5th Sunday of Lent: "Lazarus, come out!"

 

"Untie him and let him go"

John 11: 1-45

The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032226.cfm

Several years ago, in the midst of the pandemic, our late Holy Father Pope Francis offered a deeply moving plea to God in St. Peter square for the end of the Corona virus and the suffering it was causing. As the sun was setting and rain falling, he walked alone, up the steps of the Basilica before the enormous facade of St. Peter’s and with nearly no assistance he took his place under a lit canopy and faced a vast and empty square.  It is hard to imagine, surreal at the least, a more dramatic moment. What may have been going through his mind is unknown but a more sober and solemn time has not been equalled with both sadness and faith, life in the face of death. In a symbolic way, Pope Francis as a courageous pastor stood directly before the darkness with the power of faith and hope

This Sunday we have a Gospel passage which assures us of that same truth.  We hear Jesus telling Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life.” Followed shortly by the forceful command of Jesus, “Lazarus come out!” when the formerly dead Lazarus walked out of the tomb to the stunned reaction of the crowd. Jesus stood before death and commanded its grip to release Lazarus. Death no longer would have a final grasp on us and Jesus shows us that God has ultimate power over darkness and death.

Of all the miracle stories in the Gospels I think the raising of Lazarus is certainly among the most vivid.  We cannot help but feel the grief of Jesus who wept at hearing of the death of his friend Lazarus. The pleading of Martha to Jesus to come to Bethany, Jesus deliberate delay in going, and his meeting with Martha who states: “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died,” is both heart wrenching and puzzling. Why did Jesus delay his journey to Bethany knowing well that Lazarus was terminal?

So, we can certainly find ourselves caught in the scene and we learn that this miracle was the final straw that broke the camel’s back as it were for Jesus.  In essence, he signed his own death warrant with this public display of divine power. It placed a bullseye on his back and enraged the authorities to confirm that he was a dangerous threat to the Jewish status quo and a disturbance to Roman power over the people.

Our Lord was well aware of what would happen and despite that warning, he enters Jerusalem to the wave of palm branches, adoring crowds proclaiming him to be King. Authorities had enough so they plot his demise.  This story, however, is not about that as much as it remains another story of faith.  A moment of encounter with Christ whose very presence and invitation to Martha is the same for us when Jesus states: “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. Do you believe this?”

Jesus here calls Martha to a higher level of belief in him. Do you, Martha, believe that even in the face of what seems so final, death itself, God remains a source for life, hope, transformation, and Christian joy? 

 The story of the raising of Lazarus is the Word of God who becomes a sign of the Father’s love for humanity – and we are called to place our faith in him; to be transformed to a new awareness as his spiritual sons and daughters of Christ. God knows what we do not know and sees what we do not see.

Two weeks ago the Samaritan woman discovered the Messiah and his endless “living water.” Last Sunday the man born blind found the new sight of faith in the One who is “light of the world.” And today, we are called to recognize that not even death itself can stop the power of God to bring us eternal life and hope in this world. Certainly, the life giving sacrament of baptism and the spiritual effects of that grace are signified here.

While the story of Lazarus has no symbol of water yet it is the power of Jesus’ word and our faith in him that brings about a transformation – new life. "Lazarus, come out!" and, merely at his command, he comes out alive.

While the raising of Lazarus remains a profound moment in Jesus’ public ministry, it remains for us a call to place our faith in the One whose word is truth.  As Bishop Robert Barron also says about Jesus: “Because he is who he says he is, what Jesus says is.” I am the resurrection and the life – and we can be confident that our faith in him lifts us up, takes away fear and provides hope even in the faith of temptation and darkness.

When we gather for the celebration of the Mass, we recognize that we encounter the same Christ who raised Lazarus and who now becomes present to us under the signs of bread and wine that he may overcome the darkness and death in our life and we may see him as our Lord, the Son of the living God. The sacramental signs of our Church are a living reminder to us that Christ continues to call us to faith.

Let us not forget, the celebration of our Eucharist, then, is that prime sign of his risen presence with us.  His Body and Blood call us to unity and provide the confidence to keep on going as an essentially optimistic people who are not overcome by fear, isolation, materialism, or false hopes this world may provide.

 ---------------------------------------------

As true man he wept for Lazarus his friend

and as eternal God raised him from the tomb,

just as taking pity on the human race,

he leads us by sacred mysteries to new life. 

(From the Preface for Sunday)

Fourth Sunday of Lent: "I was blind but now I see!"

