Homily for March 29, 2009

There are many details in this story we've just heard. You could go in a thousand different directions on any one of the details. I won't try to mention them all, but, so as not to lose them, I want to ask you what stands out for you in the store that we've just heard? [The story is John’s Gospel and the raising of Lazarus from the dead.]
[inaudible response] That he was able to raise Lazarus from the dead. Okay. What else might stand out?
[inaudible response] His compassion, that he wept, that the story doesn't deny the tragedy of death.
[inaudible response] It said he was perturbed twice.
[inaudible response] He was perturbed. What does that mean?
[inaudible response] He made a drama out of the occasion. What else might "perturbed" mean? He did, by the way  yes.
[inaudible response] Angrier than he wanted to show. One translation is that he was angry. Why would he be angry? What was he angry at?
[inaudible response] That they didn't get it, okay. At their lack of faith. That's one interpretation. Troubled with God putting it on  okay.
[inaudible response] Martha's belief? Okay. I want to come back to that.
Some interpreters think he was disturbed at the crowd being there, because the presence of the crowd meant he was going to get in trouble. Instead of being an occasion to show the glory to Martha and Mary and his disciples, suddenly this is public. In John's Gospel it says at the end some believed in him, but some wanted to put him to death because of this. And they even wanted to kill Lazarus.
What else stands out for you?
[inaudible response] Yes? The deliberateness with which he stayed there. That would tie in with Joe's. It's all staged, isn't it?
By the way  I don't know if this is what John meant; it's my own thought that's triggered by the Gospel, but I think it's okay.   How many of you have ever wanted to ask God, "Where were you? I prayed and it seems like God stays on two days more where he is, and I want to say, ‘If only you'd been here.’" Have you ever felt that way? I have. By the way, God never answers that question. Jesus doesn't say to Martha, "Martha, I'm really sorry. This is why I was late, this is where I was." But she's able to voice it, and I think that's important.
Anything else? Yes?
[inaudible response] That we pray to God. Good, we pray to God, we hope that he answers, he doesn't do it on our time frame, but ultimately he does hear our prayer if we have that faith.
Something you may not have noticed  and you have to see the whole of John's Gospel to see it  in the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, and Luke the high point of profession of faith is when Peter says, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." That doesn't happen in John's Gospel. The high point of faith is when Martha says, "You are the Christ, the Son of God." Where do you want to go with that?
Voice: It struck me that one of the lines of Martha was the real point, when she said, "We know that there will be the resurrection at the end." So Lazarus' resurrection was a temporary thing, but the resurrection is at the end of life.
Martha's line, Jay says, Lazarus' resurrection was a temporary thing. He died again. I have a good friend that says, "Let's face it, all the miracles of Jesus were only temporary. All those people he cured died anyway. So the real point is the resurrection at the end. I want to come back to that.
Let's look at this thing I said. In John's Gospel Martha's confession of faith is the highlight. What do you make of that?
[inaudible response] Ed says, "I've been following women all my life."
Voice: I think as the sister of Lazarus she has every reason to be bitter, and the fact that she's not, she professes her faith, that's very powerful.
As the sister of Lazarus she could be bitter, but she professes her faith and that makes it all the more powerful.
I'm not going to belabor the point of Martha's faith, but I do want to just point out, there are many voices of faith in the Scripture, and in our tradition we have not always paid attention to the many voices of faith. So let Martha's voice of faith rise and be up there with Peter's voice of faith. Just see what that does to you and to your awareness of faith.
And finally, the ultimate point is God's power over death, and that's important. We're all going to die, right? And as we get older  and if you're very young that's pretty remote  if you're very old, it's a lot more real. So as we face our own death, it's very important to know that that's not the final word. The final word is God's power and God's love and God giving life.
What about today? I think it's also important not just to know, "Yeah, I'm going to die and go to heaven," but there are also forces of death around us today, aren't there? Look at the economy, war, violence, insensitivity. We're surrounded by death, the weather, but it's not the last word. God's love can bring life.
And finally, there are in the lives of all of us things that have died. Do you know what I mean? There are things in my life that died that I would very much like to have back. Can God bring them back? I don't mean resuscitate them and restore them to what they were, but can God bring them back to me in a new and deeper way than I've had them before? And I believe the answer is yes.
And back to the prayer at the beginning of Mass, I think that can help me embrace the world with all of its pain and suffering and know that there is within us the power of God's love that can transform the pain around us into the life and the joy of Easter.
And now I want to call forward our elect that we might pray over them for this one last time before Easter.