5th Sunday of Lent: “Lazarus come forth!”

Ezekiel 37:12-14; Romans 8:8-11; John 11:1-45

There is no darkness in us that Jesus cannot dispel; there is no brokenness in us that Jesus cannot heal; there is no decay in us that Jesus cannot transform; there is no hurt, no shame, no sin, no fear that Jesus cannot touch. In today’s readings, the Lord visits the part of our lives where hopelessness thrives; he visits that part of us where hurts, shame and fear live; He visits that part of our lives where powerlessness rules. He reminds us that we cannot be so lost that He cannot find us. He reminds us that we cannot be so blind that He cannot lead us. He further reminds us that we cannot be so dead that He cannot bring us back.

“I will open your graves and you will rise from them”, the Lord reminds Ezekiel. The Lord will come to the part of our lives where everyone has given up hope in us and He will restore us. The Lord will come to the funerals of our lives and there will be joy. There is nothing that sin and evil can steal from us that the Lord cannot recover and restore.

St. Paul reminds us that if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, every good thing that is dead in us will live no matter how long they have been dead.

Jesus, in the story of Lazarus, shows us what happens when he visits our graveyards.  In this scene, according to everyone else, Jesus came too late. The hopelessness in this story was palpable. The tomb was already sealed. Jesus came and does more than console the sisters. His voice pierced through the curtains of death and death could not withstand the voice that makes all things new. “Lazarus, come forth!”, is a command that we will never forget. It is a command that is meant not only for Lazarus, but for all of us. This command and voice break through the graves of our lives and brings life to everything that sin or evil has murdered. Listen as the Lord calls forth your name. His voice makes all things new.

My dear friends, there is no hopeless case with the Lord. Remember this whenever your clouds get too dark. Never forget this whenever sadness, pain and misfortune knock at your door. There is nothing that the Lord cannot make whole. May we receive the grace to never give up on the Lord and to trust in what the Lord can do in us. May God bless you all.