Homily: 5th Sunday in Lent – Cycle A
Friends,
these last weeks, as we’ve been journeying through the heart of Lent, we have
reflected on three encounters with Jesus that the Gospel readings present to us. The first was Jesus’ encounter with the
Samaritan woman at the well. There,
Jesus helped her to acknowledge the truth about herself and her life, which
then freed her to acknowledge the truth about the one who was speaking to her:
that he is the Messiah, the long-awaited One.
Thus freed, she quickly shares this news with the people of her town
who, up to that point, she had been embarrassed to encounter. The second was the man born blind. In this encounter, Jesus heals the man’s blindness
without his asking for it. In the
subsequent encounters with the Pharisees, we see that this man sees clearly the
truth of what happened to him and, seeing clearly, worships Jesus as God when
Jesus reveals himself as the Messiah.
The
third encounter, on which we reflect today, is a little different. In the first two, those who encountered (or
were encountered by) Jesus did not know him.
In today’s reflection, the encounter is with persons who already know
Jesus well. What we see in this
encounter is how sometimes it is not enough to know of Jesus’ works. Rather, we need to encounter him in our own
distress and allow him to show his care and concern for us. Then, we will be truly free to make our own
act of faith in him and to experience his miracles working in our own
lives. Let’s take a closer look at this
encounter to see how this plays out.
Lazarus,
Martha, and Mary, three siblings, were friends of Jesus. Jesus often spent time with them (as we know
from the story of Martha and Mary, in which Martha served and Mary sat at the
feet of Jesus, listening to his teaching).
Therefore, they were certainly aware of Jesus’ power to heal infirmities. Thus, when Lazarus fell seriously ill, Martha
and Mary sent word to Jesus, believing that he, because of his love for them,
would come and heal their brother. For
reasons not explained in the reading, Jesus delayed coming to them, so that,
when he arrived, Lazarus had already died and was buried.
When
Jesus arrived, Martha went out to confront him.
She believed that he could have healed her brother and prevented his death. She is upset that he didn’t and she expresses
that plainly: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Jesus, knowing what he was about to do,
assures her that her brother will rise from the dead. Martha acknowledges this, but was thinking
only of the resurrection at the end of time.
Then, Jesus reveals himself more deeply to her: “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.”
Then he asks for her faith: “Do you believe this?” She consents and expresses her faith.
Although
we didn’t read this part of the story today, Mary will also come and express
her distress that Jesus did not come soon enough to prevent her brother’s
death. Again, Jesus shows his care and
concern and invites her to deeper faith in him.
Jesus’ care and concern is most apparent when he himself weeps at the
distress that these sisters and those with them are experiencing. He then proceeds to do the unthinkable: he
gives life back to Lazarus and calls him out of the tomb.
Again,
what this encounter with Jesus shows us is that sometimes it is not enough to
know of Jesus and his power to perform miracles. Rather, we have to encounter him in our own
distress and allow him to show us his personal care and concern for us. This, so that we can be led to make a more
profound act of faith in him and thus be open to the particular way that he
will choose to act in our lives.
Our
dear sisters of the Missionary Sisters of the Divine Spirit have had this
encounter. One does not choose to make
the radical vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience because she believes it to
be the best career choice. Rather, she
chooses it because she has had an encounter with Jesus, who showed his care and
concern for her, revealed himself to her, and then called her to follow him in
this way of life. Our dear sisters will
renew their vows here this evening as a reminder to themselves of this
encounter that has driven them on this path and as a witness to all of us that
such an encounter is possible.
Our
elect—those who will receive the sacraments at the Easter Vigil—have also had an
encounter in this way. Theirs, perhaps,
is more of the Samaritan woman or of the man born blind—those who did not know
Jesus before they encountered him.
Nonetheless, having had their eyes opened to the truth about who they
are and the reality of their lives, they seek now to follow him completely. This evening, they will receive the third scrutiny,
which invites them to acknowledge that a life in sin is not life, but death, and
that it is only in Jesus that they can truly live. In doing so, they remind us of our need to
acknowledge the same; and so to repent of our own sins and to seek the true
life that can only be found in Jesus.
Friends,
in these remaining two weeks of Lent, let us be careful not to lose our focus
on the great Paschal Mystery that we are preparing to celebrate: that is, the
Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus.
Rather, let us strive to remain ever more aware of how our Lenten
disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving help us to recover the spirit of
the Christian life within us, as well as making it possible to have a profound
encounter with Jesus once again. Renewed
in this awareness, let us make a profound act of faith in the power of Jesus to
raise us from the death of sin into the eternal life that our hearts long to
live. This is not always an easy work,
but it is the work that we have been given, and it is a joyful work. May the grace of this Eucharist continue to
strengthen us for this holy work.
Given in Spanish at Church of the Blessed Sacrament: West
Lafayette, IN
March 25th, 2023
No comments:
Post a Comment