Where were you, Lord?: The Fifth Sunday in Lent 2020

Where were you, Lord?:

The Fifth Sunday in Lent 2020

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March 29, 2020

Ezekiel 37:12-14; Psalm 130; Romans 8:8-11; John 11:1-45

The story of Lazarus brings up many complex feelings about life-threatening illnesses and death, feelings that we are going through it this time of uncertainty. Many of us are uncomfortable with silence and the open-endedness of mystery, and that is all we have right now – unanswered questions. We always want to know the reasons why tragedy befalls us and we will postulate many theories about the causes, and we ask questions like, “Did someone do something wrong to catch a disease or to bring about such a fate?” We also make Mary’s statement: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

COVID-19 returns us to the question that is central to faith: If you, O God, love us and are so powerful and good, why do you allow us to suffer like this? Many Christians believe that God might be permitting this virus to spread so that we return to a proper worship of God, that God is using this as an opportunity for us to check our behaviors and to make God the center of our lives again. I don’t believe God works that way. God always gives us free will to make our own choices, but I do see this as an opportunity for us to look at and embrace our suffering. It is also a time for us to ask: Where are you, O God, in my personal and our collective suffering.

Mary and Martha had to sit with their pain as Lazarus slipped towards death and finally died. They prepared his body for burial, blessed it, and prayed their goodbyes while their loved ones grieved with them. They lowered him in the tomb and closed the rock over the entrance, and they remained with their loss. I’m sure they had anger too. Their friend, Jesus, who worked so many miracles, did not immediately show up for his friend in his ultimate time of need. “Where were you, O Jesus, in my worry and pain? Why were you not there for me? I needed you, and you did not bother to come. I guess I did not matter that much to you after all.”

During this present time, it is important for us to speak about all our sufferings, all our feelings, not matter how ridiculous they may sound to ourselves. The gift is our prayer is that we can express ourselves as fully as humanly possible through our groanings. The Psalmist cried, “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.” This is our invitation to be as articulate as possible in naming our feelings and using words suitable for our emotions. It is a time to plead for help, to ask for calmness, serenity, and patience, to yearn for solutions and healing, it is a time to yell at God for the predicament we are in, to share our biggest fears. It does neither us nor God any good if we hold back our feelings and thoughts in our prayers. Prayer is the place where we are liberated, where we are most free. I ask you not to restrain yourself from saying what is on your mind.

When you are finished your words and feeling as if you have spoken what is most pressing in your soul, you may notice something crucial: You may see Jesus before you. You may seem him weeping. You may see him weeping for you. He is not turning away from your suffering, but he remains close to you, and he will be there to embrace your pain and hold it for and with you. You do not have to hold it alone. Let him take it from you. And you may hear others whispering these words: See how much he loves you. See how much he cares for you.

These are the words we embrace during these difficult times. These are the words that make the difference between despair and hope. With Jesus, we always have hope. His love extends beyond all forces in life, even beyond life, into death. He raised Lazarus from the dead. He is the one who lives and gives life. He is the one who has the words of everlasting life. Let’s follow him as he journeys with us to the Cross. Let us go, onwards and upwards with him, trusting that he abides by us. Where are you, O Christ? You are on the Cross for us. We know that his Cross reveals to us the glory of God.

Scripture for Daily Mass

First Reading: 

Monday: (Daniel 13) Daniel’s sharp advocacy skills spare the life of Susannah who has been unjustly accused of immoral sexual relationships.

Tuesday: (Numbers 21) As the wandering Israelites passed through the desert near the Red Sea, many are bitten by seraph serpents, but Moses erected a bronze serpent that he lifted up for those bitten to gaze upon the image and be cured.

Wednesday: (Isaiah 7) Annunciation: Ahaz is tempted by the Lord to ask for a sign but he will not. The Lord gives it anyways: the virgin shall conceive and bear a son named Emmanuel.

Thursday: (Genesis 17) The Lord said to Abraham: You are to become the father of a host of nations. You will become fertile; kings will stem from you.  

Friday: (Jeremiah 20) Terror on every side. Let us denounce him. The Lord is with me like a mighty champion.

Saturday: (Ezekiel 37) My dwelling shall be with my people. I will be their God and they shall be my people.  

Gospel: 

Monday: (John 8) A woman caught in adultery is brought to Jesus for a verdict, but he does not answer as he calls upon those who are without sin to cast the first stone.

Tuesday: (John 8) Jesus tells the Pharisees that they will lift up the Son of Man and will then realized that I AM.

Wednesday: (Luke 1) Gabriel was sent to Mary of Nazareth to inform her that she has been chosen by the Lord to bear a son who will be called holy, the Son of God.

Thursday: (John 8) Whoever keeps my words will never see death. Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.

Friday: (John 10) The Jews picked up rocks to stone Jesus, but he wanted to know for which of the works he was condemned. He went back across the Jordan and remained there.

Saturday: (John 11) Many came to believe in Jesus. Caiaphas asked, “do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people?”

Saints of the Week

No saints are remembered on the calendar during this period.

This Week in Jesuit History

·      March 29, 1523: Ignatius' first visit to Rome on his way from Manresa to Palestine.

·      March 30, 1545: At Meliapore, Francis Xavier came on pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Thomas the Apostle.

·      March 31, 1548: Fr. Anthony Corduba, rector of the College of Salamanca, begged Ignatius to admit him into the Society so as to escape the cardinalate which Charles V intended to procure for him.

·      Apr 1, 1941. The death of Hippolyte Delehaye in Brussels. He was an eminent hagiographer and in charge of the Bollandists from 1912 to 1941.

·      Apr 2, 1767. Charles III ordered the arrest of all the Jesuits in Spain and the confiscation of all their property.

·      Apr 3, 1583. The death of Jeronimo Nadal, one of the original companions of Ignatius who later entrusted him with publishing and distributing the Jesuit Constitutions to the various regions of the early Society.

·      Apr 4, 1534. Peter Faber (Pierre Favre) ordained a deacon in Paris.