Sunday, March 29
Readings – EZ 37:12-14; ROM 8:8-11; JN 11:1-45
Earlier this week, I pulled together a little study group via Facebook to break open the readings and reflect with me. And I want to thank Kathy, Ann, Kateri, John, Jonathan and Carol for a very rich and moving conversation. Since I am preaching on these readings at church this weekend and can only offer a portion of what we reflected on together, I wanted to make some of the groups other reflections available through the blog.
We started by just acknowledging all that we’re going through these days: We’re worried about people and financial issues. We’re in high risk groups. Some had surgeries delayed and face continued pain. We’ve felt a loss of balance in life, are experiencing grief, confusion and shut down. Yet we’re all still finding ways to be grateful and appreciate life and each other.
When we read the first reading from Ezekiel, we started thinking about what graves we’re being called to rise from right now. Is this virus asking us to rise from the graves of workaholism and busyness and other things? What is being revealed to us in this time?
We also know that during times like these, we might meet our “shadows” – those parts of ourselves that only come out when we slow down enough. But if we can name them, that is often a great starting point.
We also reflected on God’s promise – that we will rise form our graves – and that we WILL hold God to it. We’re trying hard to trust that God’s promise will prevail.
The gospel speaks of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Of course we were curious why Jesus delayed when he knew Lazarus was ill, but we focused on other things as well.
We read that Jesus said that the illness “would not end in death but to glorify God.” One member said that the illness in our midst right now might do the same for us and might “raise up love” all around us.
We also recognized that Jesus was angry and full of grief and did not shy away from expressing his feelings. Some people these days are feeling a lot of anger at the systems all around us the make certain groups more susceptible to the virus and its effects. We’re also feeling a lot of grief, and we know that our feelings can sometimes get misdirected at people close to us.
Finally we read that Jesus loved Lazarus and called him by name. We believe that Jesus knows our name too and is “coming for us” – to raise us up from whatever traps us.
What struck you from today’s readings?
2 Comments
Colleen Fox-Salah
Thank you, Mike, for an incredible homily today and the invitation to provide our thoughts on the daily scriptures and your thought-provoking ideas! Reading and responding is salve.
In the gospel reading, I am struck by the raw vulnerability of Jesus. Although Jesus knows it is not yet Lazarus’ time to die, he clearly feels the depth of his own sadness at just the idea of losing his dear friend and the sadness of those who are grieving. This makes me more aware of how important it is to allow our feelings to surface and be expressed as we seek concrete answers about our futures. Without fully realizing it, I have been running on mostly intellectual energy to cope by trying to understand what is happening. I have let myself visualize worst case scenarios, but as soon as they run through my mind, I bat them away with comfortable distractions or thoughts that what I’m going through pales in comparison to the plight of others, which is a common, but toxic form of self-negation. Jesus uses no such subterfuge. He is fully present in his grief, period. Sitting with hard feelings is tough, but is particularly challenging to do in more unstructured times like these. Maybe this is the invitation–to be vulnerable, which is how we enter the fullness of ourselves and each other. To be exactly who we are. To let others be exactly who they are. To give what we can give without guilt and perhaps try to give more than we’re usually comfortable with if a need arises and the spirit moves us. To have a clear knowing of our gifts and to trust our gifts are enough, whether they are more private and measured or public or splashy. God knows us all and God needs us all to be exactly who he created us to be. Now is the perfect time to cultivate greater vulnerability with ourselves, each other and our creator, to trust the mystery and mechanics of God’s love to the extent that we see Jesus do in today’s reading. I believe this is the way through, the way that “love will prevail.”
Mike Boucher Author
Amen!
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