Weekly HOMILY for April 10, 2011: To Be Set Free from Bondage and from Death

5th Sunday of Lent, Cycle A
St. Mark Church, Fallston
April 10, 2011

To Be Set Free from Bondage and from Death
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato


THE TWO-FOLD BURDEN OF BEING HUMAN

While death is something we will all experience, it is also something we cannot avoid. One day each of us will die and tomorrow morning all we can be sure of is that that day is one day closer.

We all – with God the only exception – stand helpless before this reality. The good news of today’s gospel is that Jesus alone can conquer it.

So as we age, as we see loved ones die, as we move up in becoming the next generation to pass from this life to the next, and as the passing of each day gets us closer, there is good news to be heard.

And the news is this: just as Jesus has the power both (1) To release Lazarus from the ties that bind him and (2) To release him from death itself, that same possibility is ours!


TWO ORDERS AT THE TOMB

What’s going on in the gospel scene is familiar to us: Jesus has three very close friends he stays with each year he visits the temple in Jerusalem, two sisters, Mary and Martha, and their brother, Lazarus.

Lazarus gets sick and dies unexpectedly and his sisters are grieving the loss terribly.

The passage has an unusual expression to describe Jesus. It says that he is “perturbed and deeply troubled.” Scripture scholars tell us that these words mean that Jesus is angry that death has gotten its grip on Lazarus and he is profoundly sad over the loss of his friend.

What happens at the tomb? Jesus calls out with a loud cry, “Lazarus, come out!” And the passage says that, “Lazarus comes out, bound hand and foot with burial bands.”

There is a second order given by Jesus as he faces the tomb: “Unbind him and let him go free.”

Thus Jesus has done two things: (1) He’s brought Lazarus back from death and (2) He’s freed him to live without being bound.

This gospel, in its being told to us and in our hearing it, is as much about Jesus and us as it is about Jesus and Lazarus.

For it holds out to us a similar coming back to life, a similar unbinding of all that holds us back.


THE RELEASE FROM BONDAGE

I would ask each of us: (1) What entombs you? (2) What holds you bound in your life? (3) What keeps you from a brighter day no matter what the weather? (4) What keeps you from fuller engagement no matter what your physical condition? (5) What keeps you from a greater love of others?

The bonds that bind may be:

1. LOATHING OF MYSELF: A low self-image, the inability to love myself as God loves me warts and all.

2. EXCESSIVE BUSYNESS: With my ear glued to a cell phone; my eyes stuck to the computer screen, or my hand stiff from taking notes – all being done with little or no time simply to think, to listen, to be still, to pray.

3. FEAR: A fear that traps so many to risk sharing their true selves or in trying something new or moving beyond their comfort level.

4. Or I may be strapped with the bands of NEEDLESS WORRY and unable to entrust myself to the Lord’s care of me, knowing I’ve done my best and he will see me through.

Jesus’ words to Lazarus as he calls him to new life are: “Unbind him and let him go.” Those are his words to you today.


THE RELEASE FROM DEATH

The more we are released from the bands that bind us to Loathing, Busyness, Fear, and Worry, the more we are able to live a new life even now.

We are able to hear in a new and fresh way Jesus’ reassuring words to Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life, and whoever believes in me, even if they die, will live.”

And if you’re in a good place with yourself and with others, you have the ears to hear Jesus’ question to Martha: “Do you believe this?”

And, of course, you hear and see Martha’s beautiful, hope-filled response: “Jesus, I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God.”


CONCLUSION

The reality of Lazarus’ unbinding and coming to life are taking place again this morning right here in your hearing and in your feeding on his flesh and blood.

It is in the presence of Jesus in our lives that we can experience a new freedom today and a new hope to be with him one day forever.