My homily - 5th Sunday of Lent (Updated with video link)

I am including some homily notes for my  reflection on today's Gospel for the 5th Sunday of Lent.  The Scripture readings are included at the end.  

A video reflection on YouTube is also available.  (Thanks to David the seminarians for making this possible).

This is the first time I have ever recorded a homily, so I apologize in advance for the sound quality and the squinting.  It will take me a little practice to get used to preaching to a camera! 

Homily –– March 29, 2020 – Fifth Sunday of Lent (A)

When I am preparing my weekly homilies, I often read through a commentary compiled by St. Thomas Aquinas of the 13^th Century entitled the “Golden Chain.”  He weaves together the commentary of the timeless wisdom of the great saints and Church Fathers over the centuries verse by verse of the Gospels, including St. Augustine, St John Chrysostom and many others. 

In these unusual when the faithful can’t attend Mass, I was struck by just how appropriate to our own times St. Thomas’ commentary on today’s Gospel is.

We read today the story of Jesus and his very good friends Martha, Mary and Lazarus.  Our Lord raises the young man Lazarus from the dead, in an astonishing foreshadowing of the saving power of His own Resurrection to come, that He wants to share with all those baptized into Him.

But there is a lot more to this Gospel than that.  If you are reading this at home, I invite you to pray over today’s Gospel first especially the early verses of Chapter 11.  They have a lot to say about our current situation.

As a priest, I am almost constantly thinking about death.  Not in a morbid, depressing sort of way.  Rather, that is why we are ordained as priests: our life mission, from the moment we are consecrated to share in Christ’s holy priesthood, is to help the people of God prepare for their death, for the end of their earthly life.

As trying and difficult as these times of the Chinese coronavirus are, they are also fascinating.  There has certainly been no time in my own lifespan when I have seen the eyes of the nation and much of the world so constantly fixated on death: scores of people are anxiously watching the tickers on websites and cable news networks, more intently even than Wall St. traders watch the ticker for the stock market.  Countless eyes are glued to these screens with instantly updated stats and graphics on just how many people are dying nation by nation, even state by state.  (Some of them even zoom down to the level of your own county).  Many people can’t get their minds off the possibility of catching this disease and dying a terrible and painful death.

That speaks a lot about where we are as a culture – and how desperately we need the Gospel.  In large part, in recent years, we have created the illusion that we have “defeated” death.  Here in the U.S., our medical care is superb, we are wealthy enough to give nearly everyone access to it, and our life expectancy has been growing by leaps and bounds.  In 1960 shortly before I was born, the life expectancy was less than 70 years old.  It is easy now to forget that, for working people then, most died shortly after they retired.  Life expectancy is now much closer to 80, and we have the expectation that we will live for years, maybe decades, after retirement age.  It is not at all uncommon now for people to live into their 90s, often blessed with good health.

Gradually, our culture has become less and less Christian.  We have become obsessed with diet and exercise as paths to the “good life” Instead of centering their week around the worship of almighty God and His holy sacrifice on the Cross, an increasing number of our young people create rituals to center their lives on entertainment, dining at chic and expensive restaurants coffee shops and cafes and working out at the gym.   (I still marvel at this, having grown up where going out to a restaurant at all was a very rare occurrence).

With those rituals taken away, many people seem deeply unrooted.  Their lives and source of meaning have been disrupted as restaurants and gyms have been shuttered nationwide – and they can’t help but wonder what they do now, with a helpless feeling that, as much as their lives previously studiously avoided thinking about death –seeming so distant for most of us – now it is almost impossible not to, with the constant bombardment of frightening images of teams of hazmat-suited doctors and nurses hovering over patients in ICU units in overcrowded hospitals beaming at us from every screen in sight.

With the exception of the occasional loss of a relative, often well into his or her 80s or 90s, this is the first time many have had to stare death straight in the face on a wide scale.

All that is precisely the context of today’s Gospel.  According to tradition, Lazarus is a very young man.  His sisters Martha and Mary loved him dearly, and Our Lord, in his humanity, was very close to their family.  So the Gospel story revolves largely around just how Martha and Mary come to grips with unexpected death – and how they trust in the Lord and the power of His Resurrection.

