Why are we here? (2026-03-22, Lent 5th Sunday)

[v.8]  2026-March-22 – 5th Sunday Lent    ●● Ezekiel 27:12-14 ●● Psalm 130 ●● Romans 8:8-11 ●●  John 11:1-45  ●●   

 [00] “Why Are We Here?”

Have you ever been to a funeral…
and then, not long after, found yourself at another funeral—
with many of the same people?

I had his experience not long ago.

I was at a funeral for a family friend, Catherine — whom I invite you to pray for— who died in her 80s who died after a long illness.

And then, just a few days later,
I found myself at another funeral—this time for her nephew Kevin,
in his 50s, also after a serious illness.

And there we were again—
many of the same people,
gathered in another church, in another town.

Talking, consoling one another…
and quietly asking the same question:

Why are we here?

Maybe you’ve had that experience—
attending several funerals in a short span of time,
and asking that same question.

There is a well-known line from the frequently quoted New York Yankees baseball player Yogi Berra— who used to worship here, by the way.

Yogi Berra once said:

“You should always go to other people’s funerals—otherwise, they won’t come to yours.”

It’s a humorous line—but it points to something true.

We belong to one another.
We are connected.

And in the Catholic faith, that connection does not end at death.

We pray for one another—by name—
in life,  in dying, and even after death.

And so the question becomes deeper:

When we hear the news of death…
is that the whole story?
What happens next?

[01] The Gospel: A Real Death

In today’s Gospel, Jesus stands before the tomb of His friend Lazarus.

And we are told something very important:

Lazarus has been dead four days.

In the understanding of that time, that meant there was no doubt—
he is truly dead.

Not a misunderstanding.
Not a mistake.

This makes what Jesus is about to do all the more touching—because after four days, He meets them in the full reality of death, and meets them in the depths of their grief.

And Jesus is not distant from this moment.

He knows Martha and Mary.
He loves them.

And we are told simply:

“Jesus wept.”

He enters into their grief.

But He does not remain there.

He calls out:

“Lazarus, come out.”

And the dead man comes forth.

This is not only a miracle.
It is a sign—

that in Christ, death does not have the final word.

[02] DENIAL

The Gospel begins with a kind of denial.

The disciples try to stop Jesus from going to Judea.
It is too dangerous. They want to avoid it.

And we understand that instinct.

We also avoid suffering.
We avoid difficult truths.
We avoid even thinking about death.

But Christ does not avoid it.

He walks toward it.

And He invites us to face life honestly—with Him.

[03] DELAY

Then there is delay.

Jesus hears that Lazarus is ill… and He waits.

From our perspective, that is hard to understand.

We know what it is like to wait—
for healing,
for answers,
for something to change.

And sometimes it feels like God is absent.

But the Gospel shows us:

The delay is not indifference.

God is still at work—
often in ways we cannot yet see.

[04] DISAPPOINTMENT

And then comes disappointment.

Martha says it plainly:

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

We have all prayed something like that.

“Lord, where were you?”

And yet, even in that disappointment, there is faith.

Jesus does not reject her words.

He meets her in them.

He weeps with her.

And then He reveals something greater.

[05] “It Is Good That You Exist”

The philosopher Josef Pieper once wrote:

To love someone means to say:
“It is good that you exist.”

That is what we see here.

Jesus stands at the tomb of Lazarus,
calls him by name,
and brings him back to life.

Each life matters.
Each person is loved.

 

[06] Conclusion

When Jesus calls Lazarus out of the tomb,
He is showing us something deeper.

Lazarus will die again.

This is not the final victory.

But it points to what is.

That death is not the end.
That we are not lost.
That we are called by name.

And it reminds us that our connection to one another
does not end at death.

We continue to love—
by praying,
by remembering,
by offering sacrifices for those who have gone before us…

just as we hope others will do for us.

We show up for one another—
in life,
in death,
and beyond.

Because Christ is
the resurrection and the life.

And those who believe in Him—
even if they die—
will live.