|
 |
|
Homilies are posted no later than during the week
prior to the Sunday they are needed |
|
|
5 Lent |
Fifth Sunday of Lent - Cycle A - John 11:1-45
A patient asked Dr Karl Menninger what he should do if he
felt a nervous breakdown coming on. He expected the famous psychiatrist
to respond, "Call me immediately." Instead, he said, "Go out and find
somebody in trouble and help that person."
I go to many funerals. It goes with the job. Often a dead
man's friend gives a eulogy. Invariably he says, "We come here not to
mourn a death but celebrate a life." I say to myself, "Buddy, if you're
not mourning, you're in the wrong church." Jesus shed copious tears at
Lazarus' tomb. He wasn't celebrating his life. One wag said, "Christ
cried so loudly He woke Lazarus up."
This Gospel reveals much about the generosity of Lazarus
and his sisters toward Jesus. He overnighted with them often. He felt
their home was His house. "Nuestra casa tu casa." There He could chill
out. They would summon Him to a lasagne and chianti supper after a nap.
They would spend the evening playing Scrabble. Next day He would leave
refreshed.
It could be said of this family what Wordsworth's friend
said of him after his death, "Thou had for weary feet the gift of
rest." We would do well to copy their style. In the Bethany
family's case, the guest was the Christ. We shall have to
be satisfied with a surrogate Christ. "Be not loath to entertain
strangers," wrote Paul, "for thereby some have entertained Christ
unawares."
Also, when Jesus received the sisters' messenger asking
Him to
return to Bethany, there was a price on His head. It would be
unhealthy for Him to return behind enemy lines. Yet, He rolled up His
sleeping bag and moved out of the mountain's safety.
Lazarus was in trouble. He would go to his side no matter
the consequences to His person. He believed Woody Allen's dictum that
showing up is two-thirds of life. This beau geste says much about the
character of Christ. It tells us that we can expect the same
consideration from Him also. It suggests He would have us help others
in trouble. A sorrow shared, said Shakespeare, is a sorrow halved. You
know now whose game plan Dr Menninger was following.
The Lazarus story informs us that the Savior hated death.
His weeping is evidence of that. Jesus reveals to us that God is upset
when nasty things happen to people whether saints or sinners.
Jesus is the God of life and not of death. He came to do
battle with death and vanquish it. Ezekiel today tells us this welcome
message from God. "I will open your graves and have you rise..."
If we comprehend the Lord with another mind-frame, then
we are stuck with a faux Jesus. The genuine Christ longs for the hour
when death will go belly up for each of us.
Check what Jesus says to Martha. "I am the resurrection
and the life." The Galilean emphasizes He is the God of the living. Why
do we keep saying over corpses lying in our middle aisles, "Eternal
rest grant unto you." Is it not more correct to take our cue from this
Gospel and say, "Eternal life grant unto you."?Jesus never said,
"I am the resurrection and the
rest."
If we think of Heaven as a place to collect bedsores, why
not dress the dead in cheap pajamas from Wal-Mart rather than in
expensive traveling clothes? Obviously Jesus thinks of Heaven as a
place where we go to party hearty and look our best. To make Heaven
otherwise is to make it dullsville. No wonder even the best of us are
loath to quit this present existence. Who wants to go to a dull party
that goes on for eternity?
Martha replies to Christ that she knows her brother will
rise down the road. Jesus replies sharply, "I am the resurrection and
the life." So, if Jesus becomes the mainstay of our lives, we can
experience resurrection in the now and here. Who really wants to wait
for a resurrection years away?
We say what Jesus did for Lazarus was super. Was it? In
Heaven, every tear is wiped away and all pain removed. Why would
Lazarus want to leave paradise and return to earth with all its
problems? Furthermore, he would have to die again. Once is enough. I
wager an angry Lazarus said to Jesus as he came outof the tomb,
"With friends like you, who needs enemies?"
