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Synopsis of Lent V [A] Sunday (April 2) Homily on Jn 11:1-45 (L/17)
Introduction: Death with hope in resurrection, challenging us to be alive and not spiritually dead by mortal sin, is the central theme today. Scripture lessons: Reporting his vision in the first reading, Ezekiel bears witness to the reanimation of the dead Israel in preparation for her return tothePromised Land. He assures them that God's life-giving breath will restore his people, give them new life and resettle them in their land. St. Paul, in the second reading, assures the early Roman Christians who were facing death by persecution, and us who are surrounded by a culture of death, that the same Spiritthat raised Jesus from the dead and who dwells within us, will give life to our mortal bodies. He considers the Resurrection of Jesus as the basis for our hope of sharing in Jesus’ Resurrection. For John, in today’s Gospel, the raising of Lazarus is the final and greatest sign of Jesus, the Deliverer, a symbolic narrative of his victory over death at the cost of his own life and a sign anticipating his Resurrection. Describing this great miracle, the Church assures us that we, too, will be raised into eternal life after our battle with sin and death in this world. Thus, resurrection hope is the central theme of the Scripture readings for the Fifth Sunday of Lent. The readings assure us that our Faith in Jesus, who is “the Resurrection and the Life,” promises our participation in resurrection and new life.
Life messages: #1: “Roll away the stone, unbind him and let him go.” We often bind ourselves with chains of addiction to alcohol, drugs, sexual deviations,slander, gossip, envy, prejudices, hatred and uncontrollable anger,and bury ourselves in the tombs of despair.Sometimes we are in the tomb of selfishness, filled with negative feelings such as worry, fear, resentment, hatred, and guilt. If we want Jesus to visit our dark dungeons of sin, despair and unhappiness, let us ask Jesus during this Holy Mass to bring the light and the power of the Holy Spirit into our private lives and liberate us from our tombs. Are there times when we refuse to let God enter into our wallets, fearing that faithful tithing will endanger our savings? When we receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Jesus will call our name and command, "Come out Mary”, “Come out Joe"! This is good news for all of us: “Lazarus, come out!” This can be the beginning of a new life. 2) We need to be ready to welcome death any time. We live in a world that is filled with death. We kill each other in acts of murder, abortion, euthanasia, execution, warand terrorist activities. We kill ourselves through suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, smoking, overwork, stress, bad eating habits, and physical neglect. The most important question is: amI ready to face my death? All of us know that we will surely die, but each of us foolishly thinks that he or she will not die any time in the near future. Let us be wise, well-prepared andever ready to meet our Lord with a clear conscience when the time comes and to give Him a clean account of our lives.
LENT V [A] SUNDAY (April 2): Ez 37:12-14; Rom 8:8-11; Jn 11:1-45
Anecdote: #1: A sign of resurrection: As Vice President, George Bush represented the U.S. at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev’s widow. She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev’s wife performed an act of great courage and hope, a gesture that must surely rank as one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed in Communist Russia: shemade the sign of the cross on her husband’s chest. There in the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it allmade a gesture suggesting that her husbandhad beenwrong. She hoped that there was another way of life – a life best represented by Jesus who died on the cross, and that this same Jesus might yet have mercy on her husband and raise him up on the Day of the Judgment. In today's Gospel, Marthaexpresses her Faith in Jesus’ assurance of the resurrection of her brother Lazarus.
#2) Carrying a dead soul in a living body? In Virgil, there is an account of an ancient king, who was so unnaturally cruel in his punishments that he used to chain a dead man to a living criminal. It was impossible for the poor wretch to separate himself from his disgusting burden. The carcass was bound fast to his body -- its hands to his hands; its face to his face; the entire dead body to his living body. Then he was put into a dungeon to die suffocated by the foul emissions of the stinking dead body. Many suppose that it was in reference to this that Paul cried out: "O wretched man that I am!" Today’s readings invite us to turn away from sin, approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation and revive the dead soul we are carrying within our body,thus becoming eligible for the glorious resurrection Jesus promised to believers at the tomb of Lazarus.
