New Life by Dying

Fifth Sunday of Lent (A)
Jn 11: 1-45

Those who have stood at the grave of parents or beloved ones know all too well the pain and hurt Martha and Mary felt at the loss of their brother. Even Martha’s reproach to Jesus for not being present echoes the anger, bitterness and resentment which many of us feel against God on the occasion of an untimely death. The death of those we love brings into sharp focus what is important. Deep mourning and the pain of separation force us to question the goodness of God, the nature of the hereafter and the meaning of life. They make us realize how frail our grasp of this world is. To people who have no faith, life is just a process from birth to dust and death comes along as the ultimate humiliation to make a mockery of their living, their hopes, plans and dreams. However, we must not allow the darkness of its shadow to cloud all our days because death for the Christian is the great moment life. Our faith is rooted in the central truth of Christ’s resurrection.

This gospel speaks to all of us and gives us hope. It tells us that God is stronger than death and he will bring all who are his friends into eternal life. The raising of Lazarus points out that the life we are searching for is not an extension of physical life but eternal life with God. Real death is not physical death but spiritual death which is the destruction of the loving purpose God made us for.

While the iron law of nature dictates that we must all die and go to the grave, the life we share with God is not something which begins after death. It began on the day of our baptism when the seed of God’s life was planted in us for the first time. At that moment we were given the power to start seeing as Jesus sees, to love as he loves and to follow him to the right hand of the Father. Once baptized there should be no going back on that relationship. Unfortunately, many of us fail to hear God’s daily call to intimacy because we are not fully convinced of being worthwhile objects of his love. Part of our trouble may come from being caught up in the ways of the world and so enticed by its passing pleasures that we refuse to come out of our tombs and be free. We hold on to ‘selfishness’ cling to the past grudges and stand on our dignity because pride will not permit us to make up past differences. As a result, the life we receive at baptism weakens and we become dead to the voice of Christ calling us to himself and wanting to make his home in us. The story of Lazarus tells us that in DYING TO SIN we are BORN TO ETERNAL LIFE. These last days of lent are about joining ourselves to the passion and death of Christ by deepening our response to his way of life; prayer, penance, acts of charity and personal conversation are the soil in which this life grows. Joining with Christ in his death is a sure guarantee of sharing in his resurrection. It is only when we experience ‘dying’ to our selfishness, pride, and greed that we could truly experience the resurrection of Jesus working in us!