Sunday April
6, 2014 / Lent, 5th Sunday of Lent Title: The Value of a Life
[__01__] We read this Sunday the Gospel Book of John,
Chapter 11, the raising of Lazarus from the tomb.
What is the
value of a life? What is the value of a life?
[__02__] This is a question asked – either aloud or
silently – at the time of a person’s death.
It was,
perhaps, also asked in Bethany
What is the
value of a life?
At the
person’s funeral Mass, or wake, or in conversation, we recount the
achievements, of a dear friend or family member, a spouse, a parent, a child.
We did this
for our dear friend and pastor, Monsignor Joe, Father Joe Petrillo … since
December.
We tell of
his sense of humor, his love for laughter, his telling of stories, his prayer.
[__03__] And, we tell these stories and measure a life
based on a history, a shared journey with the deceased person.
There is a
value to life … something that is not material, a value which endures even if
the person is no longer with us.
[__04__] In the
Gospel, this Sunday, Lazarus of Bethany has died. His sisters, Martha and Mary,
are mourning, grieving.
Lazarus has
died. Does his life have value? Jesus, our
Savior, encouraged Martha and Mary and everyone that the life of Lazarus has
value even in death.
Martha’s
viewpoint – Martha’s profession of faith
- is initially incomplete.
What do we
hear from Martha?
“I know he
will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” (John 11: __)
This is
correct. However, Lazarus is not simply “valuable” to God or to us because …
(a) he used to be alive… or (b) he will one day in the future be in heaven.
When we pray
at this Sunday Mass or at any Mass for a deceased person, we are also praying
for a person alive before God and we are praying for this living individual
person to be judged mercifully before God.
Their life
has value now – in the present.
[__05__] Even
if Lazarus had not come out of the tomb, his life would still have had a
present and individual value before God.
Raising
Lazarus from the tomb, Jesus makes explicit that the even the deceased person
has an individual identity, destination …and destiny. Jesus spoke about this individual destinay at the Last Supper --
John 14:1-4 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also
in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have
told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may
be also. And you know the way to where I am going.”
*** PAUSE ***
[__06__] What is the value of your life? Of my life?
At times, we
may feel buried or locked up in a tomb due to sinfulness, to our faults, due to
brokenness.
To
acknowledge and know our sinfulness is an experience of humility … and we could
say of death.
Also, from the Gospel of John we read, “Truly, truly, I say to
you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone;
but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ”
(John 12:24)
When we
discover our sins, we also recognize that we are – in a sense – buried. But we
are not buried alone… we are buried with Christ also at the door of the tomb.
What we may
feel is that
- We are still breathing
but the breath has been knocked out of us…
- We may feel
immobilized
- We may wonder… does my
life have value?
Yes, your
life – my life – has value.
We are,
however, due to sin and brokenness… the buried seed in the ground.
With God’s
grace and forgiveness – and absolution of the sacrament of penance – we come
out of the ground.
[__07__] Also ,though buried .. we still have value.
The seed has value even before the spring bloom ..
In a similar
way, we – as sinners – have value even before we have been forgiven.
Our Lord
seeks out the 1 individual lost sheep, lost coin, lost and prodigal daughter
and son.
As we read in
the Gospel, “There is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over
99 righteous people who have no need of repentance” (Luke 15:7)
Our life has
value – now.
We discover
this value – ourselves – turning back to God to receive his grace each day,
responding the Lord’s call to come out…
“Lazarus,
Come out.” (John 11:43)
No comments:
Post a Comment