Do not mistake God’s patience for His absence. His timing is perfect and His presence is constant. He’s always with you.–Clems
Homily For The Fifth Sunday Of Lent, Year A, March 26, 2023
Readings
My Dearest Friends In Christ
I bring you God’s message of hope as you go through the difficulties and challenges of life. As Christ promised us in Mathew 28:20, He is still with us till the end of time. He is very much with us in these challenging times. The message of today is one of comfort and hope. It is a call never to give up when it seems God has abandoned you or when you feel He is late or delayed in responding to your petitions. As Jesus told Mary:” If you believe, you will see the glory of God“. I assure you that in all that is happening now, you will see the glory of God if you too believe like Mary.
God Is Never Late, He is Just In Time
The gospel of today, like the gospel of last Sunday of the miraculous healing of the man born blind, raises some questions in the heart of an ordinary person: Why did Christ stay back an additional two days after He got the message of Lazarus’ illness? Bethany wasn’t even too far from where Christ was when he received the sad news. Why didn’t He respond with the urgency that such information deserves? Were not Mary and Martha disappointed, that He couldn’t respond faster? Was that disappointment not expressive covertly when Martha said: “Master if you had been here earlier my brother would not have died”? Aren’t we Christians often disappointed when we feel God did not respond to our needs and petition with a sense of immediacy? In Psalm 70:5, and 40:17 the psalmist expressed his hope on God and prayed to God not to delay in answering. The question is, does God really delay? The case of the healing of the royal official son, (John 4:46-54) who came to Jesus and asked Him “Sir, come down before my child dies, is another scenario of man’s request for God to react urgently. Jesus responded to the man saying “Go, your son will live.” The man took Jesus at His word and departed. And his son was healed at that point in time, even before he got home. One would ask why didn’t Jesus heal Lazarus the same way? Why had He waited till he died before He could visit? I once said that our problem as humans is that we do not really understand the ways of God. What often appears as a delay from God, could be a taste of our faith or simply a fulfillment of His will. But there is something that plays out clearly in all the miraculous healings of Christ, and that is faith. Jesus tasted the faith of Martha who ordinarily should be disappointed at Christ, when Jesus asked her if she believes that He is the resurrection and the life and by implication that his brother will rise again, she replied YES LORD. This should be our response in times of difficulty and challenges. Remember the official took Jesus’ word seriously and departed. The question is DO WE STILL HAVE FAITH IN THE WORD OF GOD? or are we compelled by the challenges of life to believe God has abandoned us or that He is delaying? God never delays everything happens at His time. His will not our will shall be done. It is at His time not ours shall everything come to pass. All we need to surrender our faith to Him and avoid further worries. “ Anxiety is the greatest evil that can befall a soul except for sin. God commands you to pray, but He forbids you to worry .” –St. Francis de Sales
Those who live and believe in Christ never die. Sin and despair kill the Christian soul faster than cancer. To die without Christ is eternal perdition, and that is the scariest fact of death. Lazarus believed in God till his death. He never allowed his illness to come between him and Jesus his friend and that is one of the reasons that made the glory of God manifest in his coming to life again.
God’s Spirit Dwells in Us
In the first reading from the Prophet, Ezekiel God promised to put His spirit in us. Paul reiterated this in the second reading when he said, “ You are in the spirit if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. My dearest, our greatest desire even in these challenging times is to nurture the spirit of God we received in our baptism by absolutely trusting in the healing power of God and His protection, knowing that He never abandons His people. The evil plans of a few could be the cause of suffering in our world but the glory of God will truimph in the end. When men are blinded to the will of God, they become cheaper manipulative instruments in the hands of the devil, casting a great shadow of darkness in the world. Our greatest need now is prayer and faith in God, who never disappoints us;. The fact of Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus describes the depth of His compassion and feelings for us in times of misery and pain. He is still compassionate with us in these perilous times. May God be glorified in your illness and in your challenges. May that sickness never end in death but may it be a manifestation of the glory of God in your life
I keep you and your family always in my prayers. ©Clem C. Aladi (2024)
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