Revisiting the Past; Refilling of the Spirit; Rediscovering Compassion!
THE WORD IN LENT 2026 – FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT
March 22 - Ezekiel 37: 12-14; Romans 8:
8-11; John 11: 1-45
Listening and Fasting - Lent as a time for conversion... we have reached
the closing phase of this project, we began four weeks ago…today the invitation
is to behold our call to journey from death to life, as a concrete form of
conversion.
We are given with a powerful imagery today, the event of the raising of
Lazarus to life, after three days in the tomb – firstly, it is an obvious
prefigurement of the resurrection of Christ, just as that of Jonah; secondly,
it is a promise to humanity that death is not the final victor in our
existence; and thirdly, it is a spiritual call to journey from situations of
death in our daily life, to where the Lord tells us to “come out” – to come out
to life! This journey consists of three phases, indicated through some prominent
phrases in the Word today.
Opening the graves – the first phase is revisiting our past. The
first reading and the Gospel speak of opening the graves… the graves symbolise
something that is over with, but still resting there as a reminder of what has
been. If there has been anything in the past that has not been resolved, we
cannot pass by. The Lord says, open the graves! Revisit your past and heal it;
revisit the past and resolve the knots that exist still. The Lord is ready to
be there, as we decide to revisit and the Lord understands us well, because the
Lord was there even when it happened then, in the past.
We may not be comfortable with it – saying it may smell, it may be
unbearable, it may be painful or it may be festering! But the Lord does not
mind, He insists. The Lord wants us to revisit our past with a lot of courage,
self-respect and sense of hope. Come closer to the end of this wonderful season
of conversion, we are reminded of the need to revisit our past and behold the
Lord in the sacrament of Reconciliation…that Lord calls us: open the graves!
Pouring the Spirit – The second phase is the refilling of the Spirit.
The revisiting of the past is not merely a psychological step, which it is of
course. With the Lord beside us, it is deeply spiritual. The Spirit of the Lord
has made his home in you, says St. Paul, reminding us that when we need a
renewal it is not some fresh encounter with the Spirit as if we have not known
the Spirit of the Lord. It is a refilling, probably because we have run out of
the Spirit… the Lord pours once again the Spirit into us – a refilling that
renews us.
Spirit is life, and when we are refilled with the Spirit we are refilled
with life – a new life, a fullness of life, the foretaste of the eternal life
that we have been promised. As Jesus said when he raised the daughter of
Jairus, that she was just asleep; here too he says – our friend Lazarus is
resting. So does the Lord tell our spirits - that they are just asleep and they
need to be woken up with the refilling of the Spirit. It is a reawakening… the
resurrection that we long for.
Mercy and fullness of Redemption – When Jesus raises Lazarus and says, unbind him
and let him go…he is telling each of us how the love and mercy of God wants to
unbind us and set us free, how the compassion of the Lord wants to liberate us
to eternal life. The responsibility however, is on our part, to rediscover that
compassion, which is always there, ever-present for our taking. We may have ifs
and buts – if you were here, if the Lord were aware, if the Lord hears, if the
Lord sees and so on, but the fact is the Lord is; the Lord knows; and the Lord
is Compassion. There can be no change in that.
It takes our sincere effort to recognise, receive and rediscover that
compassion. Just as so many around that tomb with such diverse mentalities
looked on until the glory of the Lord was revealed, so shall the world and
humanity stand around and look… but are we going to be in that crowd? Or are we
going to confess and profess as Martha… Yes Lord, I believe, and see the glory
shine in front of our eyes?
This week the Word will accompany us to rediscover what it means to journey
from death to life, in the compassion of the Lord. Let us open our hearts,
allow the Lord to enter and manifest his glory – that is the conversion asked
of us every single day of our life.