Jacqueline Kennedy, who unhappily for her was an
authority on death,said, "The Catholic Church is at its best at
the time of death. Its message is that death is not the putting out of
light. It is rather turning off the lamp because the dawn has come."
|
|
http://www.st.ignatius.net/pastor.html
5 Lent
|
Jesus, Lord of Life
This week, I would like to offer a poetic meditation.
It wasn’t in God’s plan. He never intended it to take place. It
resulted from the masterpiece of His creation choosing it. "Through the
sins of one man death has come into the world, through the obedience of
another life has come."
Why? Because mankind, and the word Adam means mankind, decided that his
intimate union with God was not as important as his desire for power.
He would rather not have such a close union if it meant relegating
every other aspect of creation as secondary to his relationship with
God. Mankind pushed aside life and chose that which is not life, death.
It was God’s plan to give mankind the ability to choose. It was never
God’s plan for mankind to chose so poorly.
Death and the forces of evil, the forces of death, had won. Or had they?
"Come quickly Lord, Lazarus is dying." Lazarus had become a close
friend of the Lord. So also, his sisters, Martha and Mary. Now, you
would think that Jesus would run to their home in Bethany. Instead he
waited. He waited because he knew that he could use Lazarus to provide
a sign of life conquering death. He waited because he knew that the
forces of evil would begin their plan to kill him if he were publically
seen in this village just outside of Jerusalem. "Let’s go with him,"
Thomas said, "so we can die with him." Brave words from the apostle who
was far more than a doubter.
And Jesus wept. Yes, He cries with all who are mourning the loss of a
loved one.
But Jesus doesn’t just weep. As a sign that life conquers death, he
calls, "Lazarus come out."
Lazarus does not rise from the tomb like Jesus would rise from the dead
as we will celebrate on Easter Sunday two weeks from today. Someone
else rolls back the stone for Lazarus. He still wears the burial
cloths. He did not have a glorified body as the Lord would have. Nor
was his leaving the tomb permanent. Lazarus would eventually die again.
Lazarus was not the point. Jesus is the Lord of Life. That is what this
is about.
"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" 1
Corinthians 15:55.
People die. A lot of people die. Everyone dies. Old people die, young
people die. Children die.
This isn’t right. It was not meant to be. It isn’t. Jesus Christ is the
Lord of Life. Death does not control him, nor does it control those who
are his. Yes, physical lives still come to an end, but life continues
for those who live in
Jesus Christ.
And Jesus told Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever
believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and
believes in me will never die."
Our loved ones who have embraced the life of Jesus and who have ended
the physical expression of their lives have begun purely spiritual
lives.
Jesus Christ has conquered death. He calls us out of the tomb of a dead
world to join him in life.
Our choices must be those that lead to and nurture life. We have to
abandon the empty promises of materialism. We have to renounce the
brief thrills of sin. We have to listen to the summons to come out of
the tombs we have constructed for ourselves and come into the light and
life of the Lord.
The long gospel account of the raising of Lazarus prepares us for the
Easter celebration by reminding us that we have been summoned to join
the Lord of Life in his conquest of death.
"Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the
one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but
has passed from death to life." John 5:24
|
|
http://www.geocities.com/seapadre_1999/
* available in Spanish - see Spanish
homilies
5 Lent
|
Overcoming Power of Death
(March 9, 2008)
Bottom line: In the Third Scrutiny we pray, "Do not let the power of
death hold them back we pray." The life of Robert Schuman illustrates
how Jesus can overcome the power of death.
On this Fifth Sunday of Lent we hear about Jesus raising Lazarus from
the dead. And today our catechumens will receive the Third Scrutiny
(pre-baptismal exorcism). It contains these wonderful words: "Do not
let the power of death hold them back."
