Sunday, March 29, 2020 - Fifth Sunday of Lent - Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St. John 11, 1-45 - I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord. Whoever believes in me will never die.

Dear Christians, in our daily life, when faced with the death of a loved one, we cannot but offer condolences and prepare the funeral, as the family and relatives of Lazarus do here. When a man dies, there is nothing to do but to bury him, for no human being has been able to see him in the resurrection.

But in the case of Lazarus, Jesus brings him back to life, even though he is already buried and was beginning to feel, as his sister Martha said. This is the flagrant manifestation of the powers, which go beyond our limits, of Jesus: He is God, the only source of life. He did this so that man may believe that He is both fully God, since only God can bring back to life, and fully man, since it is human to manifest sorrow in the event of death.

Dear Christians, the death of Lazarus is the image of our spiritual death. The Lazarus of today is us humans, wallowing in the unworthiness of sin, refusing to be called to the order of conscience. Only Jesus can deliver us from this state of disgrace and restore us to dignity when we accept to submit to His mercy through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In so doing, we will be, like the prodigal son, lost but found, dead but returned to life.