FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT A
Today’s gospel is so appropriate for the time we are currently living in. We don’t know how or when or even if a cure for the COVID19 virus will be found. We don’t know how many more people will be infected. We don’t know how many people will die from the virus. Just as we don’t know what sickness befell Lazarus and why he ultimately died.
But we do get a sense of the deep relationships that Jesus has with people – with Mary, with Martha, and with his disciples. Mary and Martha hope that Jesus will save their brother from death. His own disciples plead with him to not return to Judea where people want to kill him.
Jesus is trying to get these close friends ready for what lies ahead; for his trial, death, and resurrection; and then for the work they will be sent to do after that. After all, they’re the people who believed in him, who stuck by him, who would be responsible for spreading the Good News in the years to come.
Did he not tell them that if they believed, they would see the glory of God? …If you want new life, you need bold faith!
We are called to believe in big things, to affirm that there is hope, even in a seemingly hopeless world; that there can be joy even in the midst of suffering and sickness; that our relationships really do matter; that there is the possibility of life giving love, even in the face of death.
The Good News of the gospel is life-giving. In our death-dealing culture, that treats so many people as disposable, the teachings of Jesus affirm the worth and dignity of each human being – especially the marginalized.
It’s a miracle in itself that we can see beyond the limitations of our culture to live a life of love and meaning; that we can come together as a community of faith, even in a limited way – as we are doing now – to reach for something greater than ourselves.
And look at the people who are proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah – Martha and Mary and the Samaritan woman and Matthew the tax collector and the blind, the lame, and the leper – people who have no real status in society. Yet these are the people who recognize and proclaim who Jesus is.
Jesus teaches us what it means to be fully alive and fully human – and that makes our disregard for the well-being of others all the more sinful. Jesus sees the sorrow of Mary and he cries with her, just as he cries with all those who are grieving and suffering. You see, Jesus is not crying for Lazarus – he knows that he is going to raise Lazarus – he feels the pain and sorrow of Mary and that is what causes him to weep. This is truly a sign of the God who loves us, who suffers with us, who is present to us, who is deeply connected to our hearts.
…Jesus is not distant, not aloof, and not remote. Jesus is right here, holding us in our pain and fear and assuring us that everything will be alright. Our world today is full of places of death and of tombs where hope goes to die.
But, like Lazarus we are called from the tomb and into an abundant life. So, when you find yourself trapped in the tomb of fear and despair, look for Jesus – look TO Jesus – and step out into the light and life of a new day.