To illustrate this exorcism, I would like to tell you about a man who
did not let the power of death hold him back. His name was Robert
Schuman. Born of a French father and Luxembourg mother in Lorraine, the
disputed territory between Germany and France, Schuman was a true
"citizen of Europe." In 1900, when he was only 14 years old, his father
died. A decade later, his mother perished in a coach accident. With the
death of his parents, Robert Schuman considered the religious life, but
he decided instead to pursue the lay apostolate. As a young lawyer and
politician, he combated corruption in the steel industries. In 1940 the
Gestapo arrested him for anti-Nazi activities. Two years later he
escaped from prison and joined the French underground.
After World War II Schuman surveyed the devastation of Europe. Instead
of recriminations he helped France, Germany and Italy find a basis for
lasting peace. On May 9, 1950, he made a public appeal for European
unity. The appeal became known as Schuman Declaration; it led to the
formation of the European Coal and Steel Community, eventually
blossoming into the European Union. May 9 is now observed as Europe Day
and the European Parliament declared Schuman the "father of Europe."
Because of the vision of Robert Schuman - and other Christian leaders
such as Alcide De Gasperi and Konrad Adenauer - the European nations
have achieved over six decades of peace and steady prosperity.
Considering that continent's history of perpetual warfare, it seems a
miracle. Robert Schuman could easily have given in to the power of
death - as did many people who turned cynical after the horrors of
World War II. But he did not. Schuman drew strength from daily
attendance at Mass and in-depth study of the Bible. The diocese of Metz
is promoting his cause for canonization. A few years ago they presented
fifty thousand pages of testimony to the Congregation for the Causes of
the Saints. I hope one day we will be able to say, "St. Robert Schuman,
pray for us." Even now any Christian can ask God for a miracle in his
name.
The greatest miracle, of course, is to overcome death. Jesus did that
when he called Lazarus from the tomb. Robert Schuman did that by
dedicating himself to the lay apostolate. As a Christian political
leader he helped his generation stand against the power of death. In
that spirit we pray the third and final exorcism over our catechumens:
"Do not let the power of death hold them back." May we - like Robert
Schuman - recognize that only One can defeat the power of death. The
One who says to us, "I am the Resurrection and the Life."
**********
Tragic news - Fr. Paul Dalton, one of the younger priests of the
Seattle Archdiocese, died suddenly on February 29. The Funeral Mass for
Fr. Paul will take place on Thursday, March 6, 11 a.m., at Mary, Queen
of Peace in Sammamish, where Fr. Paul was previously pastor. There will
be a Vigil on Wed, March 5, 7 p.m., at Holy Disciples Church in
Puyallup, the parish where Fr. Paul has currently been pastor. Tacoma
News Tribune has an article with a picture of Fr. Dalton.
Please offer a prayer for the eternal rest of Fr. Paul and for God's
consolation for his older brother, Fr. Jim Dalton and all the Dalton
family - as well as the parishioners of Holy Disciples in Puyallup and
Our Lady of Good Counsel in Eatonville.
Also urgent prayers for Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho and our Christian
brothers and sisters in Iraq.
Spanish Version
|
|
http://www.agreeley.com/homilies.html
5 Lent
|
5th Sunday of Lent John 11:1-45
Background:
This story of the raising of Lazarus is unique to John's gospel
and comes just prior to Jesus' Palm Sunday entrance to Jerusalem. John
uses this story, which probably has some roots in the collections of
stories about Jesus, to show that Jesus is the Messiah. This event is
the prelude to Jesus' own death and resurrection.. The story is filled
with significant occurrences. Jesus does not rush to Judea to keep
Lazarus from dying. Rather, Lazarus must die so Jesus can show his
mastery over death. The disciples are fearful of what will happen to
Jesus if he returns to Judea where the authorities are upset with him.
