Homily for 26 March 2023

 

My dear friends, on this fifth Sunday of Lent Year A the readings address the conflict between flesh and spirit and highlight the role and significance of the spirit of God in our life.

In the first reading taken from the prophet Ezekiel, we have the famous passage of the valley of the dry bones. The context for this vision of Ezekiel is the Babylonian exile which happened in two phases. During the first phase in 597 BCE, the armies of Babylon forced the surrender of the city of Jerusalem and deported the Judean king and many Judean leaders to Babylon. Ten years later, in 587 BCE, since Jerusalem had rebelled again, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and its temple and deported a second wave of Judean leaders. Among the first wave of the deported was the young Ezekiel, whom God later called in Babylon to be a prophet. For the people in exile, this was a period of utter hopelessness and a crisis of faith. They had lost all the symbols of their identity – the temple in Jerusalem, their king and their nation. Had God abandoned them?  

The meanings of two Hebrew words are important for us to appreciate the depth of this passage. First, the Hebrew word for bone is eh'tsem and the reference to “bones” here is a way of referring to one’s deepest self, or, in the case of “our bones,” a way for the community to refer to its most essential self.  Second, the Hebrew word for spirit is ‘ruah’ which can mean spirit/soul in the human being, wind or breath or action of God. 

The people of Israel cry out to God ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely’. Israel is experiencing the absence of God in their lives in exile. Ezekiel in response is given a message of hope from God - God will bring the people back from exile.   “I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil.” A parallel can be drawn to the creation story in Genesis where God made humans out of the dust of the ground and the breath of life, God’s ruah. Just like Adam and Eve, Israel too had rebelled against God. God, therefore, has to perform a new act of creation and remake humans in such a way that they can truly live in a relationship of love with God and with each other.

In the second reading taken from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, we see the interplay between the flesh and spirit. In the reading today the “flesh” refers not to the skin of our bodies but to a way of living. The “flesh” is for Paul a power, a force that works alongside sin and produces death and hostility to God. The person who is “in the flesh” cannot please God, because he/she is unreceptive to God—is in rebellion against God and loves the things of this world instead of God. In contrast, those who are in Christ live in an alternative reality —the Spirit. As every Christian receives the gift of the Holy Spirit at Baptism, every Christian has within themselves a force higher and more powerful than the flesh. In the Spirit, the orientation is towards life and peace. Paul in conclusion assures us that just as God demonstrated his power over death by raising Jesus from the dead, we can be sure that he will also give life to our mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in us.

In the gospel taken from John, we have the narrative of the raising of Lazarus from the dead. The first 12 chapters of the Gospel of John are called the Book of Signs as they include a series of seven signs that point to the identity of Jesus. It was a Jewish belief that the soul remains in the vicinity of the body for three days, hoping to rejoin the body. The fact that Lazarus has been in the tomb four days means that there can be no possibility of his soul rejoining his body.  

In the dialogue between Martha and Jesus, Martha already believes that Jesus is the Messiah, but Jesus leads her to an even deeper faith. Jesus is not only the resurrection but also the life so that whoever believes in him will never die. In the gospel of John, unlike the Synoptics, it is the raising of Lazarus to life that incites the plot for Jesus’ arrest and death. “I am the resurrection and the life”. This is the heart of this Gospel narrative. “I AM,” of course, is God’s name—the name revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14).

Jesus’ other raisings from the dead – the son of the widow of Nain, the daughter of Jairus are recounted as miraculous resuscitations similar to those done by the Old Testament prophets Elijah and Elisha. Lazarus's miraculous return to life fulfils Martha's prayer but is still only a sign, for Lazarus will die again -that is why he emerges from the tomb still bound with the burial clothes. Jesus comes to give eternal life no longer vulnerable to death, as he will symbolize by emerging from the tomb and leaving his burial clothes behind. Resuscitation restores ordinary life; resurrection involves eternal life.

While resurrection refers to a distant promise in the future in heaven, Life refers to the present - A new life of intimacy and closeness with Christ in the here and now. What is our orientation in life? Are we people of the flesh or the spirit?

Before joining the Jesuits, I spent time working in a multinational company with all the perks and luxuries of corporate life. Strange as it may sound, I experienced my sense of purpose not in the comfort of the air-conditioned office but rather, in a Jesuit mission station working for the welfare of the tribal population.

In our life, we all experience a conflict between the flesh and the spirit. Because of our education or wealth or perhaps status in society, we may feel that we don’t need God; there is nothing impossible for me to achieve. In truth, however, in the absence of the spirit of God, our lives are like the dry bones in the valley. Existing but not alive. Have you found out what really gives meaning to your life? I pray that through the grace of God and the gift of the Holy Spirit we may become people led by the spirit and experience the fullness of life. May God Bless us all.