5^TH SUNDAY OF LENT, YEAR A: REFLECTION BY FR JULIAN EKEH

THEME: THIS ILLNESS IS NOT UNTO DEATH

(John 11:1-45)

Lazarus, the friend of Jesus, was ill. Mary and Martha sent for him with the words: "Lord, he whom you love is ill." But when Jesus heard it, He said: "This illness is not unto death; it is for the glory of God, so that the son of God may be glorified by means of it."

Lazarus died of the sickness. Jesus knew of it. He embarked on the journey to wake him.

On his way, Martha came up to Him and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. And even now, I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you." Jesus assured her: "Your brother will rise again. She believed. Mary acted the same way and said the same things Martha said: if you had been here..."

Jesus wept. He saw where he was laid. He saw the lifelessness in the body that is supposed to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. He saw where His friend was quarantined, He saw those who worshipped Him with joy filled with sorrow and sadness, with tears and bitterness. He commanded, and the stone was taken away. He prayed in faith and cried out, "Lazarus, come out." The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "unbind him and let him go."

 

OUR SICK WORLD AND LAZARUS

Our sick world is like Lazarus. Many are sick, many are suffering, and many have died. The two cases of sickness and death were experienced by Lazarus, the friend of Jesus. Jesus allowed it for a purpose. Is God not aware of all we are facing? He is. Why is he allowing it? We may not have known. But in the end, God must be glorified. Can we cry and become more aware of our need for God this period? Is it actually dawning on us? How we should depend on God? Can we run out of our comfort zones of spiritual lousiness and laziness to kneel at the feet of Jesus for healing and restoration mercy? Mary and Martha did this! They knew Jesus as Lord even of the situation at hand. It became a moment of increased faith, even though Jesus seemed to be away. Situations that genuinely kept Jesus away couldn't stop them from going close to Jesus. The sickness, death, tears, heartbreaks, losses, and disappointments they faced were brought to Jesus. Just like Lazarus, our world is tied hands and feet. Just like Lazarus, we have become helpless, cashless, politically lifeless, and will powerless. Just as Lazarus, we can no longer do much for ourselves. Just like Mary and Martha, we are dumfounded and have no serious solution to offer. Our human life, social life, and religious life are being affected. We now have many questions seeking answers. Like Mary and Martha, therefore, we look up to Jesus. Oh, let's do that with faith. Let's do that with cries for mercy. Let's do that with readiness to start a new life in Christ. Let's listen and hear Jesus tell us: Your world will rise again.

 

WE NEED TO HEAR THE VOICE OF JESUS

The pains and hopeless conditions here and there may be telling you that it is over. Wait in prayers. God has the final say. Your marriage that is not working may appear to be proving to you that it is finished.  It is not finished for you and with you until God says so. God wants your happiness together. The political and economic death of the country may be saying that it is over. God says otherwise. The denial of justice and the sufferings of the innocent for nothing may seem to say that evil has won. God says it is not true. Your personal efforts to survive without much headways may be telling you that you're a failure.  Oh no! God has not said so. You are like one locked up, with no light. Your hopes are almost frustrated.  You have found yourself in a situation where you're tied not to progress. You are cashless, friendless, and lifeless. Don't be hopeless again. From all these, you will come out victorious. God is with us a refuge and strength. Who is tying the young Lazarus? Who is killing the future of the youths? Who is aborting the hope of the people? Wait, you will hear from God.

Dear Child of God, May God command you to come out from that dark, graveyard situation. May God command the situations that have made our families, states, and country look like a graveyard to leave us alone. You will be out.

 

LAZARUS COME OUT!

We shall come out of our quarantine situations

We shall come out of the fear of the evil forces in our world today.

We shall come out of love for sin

We shall come out of the evil hands of oppression and marginalization.

We shall be untied. The evil clothes used in wrapping your destiny shall be removed, the masks shall be pulled off, the prison of cryptocracy and manipulation shall be let loose. Let's look up to the rising that accompanies dying. As you weep in prayers, the Lord weeps to take away your weeping, to unbind you and let you go. You will live again by the power of Christ.

May God bless His word in our hearts.