When this doesn't trouble Jesus, Thomas encourages the other to go with
Jesus in spite of the consequences, a model of discipleship. Many
Jewish people are in Bethany when Jesus arrives, so there will be
witnesses to this miracle. Jesus' response to Martha's belief in
resurrection on the last day gives John the opportunity to have her
acknowledge that Jesus is the Messiah. Lazarus is not merely sleeping,
he has been dead four days and there will be a great stench if they
open the tomb. As of result of Lazarus exit from the tomb, many of the
Jews believed in Jesus. John presents this as the final insult to the
religious leaders which leads them to plot to put Jesus to death.
Story:
I like to think of Lazarus (who was obviously the kid brother)
after Jesus left and even after he went back to the father in heaven.
Lazarus was very proud of the fact that he came back from the dead and
talked about it to everyone who would listen. He would describe in
minute detail hearing the voice of Jesus saying Lazarus come forth and
Martha complaining about how he would smell and the unwinding of the
clothes and the cheers from the crowd when he came out of the tomb.
Understandably Lazarus thought he was the center of the story. His
sisters on the other hand that Jesus was the center of the story (and
they after him) and that Lazarus was nothing but the corpse who
happened to be available. Sometimes they had really big fights about
it. Lazarus was accused of being stuck up and the sister of being vain.
Then one day after he rose from the dead, Jesus came to visit them.
(Does anyone think that, just because the scripture doesn’t mention
such a visit it didn’t happen? Gimme a break!) I want you guys to stop
fighting like this, he warned them. You have missed the point, just
like most people miss the point of what I do, but there’s less excuse
for you. Oh, they said, well what was the point? Jesus sighed. What do
you think the point was? Mary, who was the quickest of the three, said
well you loved all of us so much that you didn’t want our family to
break up while we were so kids. So you brought Lazarus back to us
because of love. That’s why you cried.
|
|
http://benedictine.stvincent.edu/archabbey/Weeklywords/Weeklywords.html
5 Lent
|
Mar, 09, 2008
John 11: 1-45
Demetrius R. Dumm, O.S.B.
Fifth Sunday of Lent
Gospel Summary
In John's gospel, Jesus is first and foremost the one who gives life.
In fact, the whole purpose of the gospel is "that believing you may
have life in his name" (20:31). From this perspective, the raising of
Lazarus from the grave is merely a preview of the definitive victory of
life in the resurrection of Jesus.
In human experience, death has always been the dragon that eats up our
hopes and spoils our plans and casts a shadow over even the brightest
days. But Jesus came to slay that dragon, and he will do this by means
of a power that at first sight seems hopelessly inadequate. It is the
power of loving. "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus."
This means that God loves us also.
This divine power is now made available in our world through the
presence of Jesus. In response to Martha's grief, he announces that he
is "the resurrection and the life." Such and absolute statement means
that his loving has taken him beyond the reach of death. Death is no
longer an end but merely an episode on the journey of life.
When Jesus sees how his friends are burdened by grief, he himself gives
way to tears and, deeply moved, goes forward to challenge the awesome
power of death. When Lazarus comes out of the tomb still bound with his
burial wrappings, Jesus says, "Untie him and let him go." This command
is an echo of the divine command of God to the Pharaoh to "let my
people go" (Exodus 5:1) and, long before that, to the power of darkness
to "let there be light" (Genesis 1:3). God has always stood for freedom
from bondage and darkness. And we can escape the dark shadow of the
dragon if we choose to participate in the love that liberates.
Life Implications
When we feel the cold hand of death upon us, whether it be through the
loss of a loved one or in the experience of our own mortality, we feel
so helpless that we are often reduced to an anguished, "Why?" or "Why
me?" At such times, we can identify easily with Martha when she said to
Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Of
course, Jesus is here all the while. It is just that he is more
concerned with a life that is so much more important that this fragile
existence that we call life. When Jesus asks us whether we believe in
his presence and power, we will be able hopefully to answer with a firm
"Yes
Jesus responded to the anguish of Martha by a powerful theological
affirmation: “I am the resurrection and the life.” But we learn a few
verses later that Jesus moved toward the raising of Lazarus only when
he noted the tears of Mary. Her accepted human vulnerability and her
total trust in Him are models that assure victory for us too over all
the forms of death and darkness.
