5^th  Sunday of Lent (A); March 22, 2026

Ez 37:12-14 P s 130 Rom 8:8-11 In 11:1-45

Deacon Jim McFadden

There are only two weeks to go to Easter and the Bible readings speak about resurrection. It is not yet that of Jesus, which burst forth in absolutely mind-blowing innovation, but our own resurrection, to which

we aspire despite nagging doubts and to which Christ himself gives us, when he rose from the dead. Death represents a wall as it were. On the

face of it, life comes to an end. In chronological time and physical space, life has ended–there is no going back to an earlier time. And, so, death

is like a boundary: our whole life moves towards this terminus and then we ask, “Is this it? Is this all? I spent 70 years, 80 if I’m lucky, then I die.  What happens next! Oblivion or life under a radically different form?

We ask ourselves, “Does anything exists beyond the boundary, beyond the wall? “And, though we cannot fully comprehend what it conceals, we nevertheless think about and imagine a transformed life. We have this built in desire for eternity and it’s this desire that the readings are

addressing.

Today’s Gospel tells us of the resuscitation  of Lazarus. It is the culmination of the miraculous “signs” worked by Jesus: this act is so great, so clearly divinely enacted because it shows that Jesus has power over Death itself.

Lazarus had been dead for four days, before Jesus arrived. Put yourself in Lazarus’ place. What parts of your heart are a little dead?

How many dead places find a home which inhibits the movement of grace? We are in this situation and we know it. We don’t like it, yet we cannot get out. Only the power of Jesus can help us emerge from these atrophied zones of the heart, these tombs of sin, which we all have.

Before the sealed tomb of his friend Lazarus, Jesus “cried with a loud voice: Lazarus, come out!” And the dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So, Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go” (vs. 43-44).

Jesus is confronting the tomb we have built for ourselves with our misguided choices that lead to death, with our errors, with our

ignorance. But, Jesus is not resigned to this! He tells Lazarus, he tells us, he almost orders us, to come out of the tomb in which our sins have

buried us. He calls us insistently to come out of the darkness of that prison in which we are enclosed content with a false, selfish, and

mediocre life.

“Come out!” It is an invitation to true freedom, to allow ourselves

to be seized by these words of Jesus who repeats them to each one of us today. It is an invitation to let ourselves be freed from the “bandages,” from the bandages of pride. Brothers and sisters, our resurrection begins here: when we decide to obey Jesus’ command by coming out into the light, into life.

The Raising of Lazarus pinpoints the belief in eternal life. This is the great breakthrough that will lead the followers of Jesus into

Christianity. Jesus is promising us immortality. And, taking to heart what God said through the prophet Ezekiel, “What I promised, I will do.”

We stake our lives on that promise because we believe that Jesus is Lord. We know that being made in the image of the Triune,

communitarian God, we are meant to be relationship, to share life with God and each other NOW AND FOREVER! And, we do so, by abiding in Jesus who is the source of Life. Jesus will not let us go because he love u s.

That’s the Great Consolation: we realize that love is stronger than death. We hear in the Song of Songs that “Deep waters cannot quench love, nor floods sweep it away” (Sg 8:7). This is not an easy realization to embrace. As Martha knew, the stench of death is strong. Sometimes our mind focus on the unyielding fact that death brings permanent separation in chronological time and physical space. We become vulnerable to doubt.

But we don’t give into doubt because through faith we know that Jesus is the Resurrection and the life”. To know Jesus, to dwell within his Mind, Heart, and Soul is to participate in Life that is everlasting. The

more we contemplate this story of the Raising of Lazarus, the more we will integrate it into our ordinary experience. And, as we do so, we will

realize that Jesus’ gentle presence is an enduring strength. Sustained by his presence, we can grieve greatly and deeply the physical loss of our loved ones and hope greatly in their continued life in God. Love generates both grief and consolation. As St. Paul said to the

Thessalonians, “Do not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thes 4:13). Remember, it is the weeping Jesus who cries out in a loud voice,

“Lazarus, come out!”  Amen.

Reflection Questions:

1. What parts of your heart are a little dead?
2. What kind of tomb have  you built for yourself that protects your ego and keeps Jesus out?
3. Just as Jesus said to Lazarus, “Come out,” he’s saying the same to you.  How do you respond?