The Fifth Sunday of Lent

Everything in today’s story about Martha and Mary and their brother helps us see more clearly how much Jesus can do for us, his friends of today.  Lazarus and his two sisters were friends of Jesus.  They welcomed him into their home.  They listened to him.  They served him.  They knew that he loved them.  We too are faithful friends to Jesus when we welcome him into our hearts and homes, listen to him in prayer and throughout the day, and serve him when we see him in need.  We too are the ones he loves. 

We may be like Martha or Mary: some of us outgoing and busy all the time, others more laid back and willing to wait for the right moment.  Jesus understands us and does not expect the same from all of us.  Like Martha and Mary, who sent a short message to Jesus about their sick brother, we too would best keep our prayers simple and not presume to tell the Lord what he should do. 

Again, like the sisters, we need to trust Jesus in times of grief and struggle.  The temptation is to be angry or hurt, resentful and frustrated.  Instead, we need to believe that the Lord is very much with us.  He shares our pain, even when he knows that pain and hurt will not be the final word.  He wept at the tomb of Lazarus moments before he raised him from the dead.  We may not see such an immediate, joyful end to the pain in our lives as Martha and Mary did, but we can trust that God’s love will be work in some mysterious way.

In the gospel of John, eternal life begins when one believes in Jesus and his word.  Eternal life began for us when the Holy Spirit was poured into our hearts at baptism.  We are alive in Jesus already, filled with his love, one with him here and now. 

But we also share in his passion and cross.  The victory has been won, but we need to take up our cross and follow him in order to share in the life of the resurrection in the world to come.

Are we willing, midst the pain and death that often surrounds us, to put our trust in Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life?  Will we ask him to stir up in us the eternal life that dwells in our hearts?  Will we ask to be set us free from all that binds us, so that we may follow him along the way of the cross?  Martha and Mary did, as did Lazarus once he was restored to life.  We need to do the same.