Demetrius R. Dumm, O.S.B.
|
|
http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/lowhome.html
Meeting Christ in the Liturgy
5 Lent
|
Fifth Sunday
Ezekiel 37, 12-14; Psalm 130; Romans 8, 8-11; St. John 11, 1-45
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Jesus wept.
Our Lord's passionate love for us could not have taken him farther than
the Cross. He poured out the ultimate gift, his own life-blood and
broken body. His tears, whether over the death of his beloved friend
Lazarus or his own people who rejected him, were of the ultimate,
divine, compassion, and they bespoke his commitment to the Father's
will to the end for our sake.
The sign of resurrection he bestowed in raising Lazarus indicated the
object of our own hope. "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever
believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And whoever lives and
believes in me shall never die." We obtain this promise when we cast
all our sins, doubts, earthly attachments, and desire for human respect
behind our backs and run the race faithfully to meet the Lord.
We must desire Jesus Christ above all things, even life itself in this
world. By this we obtain Life everlasting.
Jesus links faith in the resurrection to his own person: "I am the
Resurrection and the life." (Jn 11:25) It is Jesus himself who on the
last day will raise up those who have believed in him, who have eaten
his body and drunk his blood. (Jn 6:40) Already now in this present
life he gives a sign and pledge of this by restoring some of the dead
to life, (Jn 11) announcing thereby his own Resurrection, though it was
to be of another order. He speaks of this unique event as the 'sign of
Jonah,' (Mt 12:39) the sign of the temple: he announces that he will be
put to death but rise thereafter on the third day. (Jn 2:19-22)" (CCC
994)
I look forward to meeting you here again next week as, together, we
"meet Christ in the liturgy"---Father Cusick
( Publish with permission.) www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/
|
|
http://www.ctk-thornbury.org.uk/
5 Lent
|
Sermon by Father Alex McAllister SDS Index
Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year A
It seems a bit strange that the Church presents us with this gospel
reading today on the Fifth Sunday of Lent, it seems to be clearly about
the resurrection and yet we haven't got there yet, we are still
plodding through Lent and have to get through Maundy Thursday and Good
Friday before we get to the resurrection. What's going on; have the
Church's liturgical engineers got it all wrong?
Can I suggest that this text is more about death than resurrection?
After all, Lazarus isn't walking around today; he had to undergo
another death. This text is more about our life and death here and now
rather than about the resurrection. We will have time enough to
consider the resurrection when we get to Easter Sunday and the weeks of
celebration afterwards.
St Ignatius in his book on the Spiritual Exercises suggests that when
we come to consider a particular Gospel passage we should put ourselves
in the place of each character in turn and use our imagination to see
how we would feel in the circumstances. This can be a most revealing
exercise.
How about putting yourself in the place of Lazarus? You are dead to
everything and then you hear a voice: 'Come out, Lazarus!' You look
around and there you are lying in a tomb swathed in bandages and
surrounded by darkness.
If we ask ourselves how we would feel the answer, of course, would be
different for everyone but I think we might be surprised at how many
would say: Thanks Lord, but I'd prefer to stay where I am.
But putting ourselves in Lazarus’s place we might feel we are unable to
move or perhaps we might become aware of how tomb-like our present way
of life really is. This exercise might arouse in us a sense of hope;
rekindle a longing for freedom which has perhaps been buried for years.
Putting ourselves into the place of a character from scripture can
awake all kinds of thoughts within us and lead us to turn to God in
prayer with new words on our lips. And yet it is something so simple
that we are surprised that we never thought about it ourselves.
