Alliance for Catholic Education
Fifth Week of Lent - Sunday, March 22nd
If one were to peruse the parables of Jesus, those great stories Jesus tells of what the Kingdom of God is like, we might be surprised at how many of them begin with… loss.
There is the parable of the lost coin, the lost sheep, a treasure lost in a field, the younger of two brothers who loses his inheritance, and himself, in the process.
Yet, loss, in all these parables, is only the beginning of the tale. The woman who loses a coin is inspired to search, and when she finds it, throws a party that was worth more than the coin she lost! The lost sheep doesn’t remain lost, but awakes the compassion of the shepherd, who almost irresponsibly leaves the 99 to find the lost one.
In this Sunday’s Gospel, loss ceases to be for Jesus a theme in a fictional parable and instead becomes a devastating reality – the death of his friend Lazarus – that Jesus must face. What does he have to say?
He doesn’t say why the people we love must suffer or die. In fact, when Jesus arrives at Lazarus’ tomb, the next line reads, “And Jesus wept.” Even in its sadness, it’s a beautiful and consoling line. It means that Jesus had no easier time with loss than we do. This Gospel, like Jesus’ parables, tells us that losing, and loss, is real; that the first thing to do in the face of death and loss is weep, like Jesus did.
But that’s not all….
Because this Gospel tells us one more thing, and it does so boldly and defiantly: death does not get the final word in our existence. Loss – when encountered with faith in God – can indeed become a new beginning.
This Gospel tells us that Jesus stared straight into the darkness of the tomb… and saw it opened on the other side. So, even while he weeps, he commands: “Lazarus, come out! Life does not end in that tomb!”
Yes, Lent is a time of recognizing loss. Yet, for we who believe in the power of God, who put our faith in Jesus Christ – the Resurrection and the Life – the moment of loss is precisely the moment when our hope begins anew.