Second Week of Lent

Lenten reflection:

March 11, 2025
Walking out of work the other day, in a hurry, and Jesus stopped me. He said, “My friend, my car won’t start, I’m scared and don’t know what to do!” Of course, my response was predictable. First, an empathetic statement: “So sorry, that must be very stressful for you!” Then, practical advice: “If you have jumper cables, you can just ask somebody to pull up next to you and follow the directions on the instruction sheet.” And then, the clean break: “On my way to an appointment, I’m being interviewed about my ministry today! Good luck!” Jesus did not flinch, he was not fazed by the irony, he just kept looking at me. Finally, honesty: “Where are you parked? It’s no problem, it will only take a few minutes.” May my constant need to be given over to others in service be paired with the graced awareness that Jesus is constantly calling out to me in the poverty of a world that is still in formation. May my Lent be an occasion to see Jesus and rejoice.

March 13, 2025
Let’s walk a labyrinth during Lent! This meditative path is not a maze. We don’t need to figure anything out, or struggle to read clues, or feel lost in a mirror of confusion. Rather, walking a labyrinth is designed for our benefit, a flowing pattern with a clear beginning and a clear end point with lots of mystery in between. The only choice for one who walks a labyrinth is simply whether to move forward or not. This journey trains us to trust: while we may have a very clear idea of the destination, the way there seems to constantly take us away from our goal and thus challenges us to put one foot in front of the other and be open to the possibilities. Such a surprise orientation to life will draw us more closely to the empty tomb where we shall be overcome with the emotion of his resurrection.

Brother Don Alger, FSC, Ed.D.

Looking at the art:

This sculpture in bronze tells the story recounted in John’s Gospel where Jesus arrives in Bethany after the death of his dear friend Lazarus. Weeping over the death, Jesus raises his friend from the tomb where he had been buried four days earlier. Cairns’ Lazarus is a slender, floating figure portrayed in rigid metal. Although Lazarus is brought back to life, the sculpture’s rough surface evokes bodily decomposition and also makes visible the artist’s assertive hand. Not only do we see the body elevated but we also see it wrapped in its funeral garments. The entire light-colored composite is set against a darker brown backdrop in the museum, which serves to highlight the victory of life over death and thus presage Jesus’s own resurrection.

Reflection

There is so much in this story from John’s Gospel. To say that the raising of Lazarus is a foreshadowing of the Resurrection of Jesus is to miss much of what is presented to us. Here are a few points that I have always thought about with this passage.

One is that Jesus had friends. He had special feelings for Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. He cries. This happens only one other time in the Gospels when Jesus weeps over Jerusalem. The crowd comments on how much he must have loved Lazarus, yet he did not hurry to be with his friends. When he shows up, Martha takes him to task: “If you had been here, Lazarus would not have died.” Jesus’s reply, theological and concise, does not seem to comfort: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

And then the miracle: after four days, a decaying body bounds out of the tomb at the command of Jesus and is restored to his family. The Paschal mystery restores us to full life with Jesus. What we have now is nothing compared to what we will have. What we have now are friends, relationships that model our relationship with Jesus.

During this Lenten journey, we should take stock of our relationship with Jesus. Is it honest? Is it really one of deep friendship where I trust him enough to chide him when I need to? Do I trust that, while I may not understand the how or the timing, whatever I need will always be taken care of? Do I hear his voice calling me from the tomb, from death, to come out into his light? Let this be my Lenten journey.