# 3) “Mike, come out!” “Joe, come out!” Dr. A. L. Jenkins was an emergency-room doctor for 48 years in Knoxville, Tennessee. In this capacity, Dr. Jenkins saw the best and the worst side of the field of medicine. But his most vivid memories are of those moments that are medically unexplainable. Dr. Jenkins recalls one man who was dead on arrival in the emergency room. It was Dr. Jenkins’ policy to attempt resuscitation anyway. After fifteen minutes of CPR, the previously dead man began to show signs of life. The man sat up, looked around him, then said to Dr. Jenkins, “Oh, I wish I was still out there! It was beautiful!” The man would never explain what he meant, but would only repeat that the place he had been was “so beautiful, so beautiful.” (Kristi L. Nelson, “From near-death to dynamite,” The Knoxville News-Sentinel, date unknown). Now, many explanations have been given for so-called near-death experiences, including chemical changes in the brain. But, all explanations aside, it is amazing how these experiences affirm what the Bible teaches us about life beyond the grave. There will come a time when the doctor can do no more for us, but somewhere on the other side, Christ will say, “Mike, come out!” “Joe, come out!” “Sally, come out!” This is a story that affirms resurrection.
Introduction: Resurrection hope is the central theme of the Scripture readings for the Fifth Sunday of Lent. We can see the progression in themes from the thirst for living water (on the Third Sunday of Lent), through the desire to be healed of our spiritual blindness (Fourth Sunday) to our ultimate desireto share in eternal life with the risen Lord (Fifth Sunday). Death and resurrection are the themes that permeate today's Scripture lessons. The Psalmist awaits Yahweh’s redemption both for himself and for Israel Reporting his vision in the first reading, Ezekiel bears witness to the reanimation of the dead Israel in preparation for her return tothePromised Land. He guarantees his community in exile that Yahweh will one day bring them back to live in the freedom of the Promised Land. He assures his people that not even death will stop God from carrying out this promise. Yahweh states, "I will open your graves, have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel." St. Paul, in the second reading, assures the early Roman Christians who were facing death by persecution, and us who are surrounded by a culture of death, that the same SpiritWho raised Jesus from the dead and Who dwells within us will give life to our mortal bodies. He considers the Resurrection of Jesus as a reality, the ground of our Faith and the basis for our hope of sharing in Jesus’ Resurrection. For John, in today’s Gospel, the raising of Lazarus is the final and greatest sign of Jesus, the Deliverer, a symbolic narrative of Jesus’ victory over death at the cost of his own life and a sign anticipating his Resurrection. Describing this great miracle, the Church assures us that we, too, will be raised into eternal life after our battle with sin and death in this world. Thus, resurrection hope is the central theme of the Scripture readings for the Fifth Sunday of Lent. The readings assure us that our faith in Jesus, who is “the Resurrection and the Life,” promises our participation in resurrection and new life.
Thefirst reading: Ez 37:12-14: The haunting vision of the valley of dry bones described by Ezekiel (37: 1-11), forms the background for today’s first reading. The imagery may well have come from an actual battle site, probably that of the battlefield after the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon in 586 BC. After a few years, the Babylonian soldiers uprooted many of God's people and dragged them into slavery in Babylon, some 750 miles from their homeland. This was the beginning of the period known as the Babylonian Captivity, or simply the Exile. Ezekiel was a priest of the Temple of Jerusalem up to 597 B.C., when he was deported to Babylon with King Jehoiachin and the first deportees. In his vision, the release of the Jews from the captivity and slavery of Babylon is described as a rising from their graves to return to a new life in their own homeland. Through the prophet, God assures the exiles that they will live again. They will be raised from death and filled with life. They will experience new life, life that springs from God’s own Spirit. The prophet urges his devastated nation to look beyond that catastrophe to a future that vindicates God's justice and promises the restoration of the nation through the Spirit of God.
Thesecond reading: Rom 8:8-11: In the second reading, St. Paul reassures the Romans of a future resurrection to a life of unending glory for all those who during their time on earth have been loyal to God and His Son Jesus. This coming resurrection is won for us bythe suffering, death and Resurrection of Jesus. Paul advises the Roman Christians, and us, to allow the Holy Spirit who dwells in them to renew and sanctify them, thus making them eligible for resurrection. “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.” This indwelling Spirit of God, which we have received in Baptism, will release us from the "grave" of the flesh and allow us to live the life of the Spirit. The Spirit-filled life is a life of intimacy with God. In this passage, Paul stresses the empowering action of God the Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
Exegesis: Picture of death and resurrection: The five Sundays of Lent gives the picture of death and Resurrection in faith and in life. 1. The first two Sundays depict Jesus' own death and resurrectionin daily life Temptation/Desert/Rejection and Transfiguration / Mountain / Belovedness)
2. Then we have three Sundays with three scenarios of death and resurrection:
a. The Samaritan woman (sociological death to become the first missionary) - her faith in Jesus. b. The Blind man (Physical and spiritual death to growth in faith - he recognizes Jesus, the man, Jesus the prophet and then Jesus the Lord - daring missionary to proclaim the healing and the Lord despite threats of ostracism) -his faith. c. Lazarus - Physical death to actual resurrection - belovedness to Mary and Martha and to Jesus - their faith. d. Passion Sunday: Movingfrom another "mount" (donkey) to "crucify him". Life is a constant journey of baptism to the desert to the transfiguration to simple realities of our daily life and mission and occasional anniversaries and jubilees. (Quoted by fr. Kayala). This is the longest single narrative/story in the four Gospels – 45 verses. This story marks a key turning-point in John’s Gospel: not only is it the last and greatest “sign” Jesus will perform, concluding the “Book of Signs,” but it is effectively Jesus’ last public appearance before His Passion and death.
Resurrection or reanimation? Traditionally, we have often referred to what happens to Lazarus as a “resurrection,” but we need to ask ourselves if that description is really accurate. It is perhaps more accurate to speak of this chapter in terms of the “reanimation” of Lazarus, or his “revivification” or “being brought back to life” – because we believe that true resurrection is a very particular category which no one except Jesus will experience before the end of time.
Jesus in our culture of death: We live in a world that has been caught up in death for a long time. We kill each other in acts of murder, abortion, euthanasia, execution, war, terrorist activities, drunk and reckless driving. We kill ourselves through suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, smoking, overwork, stress, bad eating habits, and physical neglect. We watch calmly as others die from poverty, hunger and malnutrition, homelessness, unemployment, poor education, disease, lack of health coverage, child abuse, arms proliferation, discrimination, pollution, destruction of the environment, unsafe working conditions, and all the laws, policies, practices and attitudes which contribute to these conditions. (Gerald Darring). “The right to life … is basic and inalienable. It is grievously violated in our day by abortion and euthanasia, by widespread torture, by acts of violence against innocent parties, and by the scourge of war. The arms race is an insanity which burdens the world and creates the conditions for even more massive destruction of life.” (Pope Paul VI, 1974). Jesus is the resurrection and the life. He is the God who will put his spirit in you that you may live. Our Lenten celebration must serve to remind us that the paschal mystery represents a victory over death. “
The motives behind the miracle: According to John, the raising of Lazarus is the sixth of seven signs. It is the longest single narrative/story in the four Gospels, covering 45 verses. It is also Jesus’ last public appearance before His Passion and death. In addition, it is the last and greatest of the miracles worked by our Lord to demonstrate that he is the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God, and that through Faith in him believers will receive eternal life. In other words, Jesus wanted to make this, his last recorded miracle, a convincing demonstration that he is what he claims to be -- the Messiah, sent by God to give new life, eternal life, to mankind. As this miracle took place a few miles from Jerusalem, Jesus also knew it would give his enemies the impulse and motivation to carry out his condemnation death by crucifixion, which was the “debt” he, "the suffering servant" of God, was to pay for the sins of mankind. Jesus explains the why of this miracle as, “It is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” First, when Jesus brings Lazarus back to life, people will give God glory for the miracle. Second, in this Gospel, Jesus' glorification involves the cross, and verses 45-53 make it clear that Lazarus' raising will lead to Jesus' death and Resurrection. This is another way of saying that Jesus’ death on the cross will lead to his glorification. This miracle story, taking place as Jesus is on his final journey to Jerusalem, prepares us for his death and Resurrection. The story is presented in five distinct, self-contained scenes: Jesus receiving the news of Lazarus’ death, the disciples’ protesting Jesus’ return to Judea, Martha’s pleading with Jesus, Mary’s arrival as Jesus stands waiting in the road, and the miraculous raising of Lazarus.