{"id":7936,"date":"2025-04-22T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/?p=7936"},"modified":"2025-04-20T18:55:22","modified_gmt":"2025-04-20T22:55:22","slug":"everything-is-a-prayer-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/spiritual-practices\/everything-is-a-prayer-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything is a prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Resurrection of the Body
More than the raising of Lazarus ( Part one )<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

by Fr Boniface hicks OSB<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus cried out in a loud voice, \u2018Lazarus, come out!\u2019<\/strong>
The dead man came out ( John 11:43b-44a )<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was Lazarus\u2019s experience? Why do we not hear a report about it? We are fascinated with \u201cnear-death\u201d experiences (e.g. the recent book \u201cHeaven is for Real\u201d remained on the best seller list for over three years) and we have this feeling that if someone could scout ahead beyond the veil of death and come back to tell us about it, we would more easily believe (and more readily behave!). It is reminiscent of Israel\u2019s explorations of the land beyond the Jordan river, the Promised Land\u2013we would like to send a Caleb or Joshua ahead of us to reconnoiter the land and come back to tell us what it is like. But Jesus assures us, \u201cIf they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.\u201d (Luke 16:31b)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps this is why Scripture tells us practically nothing about Lazarus\u2019s experience of rising from the dead. It leaves us wondering, \u201cWhat was it like?\u201d It would be so interesting to know what his experience was\u2026or would it? Perhaps we do not get more about Lazarus\u2019s experience of waking up and emerging from the tomb because it is simply a distraction. As Jesus reported in the parable of Lazarus (a different Lazarus) and the rich man, \u201cThey have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.\u201d (Luke 16:29) Indeed, the law and the prophets, the Gospels and the epistles bring us closer to understanding the meaning of life (and eternal life) than someone who comes back from the dead (like Lazarus). How can this be?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resurrection is more than a resuscitated corpse<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Pope John Paul II explained this in the following way, \u201cEternal life should be understood in an eschatalogical sense, that is, as the full and perfect experience of the grace (charis) of God\u2026\u201d (TOB 67:5). Pope John Paul II clarified (in the same audience) that we already get a taste of this through faith, that this is an experience, \u201cin which man can share through faith during his earthly life\u2026\u201d At the same time, we do not experience it fully, it will \u201conly be revealed to those who will participate in the \u2018other world\u2019 in all its penetrating depth, [and] will also be experienced in its beatifying reality.\u201d (TOB 67:5)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to participate \u201cin all its penetrating depth\u201d and experience this grace \u201cin its beatifying reality,\u201d we must be transformed in a way that is not only \u201cby degree\u201d but in a way that is \u201cessential.\u201d At the same time, we must be quick to clarify that this transformation does not involve any \u201cdisincarnation\u201d or \u201cdehumanization.\u201d (TOB 67:2) Rather, there is a certain continuum between the human experience of this life, particularly the way that we are permeated by truth and love, and the divinized experience of the \u201cother world.\u201d (TOB 67:4) At the same time, our divinization in the \u201cother world\u201d is \u201cincomparably superior to what can be reached in earthly life\u201d (TOB 67:3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be continued<\/strong> \u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Resurrection of the BodyMore than the raising of Lazarus ( Part one ) by Fr Boniface hicks OSB Jesus cried out in a loud voice, \u2018Lazarus, come out!\u2019The dead man came out ( John 11:43b-44a ) What was Lazarus\u2019s experience? Why do we not hear a report about it? We are fascinated with \u201cnear-death\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spiritual-practices","category-spiritual-reflections"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7bfMR-240","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6184,"url":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/spiritual-practices\/everything-is-a-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":7936,"position":0},"title":"Everything is a prayer","author":"monks4christ","date":"April 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The Resurrection of the BodyMore than the raising of Lazarus ( Part one ) by Fr Boniface hicks OSB Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out!'The dead man came out ( John 11:43b-44a ) What was Lazarus's experience? 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