Fifth Sunday of Lent

03-26-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Edward Linton

Somebody was telling me recently about looking for a parking place. He had been driving around for some time looking, looking, looking for a place to park when he saw a man loading the trunk of his car. My friend rolled down the window and asked, “Are you leaving?” The man looked up and said, “Yes.” Then he closed the trunk of his car and walked away. Literal thinking is not very helpful! In fact, being too literal can even destroy a relationship. I am thinking of the husband whose wife asked him on their anniversary, “Do you love me?” To which the husband responded, “You know that I love you. I told you last year!” How do we nurture a deep and personal relationship with Jesus?

Today’s Gospel tells us that to have a deep and personal relationship with Jesus requires us to trust him, even when it is difficult. Today, the Gospel warns us not to get so literal that we forget to believe in our deeply personal relationship with Jesus. Today, Jesus urges us to be mindful of our faith in Jesus and to avoid being so literal that we miss his presence.

There was a lot of literal thinking among the disciples. After Lazarus had died, speaking metaphorically, Jesus said to his disciples, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him.” To which the disciples responded, “Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved.”

So, Jesus had to say plainly, “Lazarus has died!” Even though he didn’t entirely understand Jesus, it was Thomas who shows us what is necessary. Thomas realized that if Jesus went to Bethany, all of their lives would be in danger, since the authorities had only recently tried to kill him in that area. But once Jesus decides to go, it is Thomas who says, “Let us also go to die with him.” To nurture a deeply personal relationship with Jesus means that we are willing to even die for him. Most of the time, dying for Jesus will mean simply dying to our ego, letting go of our ideas and opinions in order to practice mercy and love.

Jesus urges us to be mindful of our faith. A lot of times it’s easy not to be mindful of our faith. It is easier for us to be mindful of our troubled hearts. It is easier for us to be mindful of our emotions and how we feel. It is our faith in Jesus that can carry us through such troubled times.

Today, Jesus tells us to be mindful, fully present, to him. Today, the gospel warns us not to get too literal and to believe in our personal relationship with Jesus. Today, Jesus urges us to be mindful of our faith in Jesus and to avoid being so literal that we miss his presence.

The good news is we don’t have to be literal and to get all the facts and figures correct. We simply need to be mindful of Jesus’ loving presence in our lives and of the power of this relationship.