Come Forth and Be Fully Alive
Inspired to Love and called to serve is our theme for Spring to Life. Over the past three weeks in our Gospel readings from the book of John, we have heard the beautiful story of the woman at the well and Jesus tells her He will give her living water. We may all think of the story of the man born blind as sometimes we may not see as God sees. The man washes in the pool as the example of the pool of Baptism as his eyes are opened. This past weekend we have the story of Lazarus whom Jesus raises to life. In these Gospels, we are reminded that He is living water, He is the Light and now we have the greatest of the I am statements as Jesus says: “I am the resurrection and the life.” What a wonderful self-identification by our Lord.
Jesus’s final enemy is death. It is easy to domesticate Jesus, presenting Him as a moral teacher. But that is not how the Gospels present Him. He is our Lord who has come to help all of us be fully alive in and with Him. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus deals with the effects of death and a death obsessed culture. The culture in our society today is also the world that Vincentians serve in. This includes a culture that may have violence, hatred, egotism, exclusion, false religion, phony community.
St. Irenaeus tells us that, “The glory of God is a human being fully alive.” As Vincentians, God wants us to be fully alive in Him as this sums up all of Christianity and the Vincentian vocation to our call to Holiness.
Most of us, if not all of us have experienced the grief and sorrow that the death of Lazarus awoke in Jesus and all His dear friends. His sisters are near collapse. His friends are supporting them with tearful hearts. In many of our encounters with our neighbors, we accompany our brothers and sisters at times with tearful hearts. In the story in the raising of Lazarus, Christ changes everything. As man, Jesus wept for Lazarus; as God, He raised him from the dead and turned a companionship of sorrow into a fellowship of unbounded joy.
Coming to Lazarus’s tomb, Jesus feels the deepest emotions and begins to weep. Jesus has deep sympathy, He has a deep desire for all of us, he wants us to be fully alive, it breaks His heart as He feels the deepest emotions and begins to weep. This is God entering into the darkness, confusion, and agony of the death of sinners. He takes our situation on and feels it at its deepest level.
Lazarus has been in the tomb for four days. Martha tells Jesus, “Lord, by now there will be a stench.” No matter how long or how bad the situation is in our own spiritual life, or as we accompany our neighbors in their spiritual journey, Jesus enters into the smelliest of sin and invites us all back to life with Him.
As Vincentians, as we accompany our neighbors in their spiritual journey, there may be times of falling in this journey. As we know, it is the voice of our Lord that calls us and our neighbors back to life and pulls us out of any spiritual desolation. As Jesus says in the Gospel, “Untie him and let him go.” Our Lord hates spiritual death and the ways of spiritual death. He hates all of the ways that anyone may tie themselves up. He hates how anyone may wander into spiritual tombs and graves.
Pope Francis reminded us in a previous message in the season of Lent that this is a time for renewing faith, hope and love. In his message, the holy father wrote: “In our Lenten journey towards Easter, let us remember the One who humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. During this season of conversion, let us renew our faith, draw from the living water of hope and receive with open hearts the love of God, who makes us brothers and sisters in Christ.”
It is the love of God that causes us to move in the direction of being fully alive as we share in His mercy and forgiveness in His dealings with each of us. Pope Francis related a dialogue demonstrating an example of this with a neighbor who, on being given this explanation of mercy had answered: “Oh father, if you knew my life you wouldn’t talk to me like that! I have done some terrible things!” This was Francis’s reply: Even better!! Go to Jesus, He likes to hear our discussion. He embraces you and says: “Neither do I condemn you. Go and from now on do not sin anymore. That is the only advice He gives. If things haven’t changed in a month, we go back to the Lord. The Lord never tires of forgiving! It is we who tire of asking Him for forgiveness. We need to ask for the grace not to get tired of asking for forgiveness because He never gets tired of forgiving.”
In the Gospel as Jesus approaches the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus says: “Take away the stone.” “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God.” Jesus’s desire is to get us out of any spiritual death and for us to encourage and accompany our neighbors in their spiritual journey. If we are stuck, if we are in despair, if we think no one can help us, Jesus says: Lazarus, come forth. He names each of us, come forth, He wants us to be fully alive, that is His glory.
Today as we consider our own growth in our Lord, we are reminded that God loves each of us so much that He gave us Jesus. What is our conversion of mind, heart and life that the Lord is asking each of us during this Lenten season? How can we increase in our calling to serve in our Vincentian vocation and be inspired to love in serving our neighbors.
Vincentians, The Father wants us fully alive! Our heavenly Father gave all He could in giving us the Son. May God inspire us all in our Vincentian vocation and call to holiness in serving our neighbors. Amen.
