April
2, 2017
5th Sunday
of Lent;
Ezekiel
37:12–14; Romans 8:8–11; John 11:1–45; John 11:3–7, 17, 20–27, 33b–45
When you invite
a Filipino to attend a wake, you will probably hear him say in Filipino “parang
natutulog lang ang patay” – that the dead is like in a state of
deep sleep. I believe this expression is
biblically based. In today’s gospel, when Jesus was informed about the death of
Lazarus, he said, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep but I am going there to wake
him up.” (John 11:11). Sleep is a metaphor used to describe death. How should
we believers look at death? Let us look at our readings for today and reflect on them in 3 points:
WE
SEE DEATH NOT AS AN END, BUT A TRANSITION. Perhaps one
reason why we do not like to talk about death is because we look at death as
the end of everything. We think that death is the end of communication because
we can no longer talk to our loved ones, end of our dreams because we cannot
pursue what we want, the end of communion because we are separated from the
rest of the world. But the Christian way of looking at death sees it not as an
end but as a transition to eternal life. Jesus says in the gospel: “Whoever
believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes
in me will never die.” Death is not an end. Death is a transition to eternal
life – life that does not end, life in the presence of God.
GOD
WANTS TO RESURRECT US FROM THE DEATH CAUSED BY SIN. Aside
from physical death, there is also what we call spiritual death as an effect of
sin. In the first reading, the Israelites were thrown into exile because of
their sins and infidelity to God. To be thrown to exile is a form of death –
they lost their land, properties and they became slaves in the hands of their
oppressors. God tells the prophet Ezekiel says: “I will open your graves and
have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel.” God wants
to resurrect us from the graves we have made for ourselves because of sin. The
problem is that oftentimes we choose death instead of life. What can help us to
always choose life and not death?
WE
SHOULD LIVE BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD. Paul says in the second reading that
we should live not anymore by sin or by the flesh. We should live by the Spirit
of God. If it is the same Spirit of God that resurrected Jesus from dead, this
same Spirit will also resurrect us from our sinfulness. In other words, Paul
reminds us that we should experience death now – death to the dictates of sin
and allow the Spirit of God to work in us.
In this mass let
us beg for the grace of openness to the guidance of God’s Spirit. May this Lenten season be a journey that will
lead us to resurrect from our sinfulness so that at the end of our earthly life
we may enjoy eternal life with God. Amen.
