Who are you in this scenario? Are you Jesus, who appears when all seems lost? How about Martha, who too is despondent. “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died,” She says. Mary, mourning in silence at the tomb of Lazarus. Maybe another mourner, someone not mentioned in the Gospel, or one of the enemies of Jesus waiting for a way to trap Him?

How about someone else? What if you are Lazarus? This is a question we need to ask ourselves this week. What if we are Lazarus?

First, let us look at the whole scenario. Lazarus died after several days of what appears to be some kind of illness. So he did not die of any form of instant heart attack or stroke, but slowly lost his life to probably what was a viral or bacterial  infection. He clearly is dying before his time and his death is unexpected. During that time, the family, most likely including Lazarus maintained the hope that he would be saved even by Jesus. Indeed, Martha tells Jesus that had he come Lazarus would not have died. They held out some form of hope that Jesus would come and heal the man. We learn that this was not in God’s plan, that Lazarus’ death would glorify God not his almost death.

Jesus arrives late and Martha expresses her frustration that her brother died for several reasons, but one was that Jesus did not come. It was here that Jesus defines what it means to follow Him. “I am the resurrection and the life, the one who follows me will never die.” Do you believe this? Jesus is now doing what he does quite often, he get the person to define their faith in Him. Martha is called to testify that what Jesus is all about is not just miracles, but eternal life.

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It is here that Jesus brings Lazarus to life, showing that He has power not only over illness, sin, disability but also over death. Lazarus is now alive.

This miracle becomes the final one that sets the pharisees to kill Jesus. Healing blind men, proclaiming conversion to adultresses, making the lame walk are all powerful, but bringing someone back from the dead, this is the last straw. After this miracle, the Pharisees meet and Caiphas makes his proclamation that determines that Jesus will die.

Let us look at this scenario again.  I keep hearing rumors about the parish closing. They are false and feel free to let me know who is spreading them. But stop and look around, why would you be concerned that the parish is closing, if only to say, where is all the life this parish had. Where are the families that used to come to Church and make this parish vibrant. These are legitimate questions and the answer is where are they indeed?

Why does this parish exist? It exists to testify to the presence of Jesus Christ in the world and in our lives. It is here to tell the people that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. If our desire in this parish is anything short of that, then the parish will suffer major setbacks.

I  remember a parish waiting for a new pastor and they approached me with their list of what they wanted to see in a pastor. The list said: Keep the streets clean, the lights on, the teens busy, etc. I looked at them and said: “This is what a mayor does, not what a pastor does.” They did not have even the basic understanding of why the parish existed at all.

Do you want to see this parish grow, turn to the Lord and allow him to bring it back to life. The parish must be focused on doing His will and if so, it will become powerful. But if we do not understand that, then the parish will not thrive.

Look around you, why hasn’t the parish thrived, what went wrong? Do not look at the past but the present. Where is this Church in light of the mission of Jesus? Are we seeking to embrace Christ fully, or are we focused on something else.

We need to pray for the Lord to touch our parish in a way that glorifies God. Anything short of that will not ultimately work. Why do we exist? To lead people to He who is the way the truth and life.

May I encourage you now to pray the following prayer daily from now until Easter.

Lord, let this parish shine powerfully in the hearts of those around us that we may testify to you as the resurrection and the life. Convert us and make us an Easter people that challenges the culture of death around us. Allow us to glorify you in ways that lead others from the clutches of death to eternal life.
We ask this through Jesus Christ your son and our Lord.

 

God bless you,

Fr. Robert J Carr

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