Lazarus! Come forth!
The raising of Lazarus from the dead is the seventh and last sign or miracle in the Gospel of John. Through these miracles, Jesus revealed His identity. For example, at the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus proclaimed Himself the Bread of Life; in restoring the sight of the man born blind, Jesus proclaimed Himself the Light of the world; and at the raising of Lazarus, Jesus proclaimed Himself the Resurrection and the Life.
The raising of Lazarus foretells the Resurrection of the Dead on the Last Day when the mortal bodies of the just will become like His own glorious body. That is something that awaits us in the future, but the message of the miracle of the raising of Lazarus is that we do not have to wait until the Last Day before we can benefit from the redemptive power of Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus Himself tells us that: “All who hear my words and believe in Him that sent me have eternal life; they do not come into judgment but have passed from death to life (Jn 5:24).”
In the Gospel of John, the raising of Lazarus is the final miracle which leads to the Passion of Christ. Jesus’ extraordinary power to raise the dead and His claim to be the Resurrection and the Life ultimately led to his arrest. Immediately, the chief priests and the Pharisees took counsel among themselves on how to put Jesus and Lazarus to death. What a double irony: Lazarus will be put to death for responding to life, and Jesus will be put to death for bringing forth life.
| Pastoral Council meeting for April is today at 12:30 pm. Finance Council meeting is at 1:30 pm. |
On April 4, 2019, Pope Francis named Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory as the seventh Archbishop of Washington. Archbishop Gregory will succeed Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who served as Washington’s archbishop from June 2006 to October 2018. The installation of Archbishop Gregory as Archbishop of Washington will take place on Friday, May 17, 2019.
Each year, the Archdiocese of Atlanta launches the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal as a special collection to support its various ministries and charitable projects. The theme of the 2019 Archbishop’s Annual Appeal is: “Go, Therefore, and Make Disciples”, which reminds us to act upon the love and grace of God. We can see this in action every day through the care shown by our brothers and sisters for the needs of the less fortunate, for the education of our young in the faith and for the support of our seminarians.
Each parish, mission, pastoral center or school in the archdiocese is required to participate in this special collection. The goal for each church is determined by its total offertory collections of the previous year. The Holy Name of Jesus Chinese Catholic Mission participated in the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal for the first time last year (2018). Based on our total offertory collection for 2017, our goal in 2018 was $1,200; however, we did not have a collection for the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal last year because one of our parishioners already donated the entire amount.
This year (2019), the goal for the entire archdiocese is $8,500,000. The goal for the Chinese Mission in 2019 is $2,700. Beginning this week, we will give out the envelopes for this special collection. Please keep in mind that your donation to the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal is additional to your regular offering to our church. We will report the amount collected for the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal weekly until we have reached our target collection amount. Thank you for your generosity!