Theme: God is able to bring hope into our lives when everything seems to be hopeless. So trust in the Lord.
Scripture Reading: Ezk. 37:12-14; ps. 129: 1-8; Rom. 8:8-11; Jn. 11:1-45
There is a famous quote that says, “while there is life, there is hope”. Life without hope is considered to be lifeless living. There is yet another saying about the hope; it is said, “Man can live without breathing for five minutes, but without hope, he cannot live even for a second.” These sayings have profound meaning. We begin to understand that the virtue of hope is a guiding force for man to live on this earth. It helps him from discouragement. It sustains him in times of abandonment; it helps him experience happiness. It preserves him from selfishness and dark forces. In other words, hope keeps man alive in a world which is gradually leading to despair. Hope is a guiding force not only in our secular life but also in our spiritual life. Since hope is so important for our living, then we need to be the people of hope and communicate it with others especially to those who are in despair. Today’s liturgy gives us hope in the moments of despair.
In the first reading, Prophet Ezekiel who lived in Babylonian exile conveys a message of hope. His life was disgusting and discouraging. There was no hope of returning to Israel. It was painful to see that the people were forgetting their faith; they were living like pagans and Israel was almost spiritually dead. There were no chances of survival. In the midst of such dire straits, Yahweh showed Prophet Ezekiel a vision of a valley full of human bones scattered all around. Yahweh put all the bones together, he put a skin over it, and finally, he breathed on these bodies his spirit. God showed Ezekiel that He was in control; he had the power to put life in the bones. Similarly, in the later verses of the same chapter; God promises Ezekiel to raise the dead from the graves; he would send them back to Israel. We read in the later books of the Holy Bible that the people of Israel were sent back from the Babylonian exile. Yahweh became a hope to the hopeless Israelites who were living in Babylonian exile, where was no hope.
In the Gospel, Jesus becomes hope for Martha and Mary. We are told in the scriptures, Jesus and his disciples knew that the atmosphere in Judea was hostile towards Jesus. The elders and the Pharisees sought to kill Jesus; and the disciples were reluctant to go to Judea. Yet Jesus chose to go to see Lazarus in Bethany, a village two miles away from Jerusalem. Perhaps when Lazarus was sick, his sisters, Martha and Mary, must have thought that it was difficult for Jesus to come and see Lazarus because of the hostility of Jews towards Jesus. The scriptures say, they (certain elders and the Pharisees) even wanted to kill Lazarus for he was raised from the dead by Jesus. There was so much hatred against Jesus. Secondly, Lazarus was dead for four days. The Jews believed that the person’s spirit hovered around the dead for three days after the death. It is said that Jesus reached Bethany on the fourth day which means to say that Lazarus was dead and there was no hope anymore. Thirdly, he was kept in the tomb and the stone was rolled over it. Martha and Mary along with the people were mourning; there was no hope for the sisters. Yet Jesus reached at the tomb of Lazarus; Martha and Mary witnessed like Ezekiel, not in a dream but in reality, their brother coming to life. Jesus became hope to Martha and Mary a hope when their brother was already dead.
We too are facing a similar situation today. All of us fighting against COVID 19, and the numbers are staggering. There are more than 462000 active cases present in the world. USA, Italy, China, Spain, Germany and Iran are the most affected countries. India is nearing 1000 cases. More than 28000 people are already dead. The cure is not yet found and it is spreading like a wildfire. The entire world is clueless. Many countries are locked down. The economy has been toppled. The poor are suffering without food. They have to walk miles because there is no transportation available. We are like Ezekiel, Martha and Mary in the exile and after the death of Lazarus respectively.
In this situation, we need to believe like Martha and Mary that Jesus has the power to deliver us from this dreaded disease. Let us try to understand Martha and Mary’s faith in Jesus:
They (the entire family of Lazarus) shared a genuine friendship with Jesus; in their distress, they sent a message to Jesus; they gave priority to Jesus over their guests; both of them were convinced that if Jesus were to be there, their brother would not have died; they showed great faith when they agreed to roll away the stone from the grave.
Like Martha and Mary, do we have faith in Jesus? If we have faith like them then we are sure to witness deliverances from any sort of problems in our lives. This was the message of Pope Francis on 27th March. He said, “Embrace the Lord to embrace hope: that is the strength of faith, which frees us from fear and gives us hope.” Let us, therefore, truly believe in Jesus who is our hope.
Fr. Alex D’Mello
