09.03.2008 - 5th Sunday of Lent
- year A
First Reading Ezek 37,12-14 Psalm 130 Second Reading Rom 8,8-11
Gospel Reading John 11,1-45
Our faith in God the creator has many spiritual and moral consequences. Above all, respect for others: it is more than respect, it is almost veneration: every single person, whether incompletely formed, whether a child, whether ill or whether a criminal, carries within them the image of God, is loved by God, desired by him and, therefore, worthy of our love. And, since everything we see has been desired and created by God and the entire creation is a fruit of the Father's love, we must be careful not to harm it in any way. Nothing should be despised, but rather helped to evolve: those who come after us must be able to praise and thank the Father for all his works. Caring for the creation is one of the principles that should guide not only those responsible for governments and industry, but every single person. The Bible rebukes us because we are only able to observe creation from a materialistic point of view. The book of the Wisdom of Solomon (13,1.7-9) says "What born fools were all who live in ignorance of Go! From the good things before their eyes they could not learn to know him who is, and failed to recognise the artificer though they observed his handiwork!... making a close study of his works, they are persuaded by appearances because of the beauty of what they see. Yet even so they do not deserve to be excused, for with enough understanding to speculate about the universe, why did they not sooner discover it's Lord and Master?" When observing things both great and small, let us not only use telescopes and microscopes, but also the eyes of our hearts in order to be able to see the face of the one who gave them to us! And since God is also the creator of things invisible, let us pay attention to the angels to discern those who help us to love the Father and those entice us away from him! Our faith in God the creator will help us stay away from magic, superstition and Satanism, and keep us oriented towards him with simple, trusting, joyful love.
During the Sundays of Lent the Church prepares baptism of the catechumens and
helps those who have already been baptised to understand grace and Christian
knowledge in greater depth. Today's Word is really amazing. On the previous
Sundays Jesus was presented as he who overcame temptation, who lived as the
Son of God, who was pleasing to the Father for offering up his life, as he who
gives us the water which quenches our profoundest thirst and as he who is the
light of our eyes and gives us true freedom. Today Jesus manifests as he who
gives us life despite the fact that we are afflicted by disease, fear and death.
With the verses from Ezekiel we prepare to hear the words Jesus pronounced in
front of the tomb of Lazarus. Ezekiel announces; "I shall open up the graves
and bring you up from them": this is certainly to be understood in a spiritual
sense, but today Jesus, calling up Lazarus, shows us that the Word is to be
taken seriously and that he truly does what he says he will. Many of us live
immersed in the things of the world, rushing around with minds and hearts blocked
by our worries and are unable to be open in dialogue and communion to the joyful
relationships with others and with God himself. Jesus truly opens the grave
and unties the bandages of death. Lazarus lives and his sisters understand that
Jesus is truly the Son of God and "the resurrection and the life".
Jesus' own disciples, who were frightened at the idea of accompanying him to
Jerusalem, where they wanted to put him to death, were disoriented. They could
not imagine that his voice could be heard by a dead person, that his word could
bring back to life one who was buried behind a heavy rock.
The disciples and Jesus' friends were thus taught to believe in his resurrection
though it was different from Lazarus's. They were also taught how to have hope
in Jesus' Word, that with it they would be able to transmit the life that they
themselves had received from their Lord and Master to the Hebrews and Pagans
who were incapable of communion and belief. We too, seeing Lazarus rise up from
the dead, may have hope that many people will have faith in the Lord Jesus,
even though they might have seemed lost for ever. It just needs someone to pronounce
the Word with conviction and courage before them, that someone speaks the Good
News to them! Why shouldn't what St Paul said happen again; "the God who
raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give new life to your mortal bodies
through his indwelling spirit"? We trust that we ourselves will be the
first to accept the Word that saves and gives life: then we will be ready to
transmit it to many others!