DOCTRINE AND FAITH......5th Sun of Lent: Year A

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

( Ezek 37,12-14; Romans 8,8-11; John 11,1-45; 5th Sun of Lent: Year A)

          The central theme of today’s three readings can be hold as: One can hold that the central theme of the three readings of today’s Sunday is: the power of God. This divine power is first shown among the Jewish, who were extremely humiliated in war. In order to depict the situation, Jeremiah employed the prophetic imagery of masses of dry and lifeless human bones strewn here and there. Just as these bones took flesh and became alive again, so would the Jewish  gradually rise again through God’s intervention ;the rising and rehabilitation should be in such a way that one will not fail to recognize God’s intervention. According to the 2^nd reading, God’s sovereign power is manifest in every Christian through the Holy Spirit, who renders Christians sons and daughters of God in this present life and resurrect bodies by making them participate in the glory of the risen Christ. The same power of God is manifest in a supreme manner in Christ who made his friend Lazarus to rise again to life after having been buried in the grave for four days. Today’s liturgy, by proposing the gospel for our reflection, wishes us to profess through a convincing, deep, enthusiastic, joyful and missionary faith that Christ is the Lord of life, the Son of God and the promised Messiah. 

       

   Faith, however, develops progressively and matures gradually; it is a journey. This is verifiable in Martha, the sister to Lazarus, who frankly told Jesus: if you were here, my brother would not have died. At this time, Martha was still not very certain about Christ’s identity. If she had believed in the identity of Christ, she would have understood that Jesus physical presence at Lazarus’s bedside would have been of importance, for Jesus could have miraculously healed him from a distance. When Jesus affirmed: your brother will rise again,Martha replied: I know that he will rise on the last day. Up to this point, she has not yet realized whom Jesus was. She fully identified Jesus only when he declared openly by saying: I am the resurrection and life, and whosoever believes in me even if he/she dies will live. It is at this point that Martha came to the fullness of faith in Christ when she affirmed: Yes, O Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God. Martha’s difficulty in not immediately coming to the full and unconditional faith in Jesus should be consoling to us who are sometimes in similar situations of slow maturation of our faith. Nevertheless, it is our duty to make progress in deepening our faith. We are not to remain in the situation of doubt or in uncertainty. Gradually with prayers, graces from the Sacraments, reflection on the word of God and spiritual direction, we will arrive at mature and adult faith and shed off infantile faith. 

          The gospel story, besides revealing the identity of Christ and his absolute power over life and death, also manifest his profound humanity. He was so emotionally moved that he burst into tears as he came face to face with the reality of death, that snatched his friend Lazarus. His coming to condole with Martha and Maria over the death of their brother demonstrates the tenderness with which he cherished their friendship. This shows that all authentic human values are incarnated in Jesus and he does not shy away from anything that is positive in human nature. He, however, excluded sin and whatever was evil.

          The miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus is a manifestation of what would be the final destiny of the believing person as Jesus assures us: he who believes in me, even if he dies will live...and will not die forever. Faith, which equips the Christian to participate in Christ’s glorious destiny and (the resurrection) triumph over death. The miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus is a proof and secure guarantee of this assertion. Along side the resurrection of Lazarus is the revelation of what is happening even at the present moment in every one of us in the spiritual plain. His resurrection is the symbol of the new life of grace that triumphs over death, which sin brings along with it. We are also often locked up in the sepulcher of sin and Jesus is always calling us out in a great voice: Lazarus, James, Agnes, Ikechukwu, Ifeoma etc, Here! Come out! The spirit of the resurrection comes to us through the sacrament of reconciliation (Penance, Confession) and even before this at our baptism. We are still bound hands and feet with the bands of selfishness, and Jesus orders his ministers (priests):Unbind them, let them go free! Thus, we can once more feel free, joyful and vivacious; we still see ourselves in the position to continue our journey of faith in serenity and joy. Finally, from the miracle of Lazarus resurrection we understand that as individual Christian or as a community of Christians, we are called to remove the stone from over the sepulcher where man and woman the present time are locked up; from the sepulcher of immorality, corruption, materialism, selfishness, tribalism, struggle for positions of power, etc. In order that this poor Lazarus, the man or woman of today (ourselves of course) may recover his/her dignity and sense of life, we need to lead him/her back to Jesus Christ, who is the resurrection and life.This is to be done by encountering Jesus in the Gospel (the light of truth), drawing near to him in the Sacraments of the Church, which are the inexhaustible source of divine grace springing from the very heart of Him who gave his life for us. May we pray that the Lord in today’s Eucharistic celebration allows his divine power to touch us and make our faith mature by taking tap root in our psyche so that through the graces of the resurrection of Christ we will be able to triumph over sin, selfishness and finally death. 

+John I. Okoye