Sunday, March 26th, 2023 – Fifth Sunday of Lent - Cycle A Readings: Ezequiel 37:12-14, Psalm 130 “With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption ”, Romans 8:8-11, John 11:1-45

     My dear brothers and sisters, when someone we love dies, we become aware of a large absence in our life. In today’s Gospel we hear how the death of Lazarus leaves a large absence in the lives of those who loved him. By the time Jesus arrives Lazarus is already dead, and Martha voices her regret: if Jesus had been here with them earlier, things would surely have turned out differently. But Jesus’s absence is essential to the story. John tells us at the beginning of his account that through the death of Lazarus the Son of God will be glorified. Just as the blindness of the man in last week’ Gospel served as the occasion to show Jesus as the light, so the death of Lazarus will serve to show Jesus as the life.
     Who Jesus tells Martha that her brother will rise again, he will show her that he means now: “I am the resurrection and the life.” So the death of Lazarus does not mean that it is too late for Jesus to be his life. In a loud voice Jesus calls to the dead: “Lazarus, Come out!” The great miracle is that while he is dead Lazarus hears the word of Jesus and obeys it. Hearing the voice of the Son of God, Lazarus lives again. When Lazarus comes forth he is still wearing the clothes of a dead man. He is still enshrouded. Jesus now addresses the community: “Unbind him; let him go free.” In obeying the word of Jesus the community plays its part in helping Lazarus unwind and emerge into the light of his new life.
     The story of the raising of Lazarus proclaims the great truth that Jesus is Lord of life. He has power to call us out of our tombs- for the Christian life only begins when we, Ben though we are dead, hear the word of God and obey it. We know from experience that we don’t have to be dead physically to be in need of being raised up. E can be dead in the midst of life- hoping for a word and a community that will put us together again. The voice of Jesus calls us all from making the tomb our natural habitat. It also challenges us to take responsibility for our brother who, like Lazarus, is loved by Jesus. If we see someone buried alive we are invited to do as Jesus and the community do in the Gospel: call them, and help them go free. If we do that as part of our Lenten task, then the resurrection at Easter won’t come as too much of a surprise. May the grace of God be with us, amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Fr. Paschal Chester, SVD