St Joseph Homily March 26th, 2023
Introduction:
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord;
Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to my voice in supplication.
The Psalm gives us direction for our time of reflection on the readings. Be attentive. The Holy Spirit usually whispers. He wants to draw us into the sacredness of the scripture.
Then, in the opening prayer we heard:
May we walk eagerly in that same charity with which, out of love for the world, your Son handed himself over to death.
‘Walk eagerly’. Walk with purpose. Today the Holy Spirit will give us what we need for this upcoming week. It’s not so much what I say but what the Holy Spirit wants to tell you. Are you ready? Is your heart ready?
“Holy Spirit, I am ready, I am listening, I am eager to be accompanied by you in this 5th week of Lent. Come Holy Spirit, show me where I need to be freed from worldly attachments.”
I remember being in the Chicago airport one day ‘minding my own business’, eating a McDonald’s cheese burger. I noticed an African American woman walking briskly with a child in tow. She turned around to her child and said, ‘Samantha, would you please walk with purpose!’
My hope today is that when we leave, we will all be walking with purpose!
Today we will start with the Gospel. Here’s what Pope Benedict writes about this passage:
“Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him,” he tells his disciples, expressing God’s viewpoint on physical death with the metaphor of sleep. God sees it exactly as sleep from which he can awaken us. Jesus has shown absolute power regarding this death, seen when he gives life back to the widow of Nain’s young son and to the twelve-year-old girl. Concerning her he said: The child is not dead but sleeping, attracting the derision of those present. But in truth it is exactly like this: bodily death is asleep from which God can awaken us at any moment.”
Our prayer for each other today is that we discover where we might be sleeping. The spiritual life consists of always being ready to adjust and change where necessary. In today’s world of technology and communication we have at our fingertips amazing resources to know more about Jesus. Just think of Bishop Barron, almost a household name in Catholic America. But just because we have more information doesn’t mean automatically, I am going to be a better person.
So, today at this Mass don’t be afraid to ask yourself hard questions. It will make week five of Lent even more meaningful. Where have I fallen asleep, where have I slacked and waned, what is holding me back? Where have worldly allurements begun to grow like weeds in my garden of virtues?
The words from the prophet Ezekiel will echo in your heart as you claim for your own what needs to be changed…
‘I have promised and will do it, says the Lord.’
Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” How many times has God told us something and our ears have been deaf, or he has shown us something and our eyes have been blind to it.
This was a very special family for Jesus, he had become for them a close friend. He knew them all well. If they had phones in those days, they would have been texting each other. “Hey, I am almost there.” But Jesus chose to wait and therein lies a mystery that we can relate to. Jesus has not shown up when they wanted him to. This must have been very perplexing for them. Was Jesus slacking in his duty as a friend? But no, his delay in answering their prayers had a purpose. This was to be a sign for many people, that he has power over death. As a priest I am accustomed to hearing, ‘why hasn’t Jesus answered my prayers, Father? How long do I have to wait?’ Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in Him. These words are similar to ones from the recent Gospel about the woman at the well…We no longer believe because of your word: for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.
Many times, I don’t have the right answer for the tough questions people ask me. It can be humbling for sure. But inevitably the answer does come. Jesus makes it quite clear in the end, all our doubts and difficulties are for a reason so that He brings good out of it.
When was the last time you didn’t get an answer? But, in the end, God won! It’s happened many times to me over the course of my priesthood. And today, I am grateful God didn’t answer my needs right away, because he taught me what St Paul wrote about to us to us today, ‘But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the spirit of God dwells in you.’
And that speaks into Lent which is a time of ‘waiting and preparing’. It can seem like a long time, just like it seemed like forever as they waited to see if Jesus might show up. And their hopes were dashed as they didn’t see him coming. At this stage of Lent don’t give up waiting and preparing, you may not see him, but he is coming! Imagine now for a moment, Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey. The crowds, the expectation, the humility of Jesus. We are almost there.
“Lazarus come out! Untie him and let him go.”
And the answer came, like a thunder bolt from Heaven. With such a force of nature with absolute conviction. Jesus’ voice was heard, and Lazarus rose from the dead.
Where am I dying? What’s not going well inside of me? Where am I holding onto something that is not healthy. To give an example that we can all relate to or at least I can. When someone is an alcoholic, he or she is dying a slow death and those around get caught up in the game of hiding go seek. But as soon as that person admits, ‘I am alcoholic’, they are immediately on the road to recovery. A long road to be sure, but a road full of hope. We need to pray for that I loved ones caught up in vices ‘Jimmy, come out! Untie him and let him go!’
Today ask yourself, ‘what is tying me down?’ Is there an addiction I am not willing to give up that is causing an early death inside of me? Lent is about deep purification. Purification means pruning, cutting off, starting over again. We need to enter this land of new beginnings in this fifth week of Lent. Our Blessed Lord is inviting us to cast out into the deep and be made new.
Today, Jesus wants to say to me, ‘be free.’ And it’s a freedom that will last.
Final Prayer: Repeat after me…
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding,
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.
You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
that is enough for me.