I think that this Gospel reading is placed here in Lent to help us to
realise that we have to live this life to the full and that it is often
only through experiencing death that we are shocked into it. This can
happen to us in all sorts of ways; often it can happen through a loss
or bereavement, it might be through a religious experience, or a
meeting with someone significant. It may be a terrible mistake that we
have made or an experience of suffering. It is amazing how often it
takes something negative to make us realise how much there is that is
truly positive and worth living for.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the great writer and great Christian, was
implicated in a plot to assassinate the Tsar of Russia. He was not one
of the plotters but he was on the fringes of a group that wanted to
overthrow the established order. The plot was uncovered and he was
arrested and tried, found guilty and sentenced to death. He put in an
appeal even though the chances of getting a reprieve were non-existent.
In the meantime he was sent to a prison camp in Siberia where he
experienced some of the harshest conditions known to man. His appeal
was turned down and he was given a date for execution. The day came
round and he was put up against the wall to be shot. But at the very
last moment a messenger arrived with word from St Petersburg, his
sentence was commuted to four years penal servitude.
Dostoyevsky experienced a resurrection. He was a dead man; the book he
wrote about his prison life is called 'Scenes from the House of the
Dead', and the title literally sums up his experiences. He was dead; he
regarded himself dead, because just waiting for death like that can be
considered even worse than being dead. And then he was alive. And
although he had to endure very harsh conditions he was alive, and he
saw everything in a new way. He was able to live life to the full.
Dostoyevsky experienced life because he experienced death and this is
what made him a truly great writer. A writer who has been able to get
inside our souls and in his writing has explored some of our deepest
feelings and emotions.
This gospel is not here on this Sunday to get us to focus on the
resurrection of the body and life everlasting; that comes on Easter
Day. This Gospel is here to get us to wake up from our sleep and to
realise that we have some living to do. We are supposed to be
Christians. We are supposed to be followers of Jesus, the best man who
ever lived, the only man who ever fully lived. The only man who really
understood how to live.
And if we dare to accept the title Christian then we had better take a
few lessons in living. We had better stop moaning and groaning and
looking over our shoulder at others and saying: Would you look at her,
who does she think she is?
Stop putting a wet blanket over everything and live a bit. God has
given us this wonderful creation and all these wonderful people around
us, so let us open our eyes and talk to our neighbours and enjoy
ourselves.
We see the signs of spring all around us, and yet it is we who should
be the signs of spring to our neighbours and friends and workmates all
through the year.
But, of course, this is very hard for us. We have had years of training
not to get above ourselves, not to think well of ourselves, not to
enjoy ourselves. And the Church itself, with its penchant for rules and
regulations, has played its full part in this process. Most of us have
long experience of being pressed down and having our individuality and
creativity squashed out of us.
I can give you countless examples of people who have experienced a
resurrection in their lives. I know a man who lost his wife and one of
his own legs in a car accident. He had four young children. But he was
determined to do his best for them. He told me: 'I painted that
skirting board lying on my belly.' He brought those children up and is
so proud of them it is unbelievable. He walked two miles each week to
cheer up someone else who had lost a leg and was in the depths of
depression.
There are dozens of examples. And we have a few in the Gospel today,
apart from Lazarus himself. Look at Martha and Mary; they both blamed
Jesus for letting Lazarus die. Sounds incredible doesn't it? And yet it
is there in the text. But when they hear Jesus speak their faith is
restored.
But as we say Sunday after Sunday: We don't experience Christ in a
vacuum. We don't find him when things are bowling along as usual and we
are keeping our head down. We meet him in suffering, we meet him in
encounters with others, we meet him in challenging situations, we meet
him when we are vulnerable, we meet him basically when our defences are
down and we are open and receptive.
And he shows us the way. And the way is to be like him. And that means
getting close to people, it means living for others, it means healing
the sick, it means carrying other peoples burdens, it means loving the
poor, it means being close to the Father in prayer, it means dying to
self so we can rise to new life in him.
I heard about a sign outside a funeral parlour in Brooklyn it said: Why
walk around half dead when we can bury you for seventy-five bucks?
The question we need to ask is: Why walk around half dead when we have
new life in Christ?
|
|
Contact Father at cbonar@cfl.rr.com;
information about his book of homilies is available at www.clydebonar.com.
5 Lent |
Fifth Sunday of Lent, Cycle A
Readings: Ezekiel 37: 12-14; Romans 8: 8-11; John 11: 1-45
"Come Out" To Life
Introduction
A check on Google tells us life expectance has reached 77.8 years. A
new record high. We do everything we can to live a long, healthy life.
Begins with the new born. Immediately after birth, the APGAR test
checks the new baby's reflexes. Before enrolling in school, our
children have to be vaccinated to protect against certain diseases.
Adults are cautioned about their cholesterol and blood pressure, told
to eat right and exercise.
Get healthy, stay healthy.
What Physicians Could Not Cure, Christ Could Cure
When Jesus walked among us, even more health problems plagued the
people. Diseases and sicknesses modern medicine routinely just takes
care of were thought to be incurable. But, if the physician could not
cure, God could cure. And, people found out Christ could cure.
We know these miracles from Scripture. Christ made the blind to see and
the deaf to hear. Walking along one day, two blind men shouted, "Take
pity on us, Son of David." Jesus touched their eyes, and their sight
returned (Matt. 9:27-30). On another occasion, they brought him a deaf
man with a speech impediment (Mark 7: 31-35). Christ put his fingers
into the man's ears, touched his tongue with spittle, called
"Ephphatha," that is, "Be open," and the man could hear and speak
clearly.
Whatever the medical problem, Jesus could cure it. Fever? A touch of
his hand, and the fever of St. Peter's mother-in-law vanished in an
instant (Matt. 8:14-15). Dropsy? No problem. Christ cures dropsy (Luke
14:2-3). No illness proved too much for Jesus.
By curing diseases Christ showed his glory. A glory that even extended
to raising the dead from the tomb. Lazarus lies dying. Martha and Mary
send for Jesus. But, Christ delays. Arrives in Bethany four days after
Lazarus died. Why delay for four days? To make certain Lazarus was
really dead. To work the miracle of raising him from the dead, Lazarus
must in fact be dead.
Jesus goes to the tomb and calls, "Lazarus, come out!" And, he does.
Still wrapped with his burial cloth. Lazarus walks out of his tomb.
Christ can heal the sick, Christ can raise the dead. More than a gifted
physician, more than a faith healer, Christ is God the Son. He has
power over disease, power over death.
Christ Restored the Fullness of Life
We’ve got to talk about what the word "death" means. Because in our
readings today, we have three different meanings of death. To the
prophet Ezekiel, death means to be in exile; to Paul, death is to live
in sin; and in the Gospel, we hear of the physical death of Lazarus.
From each of these experiences of death, God wants to bring us from
death to life.
When the prophet Ezekiel lived the Babylonians had conquered the
Israelites, forced them to leave their homeland. To the prophet
Ezekiel, exile in Babylonia is a living death. The great Babylonian
empire had magnificent temples, but to pagan gods. Ezekiel feared the
Hebrew people would begin to worship the pagan idols.
In a dream the Lord God tells Ezekiel, "I will open your graves and
have you rise from them." The people were not dead and buried. What God
promises is to bring the Hebrew people home again.
To the Israelites, to come from death to life means to return home
again to Jerusalem, to escape from exile in Babylonia, to regain their
faith in the Lord God.
For Paul, to move from death to life means to stop living in sin. Paul
writes to the Romans, "The body is dead because of sin." The seven
deadly sins or the seven daily sins. Mortal sins or our own little list
of sins we like to do, and do over and over again. Sins kill us, Paul
says.
Who are the alive? The alive live in the Spirit of God. The alive love
God and love neighbor. The alive are kind, kind to people they like,
and kind to those they don't like very much. The alive are patient and
generous and faithful and gentle.
