April 2nd 5th Sunday of Lent: Come forth Lazarus

In today’s Gospel Jesus is surrounded by a culture of death. The disciples are afraid to go back to Bethany, the Jews want to stone Jesus to death, Mary and Martha are distraught over the death of their brother Lazarus, and Lazarus himself lies bound in the darkness of the tomb. It appears as if there is no hope. Jesus weeps for his friend and for those around him. Yet, surrounded by a culture of violence and despair, Jesus gives hope, compassion, and resurrection to those in turmoil. It is easy to say that nothing can be done when we are faced with difficult situations in our own lives. Yet Jesus says ‘Lazarus, come out” and to the people he says “Unbind him, let him go.” It is a message for all of us to come away from a culture of death; to help unbind one another and to also allow ourselves to emerge from the tomb. We are called to take away the stone. Today’s Gospel is a story of liberation. Jesus gives a new insight into the power of faith over death.

 “Hope means to keep living amid desperation and to keep humming in the darkness.
Hope is knowing that there is love, it is trust in tomorrow, it is falling asleep and waking
to work when the sun rises. In the midst of a gale at sea, it is to discover land. In the eyes of another, it is to see understanding. As long as there is hope,
there will also be prayer. And God will be holding you in his loving hands.”(Henri Nouwen)

Come Forth Lazarus (5th Sunday of Lent 2014)

Jesus is being called back to Bethany into a situation of death. We can think of all of those places in the world which Bethany could represent for us today: Malawi, Syria, Afghanistan, or situations of conflict in our own communities. The tomb and the bandages can represent all of those things which prevent us from being free; which cause situations of despair. We can place ourselves in various positions within this text: the disciples who don’t want to go there; Mary and Martha who are crying out to Jesus; Lazarus who has been placed in darkness, bound and restrained.

Jesus returns to the place of conflict and confronts a culture of death. He orders that Lazarus be unbound, that Lazarus come out of the darkness of the tomb and into the light.

This Lent we are asked to focus particularly on the Global Water Crisis as part of Trocaire's Lenten campaign. We too are sometimes like Lazarus in the tomb when we assume that we can do nothing about a particular situation such as this; it seems too big; too impossible to solve. We can dismiss our own light and remain in the darkness.

However, today's Gospel is a story of liberation. When we feel helpless where situations of injustice are concerned, we must remember that we are full of light; we are being called out of a culture of death; we are powerful beyond measure. Never forget that. We can do small things; we can help to remove the restraints of injustice instead of sitting in the darkness. We can lobby our government on the Climate Change Act; we can be more aware of how we use the earths resources; we can tell the stories of those suffering from drought in Malawi - there is so much we can do.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us”. Jesus is calling us out into the light in today’s Gospel. Come forth, Lazarus.

For more information on what we can do in relation to the Global Water Crisis please take a look at Trocaire's website and the "IT'S UP TO US" PAGE: www.trocaire.com/uptous