FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT
29 MARCH 2020
The prophet Ezekiel addresses a people devoid of
hope. The Babylonians have destroyed their
temple and Jerusalem. Both are now in
ashes. They had killed most of the
population. The survivors are now living
in exile in Babylon. Like their temple
and city, they had been reduced to ashes.
Ezekiel has insisted that this current situation is their fault. They had not been faithful to the Covenant
with God. However, he also gives them
hope. He reminds them that God never wants
to leave them in ashes. God will remain
faithful to his promise, even when they did not. God will open the graves of their exile and
return them to their Promised Land.
When Jesus
walks into Bethany, he also confronts a hopeless situation. His closest friends, Martha and Mary, are in
the deepest grief over the death of their brother and his friend Lazarus. Lazarus has been in the tomb for four
days. There is absolutely no hope for
Lazarus. In a hot climate without any
kind of embalming, his body is already decaying. Death, the ultimate enemy of every human
person, has triumphed again.
In the
Gospel of Saint John, Jesus performs seven miracles. John calls them signs. In this, the last and greatest of the signs,
Jesus addresses his Father in prayer, confronts that enemy, and calls Lazarus
out of the tomb. Lazarus comes out,
bound hand and foot. Even though the
sisters may be very happy, Lazarus will die again. In this greatest sign, Jesus points to his
own battle with the enemy. Unlike
Lazarus, Jesus will emerge from his tomb with the burial cloths put to the
side. In his victory over death, Jesus
will be transformed, never to die again.
When we
entered this Season of Lent, we were marked with ashes, reminding us of our
connection with Ezekiel’s people and Lazarus.
In normal times, those preparing for the Sacraments of Initiation at the
Easter Vigil would go through the third scrutiny today. In that scrutiny, they would be reminded of
all that would have caused them death.
They would have been reminded that their sins would be washed away in the
waters of Baptism. They will be sealed
with the Holy Spirit and fed for the first time with the Body and Blood of
Jesus Christ.
For the
rest of us, those ashes remind us not only of our own eventual death, but also
of our refusal to live our baptismal promises and slip back into the tomb of
sin. In the Gospels, Jesus brings three
people back from death. Each miracle can
help us connect with our spiritual condition affected by sin. In raising the young daughter of Jairus, we
are reminded that we can be in the early stages of sin. It has not yet taken root. In raising the only son of the widowed woman
of Nain, we are reminded that sin can be taking a greater hold on us. In raising Lazarus who had been in the tomb
for four days, we are reminded of what happens when sin cuts off our
relationship with God and each other. We
are tempted to believe that there is no hope.
No matter
where we are in our spiritual lives, Jesus has the power to free us, just as he
freed all three people from the enemy, death.
But even more importantly, he strengthens us to renew our faith in his
resurrection when we come to Easter.
Faith in his resurrection is central to our faith. Faith does not take away our pain when we
lose our loved ones to death. But, as
Thomas Aquinas reminds us, belief in the resurrection helps us in four
ways. It helps remove the sadness when
our loved ones die. It can help remove
our own fear of death. It reminds us of
the importance of performing diligent acts.
It helps us draw away from evil.
In these next two weeks of continued isolation, we pray for a deeper
faith in the power of Jesus Christ to free us from the bondage of sin through
the power of his resurrection from the dead.
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