Clearly, this message is intended not just for this family of Bethany, but for us as well.

The Church Fathers constantly remind us that the way we face death must be rooted in our relationship with Our Lord Jesus Christ.  If we have no relationship with Jesus, it will be terrifying.  (Hence the disproportionate anxiety and panic currently on display in our faithless culture).  If we do, then we see how the Divine Love of God transcends even the agony of death.

St. Augustine (that 4^th century great) tells us that, as astonishing the miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus is, the more astonishing miracle is that He created him in the first place – purely out of love, and in His image and likeness – meaning that God gifted us with a human nature that has the capacity and potential to be in eternal friendship with the Holy Trinity.

Augstine’s vivid description is telling: “A cruel sickness had seized Lazarus; a wasting fever was eating away the body of the wretched man day by day; his two sisters sat sorrowful at his bedside, grieving for the sick youth continually.”  Sound familiar? We can certainly relate to those who are watching loved ones contract this terrible flu. 

St. Augustine reflects at length on vv. 3-5:  So the sisters sent word to him, saying, “Master, behold, the one you love is ill.” When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.   Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 

That is it, in a nutshell.  The Easter mystery packed into three little verses.   Our whole faith in the Resurrection of Christ.  It is enough for Martha and Mary to tell Jesus that their brother, the one they love – and the Jesus loves too – is ill.  They have deep faith in the love and power of Christ.  We assume that they hoping that the Lord heals Lazarus and continues to give him a flourishing and healthy life.   But they don’t demand it.  That is not their place.  The Lord chooses not to heal Lazarus.  And Lazarus is no less loved for it.

Likewise, in these troubled times, we can and should certainly pray that the Lord take this viral scourge away quickly.  But we leave it up to the Lord.  In a deeply mysterious way, he allows even the evil of disease (caused ultimately by man’s sin) to reveal His glory.  That is not to say we sit on our hands and do nothing.  We certainly react quickly and prudently to save lives and alleviate suffering.  However, we Christians believe that death is in the Lord’s hands and often beyond our control.  That is ultimately the source of so much anxiety for those who don’t believe.  They are terrified that this is a disease they can’t control.

What is most important  here is not that Lazarus’ life was raised.  (He succumbed to death later in life, as we all do).  But that simple line in verse 5 “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.”

In verse 4, Jesus nonchalantly announces that Lazarus illness won’t end in death, but in the glory of God.  When their brother dies, in their grief, Martha and Mary certainly remember this line.  So they are confused and even angry.  So much so that Martha lashes out at him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died!”  (v. 21)  Many people in their frustration at this disease might be saying essentially the same thing: “the Lord must have abandoned us to allow this to happen!”  

But little by little, Martha comes to understand that the Lord is not speaking of the death of the body at the end of our earthly life.  Rather he is speaking of the eternal life for those who believe in Him and are faithful to His commandments and remain in the state of His grace.  I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live (v. 25).   

For those like Martha who come to understand this, death – as painful and agonizing as it might be – truly becomes “falling asleep in Christ” and making that transition (after due purification) to the fullness of Communion with the Blessed Trinity.

We should have these beautiful words of John 11:25, the fulfillment of the astonishing prophecy of Ezekiel 37 (today’s first reading), carved into our hearts.

We ask the Lord in this time when many people are so anxious for the grace not to fear.  To trust that the Lord truly loves us, as He did Lazarus and Martha and Mary.  So that even if this current scourge becomes much worse and even if people we know  and love die from it, that we remain confident that the ravages of physical death can never be greater than the love of Christ and the light emanating from His promise of eternal life.

Finally, just a note on the dramatic scene of Our Lord rolling away the stone to unseal Lazarus from his tomb.  This certainly foreshadows the great day of Easter, when the stone is rolled away from Our Lord’s own tomb and He comes out glorified, triumphing over sin and death.  But it is also a symbol of the sacrament of confession.  Because just as surely as Lazarus was bound by his burial cloths until the Lord commanded the bystanders to “untie him!” – so too are we bound in sin, unable to experience the fullness of the love of Christ, until his priest cries out “Unbind him!” in those extraordinarily beautiful words of absolution, “I absolve you from your sin, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!”

