Fifth Sunday of Lent
“The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1 Cor 15:25)
What a strange Lent we’ve had. It is not hard to identify with the scene or even the phrases of this Gospel. “Lord, if you had been here this would not have happened.” “Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?” “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” We can easily imagine Jesus coming to the tomb and weeping. We can imagine a stone being rolled in front of the tomb; it’s immobility, the isolation, the fear, the reality of sickness and death. I, like many others, was struck by the powerful image of Pope Francis standing in front of an empty St. Peter’s Basilica, praying for the world during his Urbi et Orbi address on Friday, March 27th.
Who would have ever imagined that we would live in a time without access to the Sacraments? Almost overnight 20% of people lost their jobs or had reduced work hours and almost in a blink graduations, funerals, fundraisers, First Communions, parties, gatherings, Baptisms, Ordinations, etc. all were cancelled. Who could have imagined on Ash Wednesday this is where we’d be on the 5th Sunday of Lent? Who could have envisioned how penitential this specific season would become? The reality of the situation is stark, but not without hope. Our Lord is asking this of us right and at the same time this stark reality is a spark in the darkness. A spark of an opportunity to wake up to our spiritual reality, like Lazarus walking out of that tomb. This virus has made us aware of the wrappings of our sins that hold us tight. Our false sense of self-sufficiency has been shattered. This is not the final word. Faith really begins when we realize we are in need of salvation, which only comes from Christ. Of our own efforts, we fail; we are not self-sufficient. We need the Lord! He is the pearl of great price and He loves us infinitely and wants us to sell everything to give our heart to Him.
Just like Lazarus, Jesus beckons us in a loud voice to wake up, to “Come out!” To come out of that tomb of empty isolation and know that He has destroyed death forever, to awaken to this spiritual reality. He has won the victory. Lazarus bears the mark of Adam’s sin (physical death) and soon he will bear the true mark of Christ’s victory (resurrection). Death is not the final victor. Jesus asks Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live. Do you believe this?” Do we believe this? In this situation we are like his disciples at the tomb, confused.
Yet, this physical restoration of Lazarus’ body is the last of Jesus’ signs and points to the greatest of His signs, the Cross. With this in mind maybe it is good to make a few concrete resolutions reflecting on our three-fold program begun on Ash Wednesday tied together with the three antiphons from the Little Hours.
Prayer
Do not forget, prayer is the single most powerful tool you have at your disposal right now. No one can take that away. Although right now may feel similar to Holy Saturday, it is not the same. Public Masses being cancelled is not the same as Holy Saturday where there is no Mass. Priests can still say a private Mass. The Masses are being celebrated without a congregation (and what a blessing that so many of them are being live streamed!). Every Mass celebrated makes present again the whole Pascal Mystery and has an infinite value tied to His Sacrifice. How much more fervent are the petitions and needs of the people in the heart of the priest as he offers this Sacrifice for his people. The Eucharist remains the source and summit of the Christian life.
The Liturgy of the Hours flows from the Eucharistic celebration as an extension of the Mass, whether in private or joining a religious community, and is still accessible and necessary right now. It sanctifies the day as we exercise our priesthood as faithful baptized and offer a sacrifice of praise connected to the sacrifice of the Eucharist. This work of the people (which nuns do for other people and on behalf of other people) takes up the majority of our day and is our primary “work.” As our Constitutions say:
“Appointed for the work of divine praise, the nuns, in union with Christ, glorify God for the eternal purpose of his will and the marvelous dispensation of grace. They intercede with the Father of mercies for the universal Church as well as for the needs and salvation of the whole world. This joyful celebration joins the pilgrim Church to the Church in glory. Hence the solemn celebration of the liturgy is the heart of our whole life and the chief source of its unity.” (LCM 75)
I am made all the more aware of this as the prayer requests from the people of God come flooding in. This current crisis is helping people to bend the knee, reaching out to God, asking others to join in this petition. Our vocation as nuns praying on behalf of others has becomes more radiant and its importance more blunt. The situation has made people aware of their need for God and aware of their dependence. Maybe it would be good to make a resolution to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, as the whole world takes on an involuntary “enclosure” or at least to spend more time in private prayer. You have been given the blessing of this time. Our community has been live streaming Rosary, Vespers, and Compline so that the faithful may participate. As an added prayer this Lent, we’ve also begun singing the Stella Caeli, a Marian hymn against pestilence after Vespers.
