts her up and sees to it she's fed. Love is as practical as a touch - a meal.
Hail Mary
Glory be to the Father...
To become informed about the new global slavery of sex-trafficking, which is not just an Asian or South American problem but of the United States as well, see Shared Hope International online.
To become informed about the new global slavery of sex-trafficking, which is not just an Asian or South American problem but of the United States as well, see Shared Hope International online.