 

LET US PRAY

We thank You, Father, for assuring us today through Your Son that the various unpleasant situations we encounter presently will not have the final say in our lives. May Jesus the resurrection and the life lift us from our troubles, sickness, and death of body and soul.  May God manifest his glory in the world and restore us all. May we share in the fullness of joy and enjoy the beauty of living through Christ our Lord. Amen

Happy Sunday to you (Fifth Sunday of Lent)

Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh

 5^th Sunday of Lent, Year A: Homily by Fr Isaac Chima

THEME: Making Our Hearts and Families Befitting Homes for God

Readings: Ez 37:12–14; Rom 8:8–11; Jn 11:1–45

Dear friends in Christ, the liturgical celebration of this Fifth Sunday of Lent centres on the theme of death, restoration, and resurrection or reanimation. The three readings present a beautiful unity: they reveal God’s power to reanimate, restore, and raise those who have been knocked down; they show the power of God through Christ over death and over every human situation that seems hopeless; they show God’s power to untie those bound by sickness, depression, sorrow, difficulties, and disappointments, and to send them home renewed.

The first reading comes from the vision and prophecy of Ezekiel concerning the people of Israel in exile in Babylon. In this vision, the Israelites in Babylon are likened to dry bones scattered in a valley—without flesh, without hope, and without a future (Ez 37:11). It is a vivid depiction of the terrible condition they were experiencing in exile. Ezekiel sees God breathe His Spirit upon the dry bones and restore them to life. God then assures him that just as the bones received flesh and new life, so the people of Israel will live again: they will be freed from slavery, restored to their land, and experience new life that springs from God’s Spirit. Their release from captivity is described as rising from the grave to a new life. The prophet urges his people to look beyond their present catastrophe toward future restoration and glory.

The vision and prophecy of Ezekiel—and the eventual release of Israel from captivity—reveal God’s power over everything that threatens our lives. They assure us that slavery, difficulties, hunger, depression, hopelessness, trials, tribulations, and even death cannot conquer those in whom the Spirit of God dwells.

The second reading today offers an even stronger affirmation of what the Spirit of God accomplishes in those in whom He dwells. It declares: “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Therefore, as Christians, we must ensure that our bodies are true temples of the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit dwells in us, difficult situations cannot conquer us, and our mortal bodies will not experience ultimate decay at death (Ps 16:10). The Spirit will continually reanimate us, fill us with hope, and guide our steps.

This reading also teaches us what we must do to ensure that the Spirit of God dwells in us. It explains that those who live according to the flesh cannot please God, and the Spirit cannot dwell in them. Living “in the flesh” means allowing ourselves to be controlled by sinful desires and immoral behaviours. Our bodies are meant to be temples of the Holy Spirit.

Lent offers us a privileged opportunity to purify our hearts and lives through the sacrament of penance, so that the Spirit of God may find in us a worthy dwelling place. When we make our hearts and homes places where God is welcomed, His grace will always come to our aid—especially in moments of pain and sorrow.

The Gospel today shows us what God does for those who welcome Christ into their lives and homes. Because of the hostility of the Scribes and Pharisees, only a few families opened their doors to Jesus and His disciples. One of these was the family of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus in Bethany. They became true friends of Jesus during His ministry and used their resources to care for Him and His disciples whenever they came to Bethany to preach the Good News.

When this family was plunged into mourning by the death of Lazarus, Jesus did not abandon them. Instead, He came to them, wiped away their tears, restored their hope, and returned their joy by bringing Lazarus back to life. This is what happens to those who make their lives and homes worthy dwelling places for Christ and the Holy Spirit. Dear friends, if God’s Spirit truly lives in you, death cannot defeat you. If you make Christ the friend of your life and your family, sorrow and pain will not conquer you; Christ will surely come to your aid even when all hope seems lost.

Let us remember that when Jesus came to raise Lazarus, it was already four days after his death, and his body was expected to have begun decomposing. Humanly speaking, all hope was gone. Yet for those who are friends of Christ, hope never dies. This is a lesson for all who have made themselves friends of Christ: God’s seeming delay in answering your prayers is a call to patience and trust. Christ will not abandon you. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live; and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” To those who have not yet made their hearts and families fitting homes for Christ, the Church invites you to begin today.

Let us make Christ our friend this Lent by purifying our hearts from sin, listening to His voice, and living according to His teachings. Let us make our homes worthy places for Christ by building our families on love, forgiveness, and peace, for wherever Christ dwells, life always triumphs. Dear friends, praying together should be one of our common practices in our families this Lent.

Peace be with you

Fr Isaac Chinemerem Chima