Our Sunday Reflections

CLICK HERE for the Audio recording of the Readings of
March 29th, 2020.
Fifth Sunday of Lent.

CLICK HERE for the Readings of March 29th, 2020.  
Fifth Sunday of Lent.

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March 29th, 2020.  Fifth Sunday of Lent.
 

“O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, I will put my spirit in you that you may live …I have promised, and I will do it..” 
Ezekiel 37: 12-14

The Christian lifestyle  

 
As the weather gets better (end of May or early June), we often open wide the doors and windows of the Church, to get in some fresh air.  Occasionally when we do this, a bird or two, has flown into the Church, not knowing that it just got itself into a big trap.  The ceilings of the Church are deceptively high, so it tries to go out upwards, but it cannot.  Then it tries flying from the Trinity symbol or crucifix above the altar, but it can only go as far as the bottom of the Choir loft.  The windows on the sides could be a way out, but they are awkwardly placed, they are slanted and being stain glassed, they are darkish so that too does not help.  The poor bird does this all day and one can imagine how exhausted and afraid it becomes when evening falls.
 
There are two ways this bird will get out of the church.  One is if by chance it can get itself by the window (chances are it cannot).  The only real way to get out is:  if the next day (or during the course of the day it flies in), one of our custodians finds it (and is in a good mood).  He will pick it up (or lead it) to the front doors of the Church.  And when that bird gets there, it is free!  It flies away so fast and so far away, it will never be by the Church in a long time. 
 
Someone must 'step in' for it to be free.
 
In today’s first reading, the people of Israel find themselves in Exile.  ‘Exile’ means banishment from their homeland.  The whole nation was deported and Jerusalem, their capital, destroyed. They are oppressed and suffering.  All they see is frustration and disillusion.  This is a ‘bad’ trap that disorients.   They need a way out!
 
God, true to who he is (ever faithful) sends Ezekiel with a message of hope.  He himself will intervene.  He himself is going to step up and act.  He will 'save' them.  Ezekiel expresses God’s intervention with a grandiose scene: “O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them. I will put my spirit in you that you may live, I will settle you in your land; I will do it, I have promised” (Ezekiel 37:12-14) .  The Grave is indeed a trap.  No one gets into it and then just comes out!  But God’s word is the ‘breath of life” (He speaks and it is).  God‘s word restores and brings life.  Ezekiel is always known as the prophet of God’s Action.  When God acts, He saves.  So, if we remain faithful, we will see his saving actions in our lives.
 
Where do you need or hunger for God’s intervention is your life?  Do you call upon him with total faith and trust?  When and how did you recently experience God 'acting' in the midst of your life? 
 
Why did Jesus come into the world?  He is often referred to as ‘Our Savior’, why? 

The mission of Jesus on earth is to reveal the Father: the Father’s Spirit, good works and glory.v Jesus is the way to the Father (I am the Way, the Truth and the Life).  Every time Jesus acts, he does so to restore and give life.  He did so when he met the Samaritan woman (‘come and see a man who told me everything I have done’).  Last Sunday, he heals the blind man (‘all I know is that I was blind but now I see’). Today in the Gospel, he takes things a step further: he raises his friend Lazarus from the dead!
 
Who of us has not battled with the enigma of death?  The emptiness and pain it causes?  Death robs us of life when we still want to stay.  It takes our loved ones away.  No one can seem to escape it. Right at this moment in the world, the stench of death is all around us.
 
For Martha and Mary, the death of Lazarus is close and personal.  They are even more hurt and dismayed because they are always with Jesus.  They host him always at their home.  It is here he ‘hangs out’.  They probably shocked that even to them who are that close to Jesus, death can come?  “If you had been here my brother would not have died”.  This phrase is repeated by both sisters.  Yet, did they really understand who Jesus is?  Did they know Jesus ‘is more’?  Did they totally believe that ‘He’ is the Son of God?
 
Jesus asks that they go to the tomb, and after a deep prayer to the Father, he commands Lazarus to come out. He further instructs:  ‘untie him and let him go’. 

Jesus is what he says He is.  He is the resurrection and the Life.  There are no boundaries to God’s reach; not even death with its power.  The mission and message of Jesus is always to: ‘untie and let go’ and nothing stands in his way.
 
The point of the readings this weekend is: firstly, trust in God.  To those who are faithful, God will restore, act, and intervene.  He will be a source of abundant hope.
 
Secondly, we are challenged as Christians to continue the mission of Jesus.  We must spread the spirit, hope and good works of Jesus by living Jesus’ lifestyle.  The Christian lifestyle is to ‘untie and let go’ (self-giving).  The world around us hungers for this witness.  It is the only witness that brings hope.  People around us are caught up in traps of emptiness, failure, hopelessness and brokenness and they need us to ‘step in’.  Can our words and actions give encouragement?  Can we help ‘untie’ others?  Can this pandemic see a renewal of the Christian spirit and fervor? 
 
As you keep yourself safe and healthy, buying what is needed for you, might this make you pause and think of those that are always living life 'on the edge'?  Families that are broken, parents that cannot provide for their loved ones?  What does it mean to be a family ? 
 
What place does our society give the elderly?  (Grandparents? Great-grandparents?)  How are they treated?  With respect and dignity? Or are they ‘left alone’.  How can we re-evaluate the issues of life at its beginning and end?  

How about the poor?  Right here in our country?  Listen to the news of counties in rural America that have no decent hospital, no doctors?  How can Christians 'step in'? 

As much as this pandemic is causing us a lot of restlessness and fear, might it also be an avenue to re-boot our way of life?  There are many things that might entrap us if we are not fully aware of what is happening to 'my neighbor'.

God Bless,
Fr. Anthony



View the below video for another Sunday Reflection on the readings.