We should strive to make a good confession in this Lenten season, even if we can’t go to Mass.  I know that is challenging in these restricted times and so I am working on a plan to make that sacrament available in an outdoor setting.  Watch the parish blog (sccrparish.blogspot.com) for details coming soon.

Fifth Sunday of Lent
Lectionary: 34

Reading 1 Ez 37:12-14

Thus says the Lord GOD:
O my people, I will open your graves
and have you rise from them,
and bring you back to the land of Israel.
Then you shall know that I am the LORD,
when I open your graves and have you rise from them,
O my people!
I will put my spirit in you that you may live,
and I will settle you upon your land;
thus you shall know that I am the LORD.
I have promised, and I will do it, says the LORD.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8.

R. (7) With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;
LORD, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to my voice in supplication.
R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
If you, O LORD, mark iniquities,
LORD, who can stand?
But with you is forgiveness,
that you may be revered.
R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
I trust in the LORD;
my soul trusts in his word.
More than sentinels wait for the dawn,
let Israel wait for the LORD.
R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
For with the LORD is kindness
and with him is plenteous redemption;
And he will redeem Israel
from all their iniquities.
R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.

Reading 2 Rom 8:8-11

Brothers and sisters:
Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit,
if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin,
the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also,
through his Spirit dwelling in you.

Verse Before the GospelJn 11:25a, 26

I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;
whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will never die.

Gospel Jn 11:1-45

Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany,
the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil
and dried his feet with her hair;
it was her brother Lazarus who was ill.

So the sisters sent word to him saying,
“Master, the one you love is ill.”
When Jesus heard this he said,
“This illness is not to end in death,
but is for the glory of God,
that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
So when he heard that he was ill,
he remained for two days in the place where he was.
Then after this he said to his disciples,
“Let us go back to Judea.”
The disciples said to him,
“Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you,
and you want to go back there?”
Jesus answered,
“Are there not twelve hours in a day?
If one walks during the day, he does not stumble,
because he sees the light of this world.
But if one walks at night, he stumbles,
because the light is not in him.”
He said this, and then told them,
“Our friend Lazarus is asleep,
but I am going to awaken him.”
So the disciples said to him,
“Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved.”
But Jesus was talking about his death,
while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep.
So then Jesus said to them clearly,
“Lazarus has died.
And I am glad for you that I was not there,
that you may believe. Let us go to him.”
So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples,
“Let us also go to die with him.”
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus
had already been in the tomb for four days.
Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away.
And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary
to comfort them about their brother.
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,
she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home.
Martha said to Jesus,
“Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died.
But even now I know that whatever you ask of God,
God will give you.”
Jesus said to her,

“Your brother will rise.”
Martha said to him,
“I know he will rise,
in the resurrection on the last day.”
Jesus told 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.
Do you believe this?”
She said to him, “Yes, Lord.
I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God,
the one who is coming into the world.”
When she had said this,
she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying,
“The teacher is here and is asking for you.”
As soon as she heard this,
she rose quickly and went to him.
For Jesus had not yet come into the village,
but was still where Martha had met him.
So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her
saw Mary get up quickly and go out,
they followed her,
presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him,
she fell at his feet and said to him,
“Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died.”
When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping,
he became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said,
“Where have you laid him?”
They said to him, “Sir, come and see.”
And Jesus wept.
So the Jews said, “See how he loved him.”
But some of them said,
“Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man
have done something so that this man would not have died?”
So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb.
It was a cave, and a stone lay across it.
Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him,
“Lord, by now there will be a stench;
he has been dead for four days.”
Jesus said to her,
“Did I not tell you that if you believe
you will see the glory of God?”
So they took away the stone.
And Jesus raised his eyes and said,

“Father, I thank you for hearing me.
I know that you always hear me;
but because of the crowd here I have said this,
that they may believe that you sent me.”
And when he had said this,
He cried out in a loud voice,
“Lazarus, come out!”
The dead man came out,
tied hand and foot with burial bands,
and his face was wrapped in a cloth.
So Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.”
Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary
and seen what he had done began to believe in him.