Centering our lives on Jesus, who is the resurrection and the life, is the path to becoming truly alive!
A homily from the Fifth Sunday in Lent based on readings from
Ezekiel 37:12-14, Psalm 130, Romans 8:8-11, John 11:1-45
These readings are available at the USCCB website.
We started Lent with the story of a spiritual death – the fall of Adam and Eve, the fall of all of us. Now we arrive at the final Sunday before we start Holy Week on Palm Sunday, and our readings speak not of death but of life – life in the Spirit, life through Jesus. With Holy Week beginning so soon, it is probably good that we talk about our final Lenten preparations. I may even throw in a golf story along the way.
Life in the Face of Death
“Jesus [tells us], ‘I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me…will live’”.[1] Over the history of humankind, God has been delivering the message that life depends on him. He creates each of us. He sustains each of us. We truly live when we live in him!
In first reading, the Lord speaking through Ezekiel tells us that he “will put his spirit in us and [we] shall live”[2]. In our second reading St. Paul tells us that this life comes from the indwelling of Holy Spirit when we turn away from the things of the flesh and focus on the things of the spirit. God creates us, and that is a start. From our creating onward, we are pointed in the direction of the spirit. We learn that if we are to truly embrace life than simply existing, we must embrace our faith in God and make the Holy Spirit an integral part of all that we do. Every time we decide to take that next action, if we do it in accordance with God’s will, we are blessed. If we fight or ignore the Spirit, we get a lesser outcome – less joy, less peace, less love.
Our gospel story today makes it abundantly clear that life comes from Jesus. We see Jesus’s love for the Father in his confidence that the death of his friend Lazarus will ultimately glorify the Father. We see Jesus’s love for Martha, Mary, and Lazarus in the actions that he takes for them. We see his glory and his power in the raising of Lazarus from the dead. The story is clear. This is not a case of an extended nap. Lazarus was dead – in the tomb long enough to begin decomposing. Our Lord, Jesus Christ raises him! Our Lord, Jesus Christs gives us life as well.
Today is all about life. August 25th is the solemnity of the Annunciation. The Saturday morning Mass was a big celebration. The Annunciation is also about life. The angel asks Mary if she will become the Mother of God. The request was nothing she planned, and yet she says “yes” to life.[3] Now, more than ever, we also must say “yes” to life. The Catholic bishops are calling us to walk with moms in need. As a church, our reaction to the recent Supreme Court decision that abortion is not a constitutional right is to thank God for the decision, and then double down our efforts to help moms. We can seek life in the spirit and welcome all life when God blesses our friends and neighbors with children.
Life lived well is always done with love and is always done in the Holy Spirit. God brings us life. His indwelling is greater than death. The closer we draw to our Lord, the more we truly live!
Final Preparations for Easter
I suppose I could end my homily here, but I’m not. After all, I did promise you a golf story. I am not a very good golfer, let’s just get that out there right now. The first time I golfed, maybe even on my first hole, I hit an approach shot that turned out to be pretty good. My dad was so excited! He said several times that day that I had a “natural swing”. Later, a colleague mentioned to me that if I would just golf one round a week, my game could become really good. I never did. I never dedicated the time and effort into developing that gift.
We have been giving the gift of life. More importantly we have been given the gift of life in the Spirit. We are all sinners, and yet Jesus Christ became man for us – to redeem us. He bled and died for us to show us how great his love is, and so that death may have no more power over us. This gift is much more precious, much more important than a golf game, but like a golf game, we have to take the time and effort to develop it! This is so much more important than golf!
Our Lenten observances can and should bring us closer to Jesus. We can develop our life in the Spirit. Just like the suggestion that I play one round of golf a week, developing in the spiritual life will take an investment of time on your part. I promise you the return on that investment will go on forever!
We’ve been fasting, we’ve been abstaining. We have been denying ourselves all sorts of things. These are all really good practices. As we move into Holy Week in just eight short days, lets commit to a “final push” in the days leading up to Easter. Let’s make our spiritual preparation and participation a priority.
Here are some ways in which we can do exactly that…
First comes the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Let’s all be reconciled to God and to his church. Let’s all attend the Sacrament of Reconciliation sometime in the next ten days. This sacrament is such a blessing! I know it’s helped me grow spiritually. It’s helped me become more peaceful even when things in my life weren’t peaceful at all. It’s even helped me in business meetings. None of this should be surprising. It is simply the grace of God bearing fruit in our lives! Come experience the grace and the healing on April 3rd.
Second item: Let’s plan on attending the Triduum. Start with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Thursday evening, spend a little time in Adoration with Jesus right after or visit with Jesus in the Eucharist at every church in town! Good Friday, we recall our Lord’s Passion where he suffered and died for our sins. Then comes the big celebration! The Easter Vigil on Saturday will begin with the lighting of the Easter fire and will have the most impressive liturgy of the year. Then come again on Easter Sunday and thank God for his infinite love, for sharing Christ’s victory over death with each of us. Yes, may be a slightly larger time commitment than one round of golf, but you be richly blessed by attending!
We truly live by drawing closer and closer to our Lord. We have in the coming Holy Week a wonderful opportunity to exactly that. Let’s embrace our Lenten preparation over the next few days. Let’s embrace the Paschal Mystery in the Easter Triduum. Let’s embrace our risen Lord on Easter Sunday. Let’s live in the spirit. Let’s embrace true life!
“Let us live in the spirit and embrace true life!!”
[1] John 11:25
[2] Ezekiel 37:14
[3] Cf Luke 1:38.