"I am the resurrection and the life"
John 11: 1-45
The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032623.cfm
Three years ago our 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 equaled 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 “as he
calls the very dead Lazarus from his tomb, now alive. Jesus stood before death
and commanded its power to release Lazarus and at his word, Lazarus was
restored to life.
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 heart wrenching.
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. It placed a bullseye on his back and enraged
the authorities to confirm that he was a threat to Roman stability and power
over the people. It reminds us that Jesus’ death was essentially not for
religious reasons but rather for political ones.
Our Lord was well aware of
what would happen and despite that threat, he enters Jerusalem to the wave of
palm branches, adoring crowds proclaiming him to be King. 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 Christ
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 reaching
out to us who feel sadness, despair, spiritual darkness, isolation.
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 faith in him; to be transformed to a new awareness as
his spiritual sons and daughters of 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.” 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 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.
As Pope Francis reminded us
with his desperate but trust filled plea to God for the healing of a fearful world,
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.
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)
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