Paul tells us, our sins kill us, God's Holy Spirit brings us to life.
Only with Lazarus do we come to physical death. Jesus calls, "Lazarus,
come out!" Come back to life. Back to your sisters, Martha and Mary. Of
course, Lazarus will die a second time. But in the meantime, he’ll
enjoy again the love of his family, the friendship of neighbors. He’ll
romp with his grandchildren and celebrate Jewish holidays. Life will be
good, because it’s borrowed time, each minute to be savored as an extra
minute to live.
Three meanings of the word "death." To Ezekiel, exile in Babylonia is a
living death. To Paul, living in sin is death. Called from his tomb,
Lazarus was again alive, living on borrowed time.
Come Out From Death
Today, Jesus says to each of us: "Come out." "Come out" from all that
causes death. To "come out" and unite ourselves with the love of God,
to live in the spirit, to live in God.
We might start with marriage. A divorce rate at the fifty percent level
tells us a lot of marriages are dead. A woman told about an argument
with her husband. About whether to eat out or to eat at home. The fight
started. Words flew. The husband said, "We used to have a love that was
like a fire that lit up the night. Now, even the sparks have gone out."
The wife complained, "The romance is gone from our marriage."
Christ calls us to "come out" of these dead marriages. One couple keeps
their marriage alive by a romantic dinner alone at least once a month.
They call it a "date." When younger, after the kids were in bed,
husband and wife enjoyed a candle lit dinner with each other, alone,
like two young people in love on a date. With the kids older, the
couple still has their date; but the kids are with their grandparents.
Another example. Our love of sports can turn deadly. Way back in 1893,
the great baseball player turned evangelist, Billy Sunday, left the
Pittsburgh Pirates because, he said, professional baseball makes you
jealous and selfish. Same thing today. Fans often get violent. In
Europe, police use tear gas during riots at soccer matches. In our
country, each year during the Super Bowl, crisis centers add extra hot
lines, because spousal violence increases during the Super Bowl.
By contrast, one game I enjoy each year is the Army-Navy game.1 Because
of the sportsmanship and fair play. I recall one Army-Navy game when
not a single yellow flag was thrown. No fouls, no cheating, no
unnecessary roughness.
"Come out," Jesus says, enjoy the sport, but play fair. Too often we
forget, it really is how we play the game, not whether we win.
A third example. Perhaps too obvious, the death dealing over-indulgence
in computer video games. Eyes glued to the monitor, guns blasting,
shooting the bad guys. Or, playing soccer or football or baseball or
golf as a video game. The good part, eye hand coordination gets better
and better; the bad part, muscles to actually play sports get weaker
and weaker.
But, "When do they take time to read books?" Jesus says, "come out,"
get together a pick-up basketball game just for fun; or "come out,"
read a book.
Christ calls us from the structures of death to a new fullness of life.
To marriages centered on God, full of love; to sports played for the
fun of the game, not the pressure to win; to the adventure of reading,
not the violence of video games.
Conclusion
Today we celebrate the Fifth Sunday of Lent. As we journey with Christ
on his way to the Cross, we are called to examine our lives and, like
we were told on Ash Wednesday, turn away from sin. Paul calls us to
live "in the spirit," "not in the flesh;" open to the love and peace of
God.
Alternate Conclusion When Celebrating the Third Scrutiny
Today we celebrate the Fifth Sunday of Lent. As we journey with Christ
on his way to the Cross, we are called to examine our lives and, like
we were told on Ash Wednesday, turn away from sin. Paul calls us to
live "in the spirit," "not in the flesh."
As we celebrate the Third Scrutiny with our catechumens, let us and
them conquer our sinfulness. Let us "come out" of the structures of
death. Let us dwell in the spirit, opening ourselves to the love and
peace of God. |
|
|
|
These
homilies may be copied and adapted for your own use;
however, they may not be commercially published without permission of
the author.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
