A: 5th Sun of Lent (29 Mar 2020) - MORE THAN WASHING OUR HANDS (Jn 11:1–45)

We read in our gospel today the narrative of the death of Lazarus, a very special friend of Jesus along with his two sisters Martha and Mary (Jn 11:5), who had been buried for already four days when Jesus arrived in Bethany (vv. 17, 39). The scene that transpired is really heart-breaking, not only for his sisters, but even for Jesus himself who wept for the first and only time in the gospels (v. 35). Yet, aside from the three, we notice that the whole community actually was weeping with them, or were at least expressing emotions of loss, burden, grief, or condolences (vv. 19, 31, 33). Lazarus’ death, hence, was not the death of one person, but it is a partial death of the whole community.

Because of this strong sense of community in times of pain and suffering, it is then reasonable to assume that any form of healing begins in the community-setting, too. It is for this reason that Jesus brought along his disciples to Bethany (v. 7), that the Jews would not leave Mary alone (v. 31), and that a crowd accompanied Jesus in the tomb and even rolled the stone for him (v. 41). While it was Jesus who performed the great miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead, it was the community’s faith and persistence to bring him over to Lazarus (vv. 3, 21, 32) that set the stage for square one. Indeed, everybody played their part in the unveiling of the ultimate truth that Jesus is “the resurrection and the life” (v. 25), and all those who would believe in him “will never die” (v. 26).

Nowadays, we are still in a sense of shock on account of the swiftly increasing cases of virus-infection all over the world. In fact, “[i]t took 67 days from the first reported of Covid-19 to reach 100,000 cases, 11 days for the second 100,000, and just four days for the third 100,000,” the BBC News reported last March 24, and even added that “[o]f the 367,000 cases globally, there have been 101,000 recoveries and 16,100 deaths.” This figure is beyond imagination: sixteen thousand Lazaruses, and the number exponentially grows each day! As the gravity of the situation requires that macro interventions to solve this crisis are carried out only by lead persons in political and medical authority, we are still constantly advised to do our share: we simply need to be at home, to socially distant from one another, and to frequently wash our hands. Doing these measures becomes our own participation in the solving of this enormous problem, a mantra that we keep hearing every day and everywhere.

But are these tasks enough? Minding the self is indeed helpful at this moment but, surely, we can do more to be of help. If we explore deeper, we can be creative in actively participating in this battle against the pandemic. For example, there are online prayers, masses, worship singings, and rosaries that continue to lift our spirits up and join our prayers of petition to God. There are also volunteers who take care of the household needs of the elderly and the sick. Equally, there are some gifted tailors who sew facemasks to be distributed to those who have none. There are generous souls, too, who send financial help to organizations that cater to the needs of those in the frontlines and to the daily sustenance of the homeless and impoverished. The list goes on. St. Vincent de Paul is correct when he says, “love is inventive unto infinity.” If we truly love, we can do wonders, even the proverbial awakening of the dead (v. 11).

The key ingredient is actually simple: love is the element that made Lazarus live again. Jesus loved him so much (vv. 5, 36), and such a disposition motivated Jesus to travel to Bethany despite the danger at hand that he may be stoned to death by the Jews (v. 8). We are not called to risk our lives this far during this pandemic, but surely there are hundreds of other ways to be of help. But it all begins by building in our hearts a universal love for mankind, not only minding our own individual safety and salvation. With love, we can save more Lazaruses now!

- Rex Fortes, CM