"I came into this world so that those who do not see might see"

The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031526.cfm

Criminal investigations and courtroom dramas are popular themes for books and movies. It all began with the television lawyer, Perry Mason, whose investigations and surprise findings always made that series popular. British author Agatha Christie and her murder mysteries and American novelist John Grisham are well-known examples. A personal favorite of mine is a British series, the Fr. Brown mysteries, based on a character developed by G. K. Chesterton.Who knew what, when, and how much did they know is essentially a search for the truth.The added anticipation of the rose colored vestments this Sunday, should bring a joy that Easter is not far off.

From the exciting Gospel story this Sunday of the man who was healed of blindness by Jesus, we have a wonderful investigative process which unfolds before us. It begins with Jesus doing something a bit weird. He makes a mud paste with his saliva then smears it on the man's blind eyes. What may seem as a strange action really becomes a sign of the waters of baptism.  As the man went to the pool of Siloam to wash away the mud on his eyes, so too the question  of sin being a cause of the blindness is washed away as sin is cleansed through the waters of baptism. How rich in meaning are the open lines of this story. 

On the one side you have the man who was healed in defense of “Who” healed him. On the other side are the sceptical and self-righteous Pharisees who demand their answer to “how and what” happened. In this case the “who” is far more significant to the story than the “what or how.” This process is also reminiscent of our lives as Christians in the world.  We face a critical and questioning world in defense of our Christian faith.

Though the man claimed to be born blind the Pharisees doubt his story and imply perjury on the part of the formerly blind man: “The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and gained his sight . . .” (Jn 9: 18) so they call in two witnesses to verify their suspicion: the parents of the man who claimed to be healed by Jesus. In fear, they defer to their son: “. . .” (Jn 9: 21).

The investigation continues as a division appears between the testimony of the formerly blind man, the crowds, the parents, and the suspicion of the Pharisees about Jesus: “. . . We know that this man is a sinner . . .” (Jn 9: 24). But the Pharisees insist on hearing, again, what happened and how it was done by Jesus. The man who can see only knows that Jesus gave him sight. Such compassionate power is not the work of a "sinner."

Yet, the poor man who was blind is caught in the middle and is eventually expelled from the synagogue. Still, his insistence that Jesus was a good man, a prophet from God never waivers. Finally, after being barred, Jesus finds him: “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” (Jn 9: 35) Jesus asks the man who kneels before him and looks directly into his eyes. The man who can now see confirms his faith: “I do believe, Lord.” (Jn 9: 38).

Like the story last week about the woman at the well, this man is a sign of all of us who are called to renewed faith this season of Lent. In fact, these are stories, based in true events, of how we come to faith.  The woman became a missionary disciple as she went to tell others about Jesus, then brought them to him where he stayed for two days.

This is a very tough time we now live in.  In the season of Lent we have graced opportunities to center our lives on Christ, to see him, to recognize the blindness of our sin and apathy, to come to the Eucharist with all that we have and are and allow ourselves to be healed that we may “see” the Christ who has saved us and live according to his way.

This formerly blind man comes to believe through a personal encounter with Jesus.  Not only is his blindness healed, which he never requested be done, but through God’s reaching out to us, we come to see that he is the One who offers us new “sight;” he is the “light of the world.” From darkness to light the man has gone; from ignorance to knowledge to faith in Christ, who is the light of the world. Is that not our own Lenten journey and that of our Elect?

As St. Paul writes so beautifully in the second reading today from Ephesians: “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light . . .” (Eph 5: 8-9). The “what” and the “who” questions lead us to see the truth – who Jesus alone.

So, what sort of blindness covers us? Sometimes it isn’t physical – it is a spiritual blindness that is darker; a “know it all” attitude rooted in pride. The Pharisees, in the end, are blasted by Jesus. The Pharisees, blinded by their own self-importance cannot “see” or recognize the source of all truth in Jesus who comes as the “Son of Man” a Messianic title.

The Eucharist stands before us as a sign of the living Christ whom we encounter in receiving him who saved us under that sign of bread. Light of the World for all to follow. Do I “see” him? Do I see his presence in my brothers and sisters?

O God, who through your Word

reconcile the human race to yourself

in a wonderful way, grant that with prompt devotion 

the Christin people may hasten

toward the solemn celebrations to come.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, 

who lives and reigns with you

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God, for ever and ever. 

(Collect for Sunday)

 

 

 

2nd Sunday: From the desert, to the mountain

 

"This is my beloved Son . . . listen to him"

Matthew 17: 1-9

The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030126.cfm

For after he had told the disciples of his coming Death,

on  the holy mountain he manifested to them  his glory,

to show, even by the testimony of the law and the prophets,

that the Passion leads to the glory of the Resurrection.

(from the preface for Mass)

Last Sunday our Gospel took us into the desert with Jesus where he confronted the power of evil face to face and resisted that dark power thereby establishing the ultimate purpose of his mission; to reclaim his creation and rescue us from sin and death. To conquer sin and death on behalf of all humanity.

