We are entering the first full week of the Safer-at-Home Order issued by our county government. Some areas of the country and the world have faced stronger restrictions and for much longer, but that doesn’t make it easier. In this episode of By Your Life, we try to understand the suffering and death brought on by the coronavirus in the light of eternity.
Mass Readings Audio
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/2020/20_03_29.mp3
Fifth Sunday of Lent – March 29, 2020
Welcome to the one hundred and fifth episode of By Your Life. I’m Lisa Huetteman and I know that typically you have a hundred different things you could be doing right now, but given the personal isolation that is being imposed, maybe not this week. Regardless, I thank you for choosing By Your Life today.
My goal is to inspire, empower, support, challenge, and encourage you to connect Sunday, with Monday-Friday, in a secular, business world. It’s my desire to help you live our Catholic faith in the marketplace. I hope to offer you practical ways to go forth and glorify the Lord by your life.
In this edition, we’ll reflect on the readings for the Fifth Sunday of Lent. (Cycle A) Our reading from John’s Gospel was the amazing story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. As with everything Jesus said and did, there is more to the story than the miracle of bringing a dead man back to life. It is a story where death doesn’t have the final word. Lazarus is a token of the real life that Jesus, dead and raised, will give to all who believe in him. It is a story of both physical and spiritual life that is offered to all of us by Jesus, who revealed to us that he is the resurrection and the life. (Jn 11:25) All we have to do is believe in him.
The faces and names of the coronavirus
The Gospel begins, “a man was ill.” (Jn 11:1) These days, amid the coronavirus pandemic, we are all too aware of human illness. There is a continuously updated counter of the number of confirmed cases, and that number is rising exponentially. We are starting to put names and faces to the numbers: Britain’s Prince Charles and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, US Senator Rand Paul, NBA star Kevin Durant, actor Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson, and my friend Dania’s cousin Veronika, to name a few of the almost 700,000. The thing is, behind every one of these confirmed cases is an individual with a name and a face and a family that is scared.
Where is God in all of this?
In the Gospel, Mary and Martha were scared. They sent word to Jesus, “Master, the one you love is ill.” (Jn 11:3) And what did Jesus do? He waited for a couple of days before coming to them. (Jn 11:6) He allowed them to sit in their worry. He allowed Lazarus’ illness to get worse. He allowed them to weep when their brother died. They must have felt totally abandoned by him.
At the time this is being published, the United States has taken over the #1 spot for the most confirmed cases in the world. That’s not exactly the type of honor we were seeking, however. The experts have told us that we should expect it to get worse before it gets better, and that it’s not likely to get better for several months. What is the Lord waiting for? Doesn’t he hear the cry of our prayers?
Yes, he does.
I believe with all my heart that he hears our prayers. I believe with all my heart that he answers our prayers. I also know with my puny mind that I’ll never fully understand how, but that doesn’t stop me from believing that he will. I believe the words Jesus spoke to his disciples, that “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (Jn 11:4)
Paradox of death and life
I’ve been reading Bishop Robert Barron’s book, Vibrant Paradoxes: The Both/And of Catholicism. In one chapter titled: Stephen Colbert, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Henry Newman, and the Providence of God, he writes about an interview Stephen Colbert gave to GQ Magazine in which the depths of his Catholic faith was clearly revealed. In the interview, when asked the question about how he survived the trauma of his father and two brothers dying in a plane crash when he was 10, he decided that he wasn’t going to give the pat answer he’d given many times before. Instead, he answered, “MY. MOTHER.”… “The answer is my mother.”
After explaining the Catholic tradition that was the context of his existence, Stephen Colbert said, “It was just me and Mom for a long time. And by her example am I not bitter. By her example. She was not. Broken, yes. Bitter, no.” He witnessed that even in those days of unremitting grief, she drew on her faith. He learned that the only way to not be swallowed by sorrow, to in fact recognize that our sorrow is inseparable from our joy, is to always understand our suffering, ourselves, in the light of eternity.
Stephen Colbert’s mother got it. She understood the great paradox Jesus told Martha. “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” (Jn 11:25-26) Then Jesus asked Martha, “Do you believe this?” (Jn 11:26) He is asking me and you too. “Do you believe this?” (Jn 11:26) Do you understand suffering and death in the light of eternity?
We can look around and see examples of those who do and those who don’t. You can recognize it in how they are reacting to this world health crisis. There are those who are worried about themselves—hoarding groceries and paper products—and those who are generous in helping others—offering to personally pay the salaries of those who have lost their jobs. There are people who post nothing but negativity and criticism, and others who post hope and encouragement. There are people who complain about what has been taken from them and others who are grateful for what they have.
I love the thing that I most wish had not happened
Which brings me back to the Stephen Colbert interview. His mom’s example allowed him to not be defeated by suffering the loss of his father and brothers at age 10. He was led to the place where he not only accepted the tragedy, but in his words, “I learned to love it.” He said, “That might be why you don’t see me as someone angry and working out my demons onstage. It’s that I love the thing that I most wish had not happened.”
I love the thing that I most wish had not happened. ~ Stephen Colbert @StephenAtHomeExplaining how he could come to the place of loving the thing that he most wishes had not happened, he referred to J.R.R. Tolkien who wrote, “What punishments of God are not gifts?”
What punishments of God are not gifts? ~ J.R.R.TolkienIn the interview, Stephen Colbert repeated for emphasis, “‘What punishments of God are not gifts?’…So it would be ungrateful not to take everything with gratitude. It doesn’t mean you want it. I can hold both of those ideas in my head…It’s not the same thing as wanting it to have happened,” he said. “But you can’t change everything about the world. You certainly can’t change things that have already happened.”
The gift of suffering
But Jesus can, and Jesus did. He said, “Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. (Jn 11:14-15) Let me repeat that again. “I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe.” (Jn 11:15) If you are wondering where God is in all of this, he is working on more important things than saving us from mortal death. He wants us to believe in him so we may have eternal life.
We all will die. As Benjamin Franklin said, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” And since some are able to avoid paying taxes, death is the only thing that is certain. Even Lazarus ended up dying again. It is the ultimate reality. But it isn’t the ultimate defeat.
In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. ~ Benjamin FranklinChoose to believe
“I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” (Jn 11:25-26) Do you believe this? I wonder what the world would be like if we were as concerned about our spiritual illness and death as we are about contracting this virus? What if more people put on spiritual protective equipment, practiced spiritual cleansing, and distanced themselves from that which may infect our souls?
I choose to believe that “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (Jn 11:4) In the meantime, we will have to endure the suffering that has only just begun. To quote Stephen Colbert again, “It’s our choice, whether to hate something in our lives or to love every moment of them.”
It's our choice, whether to hate something in our lives or to love every moment of them. ~ Stephen Colbert @StephenAtHomeIt is our choice to accept the suffering as a gift from God and be grateful for this gift, or not. It is our choice to be an example that reveals the glory of God to those who do not know him, or not. It is our choice as to which type of example we are to the world, someone who encourages, or criticizes? I challenge you this week to go spread the fruits of our faith and infect 2.5-3 people by your example.
Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to help us. Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
May God bless you abundantly as you go glorify the Lord by your life.
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