3-22-26 Fifth Sunday of Lent
God may not be on time
always, but God is never late.
The first reading of the gospel this weekend speaks so
beautifully of God’s concern for us and for our future with him. From
the words of the prophet Ezekiel in the first reading this weekend we read “Oh my people, I will open your graves, and
have you rise from them.” (Ezekiel 37:13). At times we can feel that God has forgotten us because our problems are so great
and God seems so distant from us, whether these problems be health, financial, familial, work or other. Perhaps, we have asked God for help, and He
does not seem to be listening. And yet in
that first reading this weekend, He promises to restore his people to life and
to their homeland. This promise is made to them while they are still in bondage
in Babylon and are far from their homeland.
That reading speaks of redemption. But more than that, it speaks of the
faithfulness of God, even when we do not think God is listening. And so, through the mouth of Ezekiel, God
says “you shall know that I am the Lord, I have promised, and I will do it. I will bring you back to your homeland. “ God promises his faithfulness to the people
of Israel, and through them, his faithfulness to us, no matter how deep the
sadness that surrounds us or the problems of our lives which may seem to be
insurmountable. In
the responsorial psalm, there is a powerful prayer in the opening lines of that
psalm “Out of the depths I cry to you, oh Lord, Lord, hear my voice. “ How often in our own prayer life have we felt
like this. Out of the depths of our problems, our concerns, our losses do we
cry out such feelings as these? Often we expect God to respond immediately to
our prayers, so intense is our fervor.
But, when it seems that God is delaying any response, it does not mean that He has not
heard us, that He is not going to care for us, that he is not going to help us.
But the answer to our prayer may come
in a way we cannot expect as it did for Mary and Martha in the gospel. In
our world, our thinking, our sense of justice is at times like the mathematical equation 2+2. The
answer of course always comes out as
equaling 4. But the spiritual reality of the
psalm speaks about results in a different answer to the 2+2 equation. In the psalm it speaks about the 2 (i.e., our
iniquities) +the 2 (i.e., our sins) can at times = 5 (i.e., God’s forgiveness). This answer of course is both based on our decision and God's mercy. “If you oh Lord, mark our iniquities, Lord,
who can stand? But with you, is
forgiveness that you may be revered. “Psalm 130:5-6. God’s desire for love and mercy, always
trumps our misconception of who God is and what God wants for us in our lives, if we will but seek and believe
in His capacity for mercy, then our 2+2 can also = His love.1
And that is why Saint Paul in his letter to the Romans, in our second reading, reads- “but if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness. “ This equation, as strange as it may seem is also echoed in the story of the garden of Eden. First, there was the sin (i.e., Adam and Eve disobedience), but then there is the promise of redemption offered by God when God promises to send someone one day who will alter what Adam and Eve have done by their disobedience. God promises in Genesis :(speaking to the serpent (i.e., the devil) “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring[a] and hers; he will crush[b] your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15). Adam and Eve through their pride sinned, but God forgives and offers the gift of redemption.2 And finally in the gospel, we see Jesus ’s offer not a gift of healing, but a gift of restoration. We may wonder why Jesus decides to wait two days before responding to Martha’s note that Lazarus is ill. Martha is seeking a healing for Lazarus, but Jesus has a plan much greater than that for Lazarus and for all of us who follow him. In the drama between Martha and Jesus, Martha has faith in Jesus that he could have healed her brother, but she can think of nothing more that can be done when Jesus arrives too late. But Jesus speaks to her of a truth of which she has no knowledge. He speaks to her of resurrection. This future promise is something he offers to Martha and to all who believe in him. For He is the life and the way, and the resurrection. Resurrection is not just an event, but it is a way of being alive in Christ for eternity. Martha responds that she knows the fact that Lazurus will rise on the last day. But Jesus calls her to believe in a new reality. It is not what you know that makes for resurrection it is who you know.3 If you know Jesus, really know him, then you too can share in his resurrection. And as he asks Martha, he asks all of us “Do you believe this?” Saint Paul said to the Romans in the second reading this weekend “…if the spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Jesus from the dead, will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit dwelling in you.” (Romans 8:11). In other words when we place our life and trust in Christ, death has no more power over us. This is a truth we may have to learn and relearn many times throughout our lives, but it does not matter how often we need to relearn it, as long as in the end we can claim it too. We see the depth of God’s love for us in the next few lines of the gospel when Jesus and Matha’s sister, Mary, interact. At the conclusion of those lines John, the gospel writer, writes “Jesus wept.” Can we imagine God, weeping for us: God, weeping for us as we too struggle, like Martha and Mary, with all our might to believe in His care and His concern for us as we too try to also deal with all the negativity that life can throws at us at times? Can we, in those moments, patiently cling to the truth that God will save us. The truth that God claimed in the first reading this weekend, when through the mouth of Ezekiel, God says- “thus you shall know that I am the Lord. I have promised, and I will do it, says the Lord" Then, Jesus stands before Lazarus tomb and weeps again. I often wondered, was he weeping because Lazarus was about to be restored to life, but also Lazarus would have to die again? Lazarus, Mary, and Martha will be together again, yes, but as Jesus’ followers and good friends, they will also be persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ. Was he weeping also for them in that regard? In the crucifixion scene with Jesus on the cross, Jesus surrenders his spirit to the Father and the Father, in intern sanctifies his son, and raises him to the fullness of who Jesus really is – the Resurrection and the life. The question is for us, as it was the question was for Martha, “Do you believe this.” (John 11:26).
1. 1. Food for the Soul, Reflection on the Mass Readings, Cycle A, Peter J. Kreeft, Word on Fire
2. 2.Ibid
3. 3.Ibid