This Sunday, we find ourselves on a mountain top.  A very different scene takes place as Christ is transfigured, significantly changed in appearance before the eyes of three select disciples: Peter, James and John.

Their reaction is understandable.  Impulsive but sincere Peter blurts out: “Let’s stay here. In fact, we’ll construct three tents for everyone.” Such enthusiasm is admirable, but Peter and the other Apostles are just overwhelmed by what they see.   

Here Jesus reveals his divinity and his link to the law and the prophets which foretold of the coming of the Savior. Yet this drama began centuries before with the call of Abram in the desert, our first reading from Genesis.  Abram, later Abraham, is an old man when he is called by God to leave his “father’s house” and move out into a new land with merely a promise from God that he would be blessed significantly. To bless and to be a blessing in this context is a promise of partnership, a friendship with God That blessing we see fulfilled in Jesus and he confirms this before his three disciples. But for all it is faith that is the guide for Abram.  It is faith that here is presented as our guide through life as well.  Abram put his trust in God although God revealed very little of what he wanted Abram to do despite the odds that were against both he and Sarah his elderly wife.

On that mountain, for Peter, James and John, it was a call to believe in wht they saw. Jesus knew well the dark days of his passion and death were approaching.  That his trusted men would be faced with shock, disillusion, fear, confusion, and despair.  For the chosen three Apostles, that mountain top experience was meant to strengthen them and to assure them that what may have been seen as a tragic end to a glorious beginning, was not the end at all.  It was the divine stamp of approval on all that Jesus was about to do.  Only by faith could they believe and hold on to that truth.

St. Thomas Aquinas put it this way:

Peter was the one who loved Jesus the most. John was the one who Jesus loved the most, and James would be the first among them to give his life for Christ.

It indeed makes sense. 

The focus was not on them so much as it clearly was on Jesus transfigured before them.  Christ affirmed that he was the word made flesh; that although the disciples had only experienced the Jesus of history, they now are blessed to see the Jesus of faith and the divine connection with Old and New Testaments that Christ fulfilled in his mission.

This second Sunday of our Lenten journey brings us face to face, then, with a moment of our own faith.  Can I hold on to my belief despite what may appear before me as a life of doubt? That is, Jesus is not only a human being.  His nature is both human and divine; that his mission is beyond this world and that he has come in the line of the prophets as the sign of God’s new Covenant, originally established through Abram (our first reading from Genesis) and Moses as the final fulfilment of that sacred Law.

For three Jews to witness such an event it would have all come together in a profound way.  God has fulfilled his promise to Israel and to all of humanity.  This is God’s answer to our sinful disobedience which estranged us from God. (Recall last Sunday’s story of Adam and Eve from Genesis 2).  Now, in Christ, his future passion, death and resurrection, a new and eternal Covenant is established between God and humanity. Still, why not build three tents?  Why not hold on to this glory?

In the end, the grace of God, his blessing as it were, is given to us all so that we may listen more attentively to recognize the voice of God in our own moments of change or transfiguration.  Isn’t that the desert we walk this Lent?  To discover that we are blessed with mercy from God and that this Lent is always a time for us to stop talking and to listen to God that we may be changed. As St. Paul reminded us: “we walk by faith and not by sight.” (2 Cor 5:7)

At this time in Lent, let’s maybe pause for a moment.  Ask yourself how things are for you in your spiritual life. Do I still talk too much in prayer before God?  Can I take some time and add more silence in my life, turn to the Lord in a time of prayer, ask him to reveal himself to you, and to simply listen to his response.  Do I hear what the Lord is calling me to at this time in my life? 

Add more silence in your life this Lent. Create an atmosphere which is less distracting and more attentive to God’s presence in prayer, in charitable service, in the sacraments, in compassion for another, at a time when we include another without judgement and recognize their human dignity, in the sacred Word of God, in the Holy Eucharist, in spiritual reading, in a tough time. All these are moments of encounter with Christ, but do I hear him? It may not be a shining face, a voice from clouds above or even at a mountain top moment. How, when or where God will speak to us we will never know if we are not paying attention or wrapped in our own preconceived perception of holiness or self - righteousness.

Peter, James and John are more like us than we may admit.  They needed to learn and to be formed in the Gospel truth of who Jesus was and who he remains, but they eventually made the grade.  They learned to listen to him.

At Mass we hear his Word, and we encounter his living presence in the Eucharist - are we changed by him?  Let's pray this Lent teaches us to listen more and talk less that by his grace we may be changed for Easter resurrection.  The Word and the Cross is our hope.

 

1st Sunday of Lent - Sin enters but so does hope

 

(Jesus tempted in the wilderness: James Tissot - Brooklyn Museum)

"One does not live on bread alone . . . "

Matthew 4: 1-11

The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022226.cfm

Grant, almighty God, 

through the yearly observances of holy Lent,

that we may grow in understanding

of the riches hidden in Chreist

and by worthy conduct pursue their effects.

