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Homily:
5th Sunday in Lent – Cycle A
“Now a man was ill, Lazaras
from Bethany.” Perhaps we’ve heard this
scripture a number of times before, but I’m guessing that, because of our
present circumstances, we might hear these words in a new way today. In this time of heightened anxiety about the severity
of illness that the coronavirus can cause, none of us can sit back and hear the
words, “Now a man was ill...” and not think of the countless men and women who
have fallen ill over these past months; perhaps even more so given that men and
women increasingly close to home are also starting to fall ill. Any of us who have a human heart beating in
our chest have, perhaps, become much more sensitive to news of anyone becoming
ill. Maybe today, therefore, as we hear
these words, we are even more anxious to hear what good news the Gospel can
speak to us; and so, let us see what our Gospel reading speaks to us today.
Martha, Mary, and Lazarus were
close friends of Jesus. The Gospel tells
us that “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus”. Because of this close friendship, the three
of them had come to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah and they put their faith
in his ability to heal even mortal sicknesses.
And so, when Lazarus fell ill, Martha quickly sent word to Jesus, hoping
that he’d come to save her brother from this illness. Jesus didn’t come right
away, however, and Lazarus died. In
fact, by the time Jesus had arrived, Lazarus had already been in the tomb four
days.
Because of this, Martha and
Mary both confront Jesus, saying: “If you had been here, my brother would not
have died!” They are hurt because Jesus
did not appear to respond as quickly as they, because of their friendship,
expected that he would. Jesus, in spite
of already knowing what he was going to do, nonetheless displays the fullness
of his humanity when, confronted by the sorrow being experienced by these
sisters whom he dearly loved, he himself weeps.
It’s a touching moment that we would do well to consider any time that
we experience a loss in our own lives, but especially now when this experience
is so tangibly apparent. But let’s imagine for a moment that the story ended
there: Jesus weeping while Lazarus remains dead in the grave. If that were the case, he’d be a great
teacher, prophet, consoler, and even, perhaps, friend, but he wouldn’t be God.
Thus, when we hear Jesus tell
Martha plainly, “I am the resurrection and the life”, we hear something
different. With these words, Jesus is
telling her that it isn’t just his belief that Lazarus will rise, but rather it
is his concrete knowledge of who he is and of what he is capable. Friendship with God, Martha discovers, is not
divine protection from pain, suffering, or even death, but rather a guarantee
that, in that pain, suffering, and even death, God will be with us. When Jesus weeps, we see the most touching,
but telling evidence that he, indeed, is with us, in the fullness of our
humanity. When he calls Lazarus from the grave, however, we see the still
greater evidence that not only is Jesus with us—the great teacher, prophet,
consoler, and friend—but that Jesus is, indeed, God: and that, in Jesus, God
himself is truly with us.
Thus, in Jesus, the words of
the prophet Ezekiel have been fulfilled.
When Jesus called Lazarus from the grave, he brought new light to the
rebirth foreshadowed in his promise to bring back his chosen people from
exile. Those people thought themselves
dead because they had lost the land from which they took their identity. Thus,
when the Lord “brought them back to the land of Israel”, they truly felt
reborn. Little did they know, however,
that one day God himself would take on human nature and walk among them and
would, literally, open the graves of the dead and have the dead rise from them.
Notice that the ancient
Israelites were not prevented from experiencing exile because of their
friendship with God. Rather, it was
because of their friendship that they were eventually restored to their land
and given “new life”. Notice also, that
Lazarus was not prevented from experiencing illness and death, nor were Martha
and Mary prevented from experiencing the loss of their dear brother, because of
their friendship with Jesus. Rather, it
was because of their friendship that Lazarus was raised and they were all given
“new life”. So it is now, that our
friendship with God will be no guarantee that we will not experience sadness,
difficulty, or pain. Rather, our
friendship with God is a promise that God will lift us from that sadness,
difficulty, or pain, if we remain faithful to our friendship with him.
Friends, this is the message
of Lent: that we are dead because of sin, but through Jesus we are raised to
new life. The threat of physical
illness, like that caused by the coronavirus, is serious and has raised in us
new levels of compassion for others. I
pray that it is also raising in us a new awareness of our need for a savior. I pray that this time in which we’ve been
forced to isolate has helped us to examine our consciences a little more deeply
and to become aware of how deeply rooted our sinful inclinations can be. I pray that we will use this time—even as it
extends into Easter—to turn back to the Lord in love, to grow our friendship
with him, so that we might be given a “new life” when our social restrictions
are lifted.
You know, when Lazarus was
raised from the dead, he didn’t come back like a zombie. Rather, he came back as himself. I guarantee you, however, that his life never
went back to the “normal” it was before he died. I’m sure that he, and his sisters, began anew
and created a new “normal”... a better one... one that united them more deeply
to each other and to Christ and in which they worked to build the kingdom of
God. Friends, may the externally imposed
penances that we are experiencing this Lent lead us to greater conversion, so
that the new “normal” that we create after coronavirus restrictions are
lifted—anchored, as it surely will be, in the Eucharist—lead us to do as
Martha, Mary, and Lazarus did: uniting ourselves more deeply to Christ and to
each other and dedicating ourselves to proclaim the Risen Christ and to build
his kingdom until he comes again in glory.
Given at Saint Mary’s Cathedral: Lafayette, IN – March 29th,
2020
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