The antiphon for Terce stands as a gentle reminder of our dependence on God: The time of penance has come, the time to atone for our sins and seek our salvation.
Almsgiving
I’ve heard several people say, “I’m spending too much money on Amazon.” Maybe instead of compulsively buying things from Amazon or dreaming about everything we wish we had while we are stuck inside, this an opportunity to give it up for the sake of someone else. Instead of buying the next time-occupying idea that pops into your head consider giving to your local parish, charitable organization, religious community, etc. Perhaps checking on a neighbor or offering to buy groceries for your neighbors. This is the time to realize truly who are our neighbors and to recognize the dignity that God created them with. We are not self-sufficient. We are a community.
Do not walk away from this Gospel and do nothing. Else, you will remain like Lazarus in the tomb. Find a charitable work to do and do it. Our community has currently invested in making face masks for our local hospital (not to mention the numerous works of individuals). Be creative! One of our community friends lost her job as a hairdresser, but has been making short video tutorials trying to help people cut their own hair. This is not the time to be obsessed with living in your own world, seeing others as potential contaminants to be avoided. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. Spend yourself in charitable works. Be careful and cautious, not crazy and isolated.
Especially right now, I can say (to a lesser degree than the profound depth she understood it as) that I believe with Saint Catherine of Siena that my sins are responsible for the misery of the Church and of the whole world. She did not mean it as a joke, but with total seriousness. She knew that many other people throughout the world were more sinful, but that she could only judge herself and in an unexplainable way the sins of any and all of the faithful impoverish the whole of Christendom. Everyone shares in the rewards of the saints and the guilt of the sinners.
The antiphon for Sext stands as a tender call to conversion: As I live, says the Lord, I do not wish the sinner to die, but to turn back to me and live.
Fasting
Fasting refers strictly to food and drink and Lent is a penitential season of preparation. In addition to the fasting and abstaining from food we have already taken on during this Lenten season, consider a more broad idea of “fasting” like fasting from the news. Updates and location movements of the virus often are not helpful for creating a disposition of prayer, but only of anxiety and distraction. It is good to know what is going on, but not to always know every detail about everything. This is the time of conversion. Now is the time to become aware of out attachment to things not of God and let them go. This is an opportunity to cling to Him, who loves us infinitely more than we can ever imagine.
Maybe God is asking of you some other penitential practice or asceticism. Maybe your asceticism right now is to devote 10-15-30 minutes to private prayer (lectio divina) or maybe it is to join us in praying the Rosary and Vespers every night at 5:20PM. We hear in Romans 5:8, “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Saint Thomas Aquinas reflecting on how Christ has reconciled us to God says, “God’s love for us is shown by what it does for us,” which calls to mind the passage from 1 John 4:10, “In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.” We have been love with such an incredible love by Him, let us cast aside those things which hider us from loving him more.
With that motivation, maybe try “fasting” from the internet, phone, TV, Facebook, the news, movies, and even certain genre of books, etc. Maybe your “fast” right now needs to be from noise, so you can just sit in silence, on the other hand maybe you’ve had too much silence and need to give yourself in intercessory prayer or charitable works. Our monastery has become quieter as the somber reality surfaces, allowing for prayer and less distractions as we interiorize the meaning of Lent and even meditate on what it is to be Lazarus right now.
There is a story of two friends fighting together during a war. One of them was injured across enemy lines and left helpless. The other, at the risk of his life, crawled over to his friend. The wounded man, looked up, and simply said, “I knew you would come.” This is the same conviction that Martha must have had about Jesus, “I knew you would come.” Now is the time to hold fast to that belief that Christ will come. He has incredible love for each one of us and has brought us here now for a reason.
The Antiphon for None reminds us that our strength lies in God alone, and He always works for God for those who love Him we need only persevere so, Armed with God’s justice and power, let us prove ourselves through patient endurance.
Let us conclude this (lengthy, sorry!) reflection in the same way the Gospel concludes with Lazarus coming bound out of the tomb to have his wrappings cut off. On Ash Wednesday, we were offered the choice of life or death and again we have been told to repent and believe in the Gospel and seek our salvation. Today, Jesus has offered us this sign that we may believe. Let us not be quick to say, “If you had been here this would not have happened,” instead may our hearts respond, “Lord, I knew you would come;” and may He find us saying, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” Just as many like Lazarus have borne the mark of Adam’s sin (sickness and death) so now must we look to Cross in hopes of bearing the mark of Jesus’ Resurrection for we are not without hope. We know, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”
contribution by an anonymous sister
