Fifth Sunday of Lent

Up to now the Lenten Liturgies have nourished us with invitation after invitation to conversion. Each Lent seems to encourage us to the “more” in deepening our relations with our God, Jesus, the universe and all that lives.

Todays Scriptural messages are particularly poignant and pointing – pointing to expand our hearts and horizons to the new, the more, the deeper, “No need to recall the past… see I am doing a new deed, even now it comes to light; can you not see it?” (Is. 43:18, 19) As we read these words, I’m sure each of us taps into what they could mean in our lives here and now.

In John’s eighth chapter, we see Jesus being challenged by the authorities. With the woman caught in adultery standing in the open for all to condemn, the Pharisees wanted to know what spin Jesus would have on this situation. They knew him to value each person, even women and children. This situation would surely catch him off guard, so much so that they slunk away without a response.

Rather than throw stones, we are called to love our neighbour, to help restore their dignity and leave them with hope in the mercy of Christ. We know that the capacity to forgive is one of the infallible signs of Christian maturity or holiness, the proof that we are growing in wisdom. Like St. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians we “strain ahead for what is still to come” … “racing for the finish”. (Phil. 31:13)

Let us not allow this season of grace to pass in vain. Let us ask God to help us continue on a path to true conversion, leaving behind our selfishness and self-absorption, so as to stand firmly beside our sisters and brothers in need and hopefully radiate God’s powerful grace and transforming power to all creation.

- Sister Betty Berrigan, CSJ

Rise up in love!

Jesus cried out with a loud voice three bold imperatives and Lazarus of Bethany came forth from the entrance of the cave experiencing resurrection from the dead. “Lazarus, come out! Unbind him, let him go free” (Jn. 11:44).

There are different levels of understanding in the Gospel of John. There is the historical level: the fact that a man who had been dead for four days comes back to life. This is a miracle that proclaims the glory, majesty and power of God, who is Lord of life and death. The crowd sees this glory and many believe.

There is the symbolic level. Aren’t we all Lazarus? Don’t we all need a miracle of resurrection to wake us up and free us to live the rest of our lives, fully alive! Are there not parts of each of us that are still bound up and left entombed, hidden in our unconscious out of fear, self-doubt or brokenness? Over time, these ‘shadow’ areas provoke a kind of negativity around us and within us, causing pain, hurt and ruptures in our relationships. This raising of Lazarus miracle is a powerful reminder to cry out for liberation and freedom…not just for ourselves but for others who suffer.   

Jesus wants us to rise up and become fully alive. He calls us out of those secret, darkened, tomblike places we carry around within us. “Be and become the person God wants YOU to be in nature, in grace and in glory, for time and for eternity” (M.P. 10:6). Truly, God has big plans for us. “I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full (Jn. 10:10). So, we must not settle down into the complacency of a small, mediocre, selfish lifestyle. “Come out! Unbind him, let him go free.” It is a commanding invitation to true freedom, creativity and possibility. Allow these words to effect in us a miracle of Love.

Our resurrection process begins when we obey the commands of Jesus to come into the light and allow the masks and pretenses to fall off. Today, just as in the Gospel account, Jesus asks others to do the unbinding. Spiritual directors, pastors and counselors offer this ministry of unbinding persons lost in their false selves and bound up in compulsive and addictive patterns of behaviours that are destructive to themselves and others. There needs to be a quality of trust and intimacy in these healing relationships – like the familiarity and friendship between Jesus and Lazarus – for the miracle of transformation to happen. Over time and with deep listening and trustful encounters, the masks fall off and “your hidden, true self grows strong” (Eph. 3:17). What a profound grace to witness. Rise up in love!

This week consider sharing your ‘Lazarus’ miracle story with a good friend over morning coffee.                                                                                                                                                                    

Rosemary O’Toole, csj