Okay, so I had this crazy idea for a weekly entry in my blog. I was at church last Sunday by myself. Yeah, I know, big surprise there. As I sat listening to the priest's homily, I thought I could deliver a better one. No offense but I've always felt that the homily or priests were really...bland and out of date. They rarely touch on our daily life. Or rather, they don't answer the questions we might be asking as we listen to the gospel.
If you've been reading my posts, you'll notice that I made some comments about the Gospel a few times. It wasn't really structured in a way to convey some sort of profound idea. They were more like commentaries and cheap shots in the dark. Which doesn't really help people. Sort of like finding out who to blame doesn't really solve the problem.
So, until I find something else better to talk about, I'll be writing my own homilies for the Sunday Gospel every week. I'm pretty sure this doesn't violate any Church-written by-laws. If it is, I hope someone out there tells me. So here it is, my take on last Sundays gospel.
The Gospel of Lazarus being brought back to life would often entail a homily of Jesus power over death. This further supports his "title" as "the Way, the Truth and the Life." Other homilies would probably center on death, our fear of dying and the metaphor of life and death. What I really want to ask is, why did Jesus wait too long to see his friend Lazarus? In other words, why let him die?
Some people might say he didn't care. But then, the gospel recounts the fact that he was a dear friend and that he was close to His heart. So why would he ignore him? Why not go to Lazarus and cure him of his illness? Why wait and let his friend die?
Some would say that Jesus was confident, that regardless of whether he arrived today or tomorrow, he would have been able to cure Lazarus. Heck, he was able to bring him back from the dead. (And no, I don't plan to do a debate on whether he was dead, unconscious or in a coma.) If so, then Jesus would appear confident of his ability to bring back people from the dead. Which wouldn't really be in character, if you think about it.
I can think of one reason: it's all in the plan. A lot of us don't like leaving things up to faith - myself included. In this day and age, we like to be assured that we have the power to do things we want, when we want. Leaving it up to God is kind of...anti-thetical to who we are as people. But see, there are somethings we can't do and sometimes, you just to let things happen.
The Jesus doesn't want us to suffer. But if God granted every prayer, we would always look to Him to do everything for us. And that would only make matters worse. We always take for granted those things we get for free. Love, friendship, the ability to walk, run and jump. We always want something more. We envy those who have it and sometimes, though you may not admit it, we wish them ill for being better off.
In the gospel, Jesus allowed things to happen because it was all according to plan. For people to believe he was the Son of God, he had to make miracles happen. We do not believe until we have proof, that's how we are oftentimes. That's not such a bad thing either. After all, if we believed everyone who proclaimed he was the messiah, I think we would be worse off.
So He performs miracles to help us understand and believe in Him. He is already able to heal the sick, give sight to the blind, allow the deaf and mute to hear and speak. Although people are at awe of Him, this isn't enough. For people to believe he is who He claims, he has to live up to the prophecies told of Him. He has to conquer death. And he does so by resurrecting Lazarus.
Things happen for a reason and there is no single step that leads us to faith and enlightenment. It comes over time and the journey is often long and ardous. Lazarus death was necessary for Jesus to perform his miracle. So you may be wondering, why Lazarus? There is certainly no shortage of people dying. I can think of several reasons but the most prominent is this: because he has faith.
Lazarus would not be close to Jesus if he didn't believe in Him. Also, Lazarus was also part of a group that followed Jesus. He was known by a lot of people. If Jesus had resurrected someone unknown, he could have only converted one person. But by resurrecting Lazarus, he was able to convince many who knew him of who He was.
