New life in death

Our Lenten pilgrimage is nearing the end. We began in the desert, our foreheads dusted with ashes, our posture of penance with promises of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Now we kneel before the Lord, hearts and heads bowed for his great mercy as we pray, “Save us, our Savior of the world, for by your cross and resurrection you have set us free.”

We ready ourselves for the final Sundays in Lent. The Mass readings in the Fifth Sunday in Lent and Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion strengthen faith and hope in the Lord during times of personal suffering and prepare us for eternal life.

Hope in the raising of Lazarus

(5th Sunday in Lent: Ez 37:12-14, Ps 130, Rom 8:8-11, Jn 11:1-45)

The prophet, Ezekiel, tells of the day when God will open the graves of his people and return them home to the promised land. While Ezekiel is prophesying God’s promise, the Israelites were experiencing the Babylonian captivity. The Israelites deeply desired to return home, to worship in their temple and to have a normal life, united with family and community. The desolation of displacement resulted in a sense of despair. Yet, with God there is promise of a return, a resettlement, an internment of the Spirit within each person for the purpose of new life. The psalmist writes of mercy and FULLNESS of redemption with the Lord. Herein, we place our hope in knowing God promises new life, our hope to trust in him and our love to place all of our worries into his fatherly care.

To prepare us for new life, Jesus, our Lord and Messiah, explicitly shows this promised hope in the resurrection, the movement from death to life by faith in Jesus Christ. The Gospel of St. John gives us the testimony of the raising of Lazarus. Lazarus is the third person Jesus raised from the dead during his public ministry, thus preparing the faithful for his ultimate death and resurrection.

Lazarus died. Jesus waited. Jesus went. Martha ran to him, fell at his feet and wept. Jesus wept. All went to the tomb. Many doubted. Martha BELIEVED. Jesus prayed, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.”

And when he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth.

Jesus called forth Lazarus to come out! Lazarus did indeed emerge from his tomb alive! Many began to believe.

Meditate with this passage. It is powerful, and real. Jesus strengthens our faith in new life promised by God through his Passion, suffering, death and resurrection. The resurrection is the cornerstone of our faith in Jesus Christ. This is our hope! This is our destiny!

How do we know this? Jesus said this, and his words are transformative. Jesus is the resurrection and the life, and whoever believes in him, even if he dies, will never die.

Life in the Passion of the Christ

(Mt 21:1-11, Is 50:4-7, Ps 22, Phil 2:6-11, Mt 26:14 - 27:66)

Palm Sunday is the dawn of Holy Week. Lent ends, as the Triduum begins at sundown on Holy Thursday. Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem is unlike his journey out of Jerusalem. He enters riding on a donkey, embraced as a victorious leader, welcomed by cheering crowds waving palms with honor and joy. He is led out days later beaten, bloody, carrying a wooden cross, with jeers from onlookers filled with dishonor and contempt. Accepted then rejected.

What just happened? He enters Jerusalem full of life. He leaves on the verge of death, to his death. Alive then dead. He had shared a powerful Passover meal with his closest friends. The very next day all but one abandons him. Where did they go?

He held the first Eucharist in his hands, hands that performed miracles, hands that offered love, comfort, reassurance, teachings, truth. The next day, those same hands are pierced by long iron nails which pinned him to the cross.

He had washed the feet of the apostles, instituting the priesthood, the witness humility and sacrifice. The next day, his feet trod the path to the cross ... the ultimate sacrifice.  He is placed on trial, judged by bribed testimony, trapped in a web of lies, falsely accused, convicted, sentenced, crucified, pierced, died, buried. Life to death. The apostles scattered, except for St. John.

As we experience sudden unexpected life events, we may ask, “Where did this come from? I cannot control this. Where is the light? Where is the joy? Where is the healing? Why am I afraid, nervous, anxious, on the verge of panic? Why do I thirst? I feel alone, abandoned. Where is everyone?”

We may hide in an upper room, a space of sanctuary, refuge, a sort of holding room. We may think, “How long, Lord, how long will I be in this tomb-like moment? What can calm my sense of helplessness? Where can I find comfort? What am I longing for? Lord, save me!”

Our answers are realized in the Passion of the Christ. What is heard and seen in Jesus’ words and actions on Calvary and following are transformative. New life begins in baptism. The Catechism of The Catholic Church teaches, “This sacrament is called baptism means to ‘plunge’ or ‘immerse;’ the ‘plunge’ into the water symbolizes the catechumen’s burial into Christ’s death, from which he rises up by resurrection with him, as ‘a new creature.’ ”

New life is through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. This is our faith that we come to believe. St. Paul writes, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried, therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father, we too might walk in newness of life (Rom 6:3-4).”

Act of Hope

O my God, relying on Your almighty power and infinite mercy and promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of your grace and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and redeemer. Amen.
Dow is the director of the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis for the Diocese of Baton Rouge.