March 29th, 2020. 5th of Lent. Jn 11, 3-7.17-20.33b-45
Today the Gospel of St. John tells us that Lazarus, a friend of Jesus, had fallen ill, and the apostles ask him to go and cure him. Jesus lets the days go by and Lazarus dies. Then Jesus decides to go and knows what he is going to do: “so that you may believe”. And, after Jesus’ words, his friend Lazarus comes back to life (“revives”, better than “resurrects”).
Lazarus’ sisters, Martha and Mary, address Jesus saying: “if you had been here, my brother would not have died”. Jesus asks them to have confidence, to believe in him. And Lazarus comes back to life. And many of those who were there and saw him believed in Jesus.
Many times we also think “if God were here…” We have doubts, we lack hope, and above all we lack confidence. He’s always there. And even more so in these difficult times when the illness is taking its toll on many people we know. With the times we are living in, we all need to hear words of hope and life, because we can feel the temptation of discouragement, of impotence in the face of a world that may not seem to have much future.
This Sunday’s message is truly hopeful. Jesus is the Lord of Life. In spite of the cross, every day the Resurrection is closer. For Jesus and for all of us who have received his Spirit of Life.
It is time for our hope to blossom and to be noticed in our life, for us to communicate energy, freedom, joy, life. We cannot go on as if we were dead. Jesus calls us like his friend Lazarus:
Come out!
Juan Ramon Gomez Pascual, cmf
