Mar 28, 2020

5th Sunday of Lent: "Whoever believes in me . . . will live"


(Rembrandt van Rijn - The raising of Lazarus)

"Whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live"

John 11: 3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-45


This past Friday our Holy Father Pope Francis offered a deeply moving plea to God in a virtually empty St. Peter square as the sun was setting and rain falling. Walking starkly alone in the rain, up the steps of the Basilica before the enormous facade of St. Peter’s with nearly no assistance he took his place under a lit canopy and faced an empty square.  It is hard to imagine, surreal at the least, what might have been going through his mind.  As I and two others joined along with likely millions around the world in this sobering moment one could feel the silence fall and great hope arise.

Pope Francis prayed, the Gospel passage was read of the storm on the sea which told the story of Jesus who slept in the boat, was awaken by the disciples and then calmed the turbulent waters. Then the Pope reflected on that passage finally asking: “Lord wake up! “in a plea that Christ would heal this world and the effects of the present pandemic.  Before a famed icon of the Blessed Mother and as he stood before a 16th century crucifix which ended the plague in Rome his prayer was made more powerful as the world was blessed with the Holy Eucharist. This was no liturgical drama but a deep and desperate prayer to heaven for God to have mercy upon us.

Our Christian perspective on this crisis in the face of feeling helpless is not one of despair, however, but of hope. As tough as it can be to sustain hope, there is reason for it. This Sunday we have a Gospel passage which assures us of that truth.  We hear Jesus telling Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life “as he calls the very dead Lazarus from his tomb, now alive. 

Of all the miracle stories in the Gospels I think the raising of Lazarus is certainly among the most emotional and 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 heart wrenching.  Then, the most dramatic moment when Jesus demands the stone before Lazarus tomb be rolled away; he then shouts, “Lazarus, come out!” and the formally dead man walks out of the tomb. The burial cloths which bind his body are removed and Lazarus is alive again.  If that doesn’t move you, check your pulse.

So, we can certainly find ourselves caught in the scene and no doubt this miracle was the final straw that broke the camel’s back as it were for Jesus.  Not much later, he enters Jerusalem to the wave of palm branches, adoring crowds and the authorities had enough – they plot his demise.  Yet, this story is not about this event as much as it remains another story of faith.  A moment of encounter with Jesus whose very presence and invitation to Martha is the same for us: “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?”

Do you believe that even in the face of what seems so final, death itself, God remains a source for life, hope, transformation, and Christian joy? It may also be seen as Jesus reading out to us who feel sadness, despair, spiritual darkness, isolation.

The story of the raising of Lazarus is one of the “signs” that John relates for us.  Water into wine was the first of Jesus’ “signs.”  That is, that in this miracle we look beyond what was done to the person who did it and as a result place our faith in him.  Jesus is the ‘sign” of the Father’s presence among us; he is the Word of God who becomes a sign of the Father’s love for humanity – and we are called to faith in him; to transformation – new life in Christ.

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 he comes out alive. 

I have always been moved in the Lazarus story that even in the face of death and Martha’s understandable disappoint when Jesus did not come to Bethany when first told of Lazarus terminal condition, even with all that, Martha still knew that Jesus could do something: “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died.  But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” In the presence of what seems so final and absolute, you can still do something.  What great faith! 

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 in reference to Jesus: “Because he is who he says he is, what Jesus says is.” I am the resurrection and the life – and we can be absolutely 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 turn to Christ Jesus we find not just a wise teacher but a Savior who calls us to life and does for us what we could never do for ourselves.  The sacramental signs of our Church are a living reminder to us that Christ continues to call us to faith.

As Pope Francis reminded us with his desperate but trust filled plea for the healing of a world by our God who is life itself, we too are called to trust at this time.  An Easter miracle is not beyond the power of God.  May we always have faith in the risen One who invites us to believe in the “resurrection and the life.”

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. Although we very sadly are not able to gather for that bread of heaven at this time we are not abandoned. We confidently know that despite what might seem the end is really the beginning: “Even now, you can still do something.”

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 5th Sunday)

No comments: