Readings:

Ez. 37:12-14; Ps. 130; Rom. 8:8-11; Jn. 11:1-45

Our readings today focus us, through faith, on the certainty of hope. Hope is one of the theological virtues, a supernatural gift from God, a grace through which we trust that God has given us eternal life. The passage from Ezekiel is a foreshadowing of our future resurrection from the dead. He prophecies: “Thus says the Lord God: O my people, I will open your graves and have your rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel.” The prophet speaks words of hope for restoration, a return from exile back to the promise land. In this sense, the land represents heaven, and it is by the Spirit of Almighty God that we will rise. Again, the Lord says, “I will put my spirit in you that you may live, and I will settle you upon your land.” Hearing such a message during the time of exile would have filled the people with hope, longing, and expectation, as it should for all of us who are experiencing our own kind of exile.

St. Paul encourages us to look beyond this earthly realm of the flesh. He says there is nothing we can do to please God if we serve our flesh alone. But, if we are filled with the Spirit of God, our flesh is raised to new life. For most of us, this has already happened by our Baptism. Once baptized, we are filled by the Holy Spirit of God, which gives us a special grace, what St. Paul calls righteousness. We no longer serve our own selfish desires, but rather, we seek to serve the needs of others. This is further emphasized by our charitable response to the current epidemic.

While, for our health and the health of others, we may not be able to congregate, the Spirit of God is present to us, nevertheless. In fact, many of us are more connected to the Church now than in the past. I have been receiving e-mails from many of our parishioners saying they have not prayed as much in a single week ever, but thanks to live streaming the Mass and adoration, they are able to remain connected to the Spirit of God. My friends, this is exactly what Lent is all about. And while we recognize that Christ is Risen, we are also mindful of our ongoing need to nurture our faith. During this time of epidemic, we need the grace of God more than ever, and the best way to receive that grace is to ask for it in prayer.

We catch a glimpse of this need to nurture our faith in today’s Gospel. There are several characters who struggle with faith in the resurrection. We can see the disciples struggle to understand why Jesus would want to risk his life to bring Lazarus back. They warn him that the people are seeking to stone him. Jesus uses a metaphor of light and darkness to show them that they must walk during the day so as to not stumble. In other words, do not let the darkness of fear and doubt stifle your spirit. Then there’s Thomas, who boldly says, “Let us also go to die with him." While the statement conveys his faith in the resurrection, it would seem he is more interested in taking the fast track, the easy way out, rather than persevering for the long haul. Neither of them seems to express the faith that Jesus has been trying to strengthen within them.

Martha and Mary, on the other hand, appear to have a deeper faith than the disciples. Both believe in Jesus, that he is the Son of God, that he could have prevented Lazarus’ death, but most importantly, that Lazarus will rise in the resurrection on the last day. But, even Martha fails to recognize what Jesus has been trying to teach them all, he says, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believe in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” And so, to test Martha, Jesus asks her: “Do you believe this?” This question is also asked of all of us. Do we believe this? Do we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world, even now, to redeem it from sickness and sin, to fill it with His Spirit so that we may have eternal life? If so, we are exercising the theological virtue of hope that Jesus will fulfill his promise. We will rise; we will be restored; we will once again be back in Church, but we must persevere in faith and hold fast to our hope.

Where does that hope lead us? Where did it lead Martha and Mary? Where did it lead Thomas and the others? John simply tells us, that many who saw what Jesus did began to believe. The resurrection of Lazarus is the ultimate sign, then, of the resurrection of the body, and eternal life.

There is another sign of our entry into heaven and that sign is the Eucharist. While Baptism opens us up to the heavenly realities and the indwelling of God’s Spirit, the Eucharist gives us nourishment for the soul. And while we cannot be together to receive this sacrament bodily, it is my hope, that all who look upon him, who invite him into their homes now, may be filled with his Holy Spirit and trust in his great love for us and the promise of eternal life.

Given during the COVID-19 pandemic.