The prayer of imagination is a wonderful way to experience today’s Gospel. Imagining ourselves to be actually there, witnessing the heart-felt compassion Jesus has for the suffering. Imagine a scene: a mother grieving the death of her son, without the comfort of her husband, the man who would also know how painful it feels. Picture her following the lifeless body of the son who was once alive in her own body. Understand her sorrow as she is deprived of the support and protection of husband or son. All hope lay dead on the funeral pallet.

Jesus comes forward. Wanting her to witness what is about to happen, he tells her to stop weeping. He touches the pallet and life is restored. Imagine how it feels to be that woman, or to be a witness to this powerful act od compassion. Or even imagine ourselves as the one restored to life: what would we want to do? Ponder what would change our lives if Jesus came along and said to us, “Rise”. Would we glorify God by living with a greater sense of hope?

At every Eucharist, as we celebrate the dying and rising of Jesus, we are invited to experience our own lives being restored. With open hearts and renewed minds, may each of us receive the sacred blessing that awaits us, and let us be reminded just how much Jesus