(from the Collect of the Mass)

Sometimes, during child raising, a parent may imply a method dubbed “reverse psychology.”  I’m not sure if that is an actual technique used by counsellors for example, but it seems to work at times in parenting.

In other words, you confront your child daring them to go ahead and do what they claim they will do rather than what you are asking them to not do.  “Ok, run away from home.  Here’s your hat and coat.  In fact, I’ll pack your bags for you.”  The defiant child walks out of the house, bag in hand covered in their coat.  Five minutes later, they walk back in, go to their room, close the door, and sit there reconsidering their initial choice. It worked!

From the very beginning it seems we always want what may not be good for us, but we choose it anyway. We stubbornly insist that our way is better. By following our own will, rather than the wisdom of another, we become the sole determiner of what is right and wrong.

Now, that brings us to our first reading from Genesis this first Sunday of Lent. It relates the fall of Adam and Eve and our Gospel. Here Adam and Eve the first humans, who lived in total bliss and harmony with God, who had an abundance of satisfaction and no need for anything are told by God amid all this beauty: “You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.” God refers of course to the tree of good and evil. Yet, like the child, Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit anyway. They give in to the tempters lie and in doing so become “like gods” in the sense that they chose to determine their own criteria for what is right and wrong; good and evil. They follow the words of Satan, the tempter, illustrated as a slithering, talking snake. And the rest is human history – sin enters. In their act of disobedience our human ancestors choose pride. Rather than follow the will of God; to recognize good and evil as God determines, they sadly become the sole challenger of God and determine their own criteria for moral decision making.

God gave them a self-governing power called free will as he gives to each of us. So, Adam and Eve represent what we now find in ourselves. I can freely choose my own way rather than God’s: to obey or to disobey.  But that choice may be disordered due to sin. And sin has gotten humanity into an impossible situation; one we could not get ourselves out of.

So, God himself continually steps into human history, calling to us, making covenants, raising prophets, patiently putting up with our unfaithfulness, and at last sent the only one who could rescue us – his own Son, Jesus the Christ. The entire Old Testament is a love story in which the beloved is determined to build a relationship with the loved.

As Paul puts it in our second reading: “Just as through one transgression (Adam and Eve) condemnation came upon all, so through one righteous act (Jesus’ death and resurrection) acquittal and life came to all.” Paul provides the answer to why God sent his Son, out of love and to break the bond of death and sin for all eternity, that we may share eternal life with him.

That brings us to a desert.  It all began in a garden but now begins again in a desert where the new Adam will ultimately obey to the end. A far less attractive location where Jesus, after fasting forty days and nights, is hungry, weak, and vulnerable. Soon, the same deceiver comes along not as a snake but as himself. While scholars have debated just how much did the devil know about the mission of Jesus or fully who he was, the great liar certainly is determined to pull Jesus away from his purpose.

The temptations begin at the base level of hunger, bodily satisfaction, but quickly go to the deeper level of pride and power.  Jesus is tempted to choose that which seemed secure and definite.  I’m hungry so I should eat something.  It’s only bread after all and I can have it now.  This was followed by the opportunity to gain praise from those around him as he would throw himself down and angels would fly to his rescue.  So, seek satisfaction, enjoy the praise, and embrace power. Sound familiar?

Here there is more than temptation which we all experience.  Here we find Jesus embracing the human experience of sin to break its force. You cannot win a battle except by entering the fray and confronting the enemy to conquer his power. So, Jesus does by resisting all three temptations to pleasure, power, glory and fame. 

This is not a war of words with the devil but a test between deception and truth; between all the other trees and just this one; a test of wills. A call to obey all that the Father has asked and a place of confrontation between powers in which God has the final word. Because of Jesus’ own resistance, his obedience to his full mission, the doors of forgiveness and mercy have been opened.  Jesus affirmed that love for God, his will for us, is the only way to follow the truth we hear in the Scriptures, and we celebrate in the Sacraments. This new Adam gets it right and the deadly power of sin as the final word is destroyed. We remember this each time we gather for the liturgy.

In the holy Eucharist, this bread made for us by Christ not in a desert but on a cross, we know that the price our Lord paid remains the model of our living.  He gave his life that we may have life and he feeds us with his very presence in order to provide all that we need.  In this desert of Lent may we let ourselves be caught by the lover who seeks to heal what is broken. All of this is what we give thanks for in the Eucharist which Jesus left us as a memorial – “Do this in memory of me.”

May our Lenten journey lead us to confront the power of sin in our lives, seek forgiveness in confession, and reorient our life direction in imitation of the example set by Christ, our new Adam.