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<\/a><\/p>\nI find myself feeling that way about this Sunday\u2019s gospel \u2013 surely one of the most dramatic and moving episodes in all of the New Testament.\u00a0 And it always makes me wonder:<\/p>\n
What happened to Lazarus after he was brought back from the dead?\u00a0 How much longer did he live?\u00a0 What did people say to him?\u00a0 What did he say to them?\u00a0 Was he haunted by his memories of his former life?\u00a0 Did he remember what happened when he was dead?\u00a0 How did all of that change him?<\/p>\n
More importantly: what would any of us do if given a second chance at life?<\/p>\n
Well, there is no Lazarus 2.<\/p>\n
His story stands alone.<\/p>\n
But I think if you really want to know what happened next, the best answer is closer than we may think.<\/p>\n
Because Lazarus \u2026 is all of us.<\/p>\n
That, in fact, is the point of the gospels we have been hearing the last three Sundays \u2013 three extraordinary events from the gospel of John.\u00a0 Three people who had an encounter with Christ.\u00a0 Three people whose lives were changed forever because of it.<\/p>\n
There was the skeptical and disbelieving woman at the well \u2013 who was so stunned at how Jesus knew her, she had to go out and tell others.<\/p>\n
There was the blind beggar who gained more than just his sight \u2013 he came to see the truth of who Jesus really was.<\/p>\n
And there was Lazarus \u2013 literally, the walking dead, restored to life because he answered the call of his friend Jesus.<\/p>\n
These people are more than figures on a page.\u00a0 They were flesh and blood.<\/p>\n
And they are you and me.\u00a0 Look deeper, and you\u2019ll recognize it.<\/p>\n
We are thirsting, like the woman at the well.\u00a0 Christ quenches that thirst.<\/p>\n
We are blind beggars.\u00a0 Christ gives us light.<\/p>\n
And \u2013 whether we realize it or not \u2013 we are Lazarus.\u00a0 We are trapped in a tomb \u2014\u00a0 hidden in the dark and the decay and the stench, wrapped up on our own brokenness, our own sinfulness.\u00a0 We could be there forever.<\/p>\n
But in the midst of that, Jesus weeps.\u00a0 He weeps for us \u2013 because he loves us, and has lost us. \u00a0He wants to bring us back.<\/p>\n
And then unexpectedly, incredibly, wondrously\u2026he calls out to us.<\/p>\n
Do we hear him?<\/p>\n
Lent is a time of prayer and penance, a time for sacrifice and soul-searching.\u00a0 A time for taking stock of who we are, and what God expects of us.<\/p>\n
We began this prayerful season as \u201cthe walking dead,\u201d marked with ashes, bearing a reminder of our fate, hearing words that told us to remember that we are dust.<\/p>\n
And here we are, five weeks later, confronting again our destiny.\u00a0 But in the middle of all that, Jesus calls to us, as he did to Lazarus: \u201cCome out!\u201d<\/p>\n
Now is the time for us to answer that call.<\/p>\n
Now is the time to leave behind the stench, and the dark.<\/p>\n
Now is the time to leave the dwelling place of the dead.<\/p>\n
It is time to begin again \u2013 to get a second chance, like Lazarus.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s time to be reconciled with God.<\/p>\n
Next Monday, April 18th<\/sup>, the day after Palm Sunday in the Diocese of Brooklyn, the Diocese of Rockville Center, the Archdiocese of New York, churches will be open from 3 pm to 9 pm and have a priest available for confession.\u00a0 It\u2019s an extraordinary effort to let all the faithful in this area be Lazarus \u2013 to let everyone who hears the call of Christ answer it, to stumble out of whatever tomb may be holding us, and emerge once again into the light.\u00a0 Here at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, we do something very rare \u2013 we have confession every weekday, and on Saturday.\u00a0 If you\u2019re in Manhattan, one of my favorite places to go to confession is down at St. Francis of Assisi on 32nd<\/sup> St, which offers the Sacrament of Reconciliation every day, even on Sunday.<\/p>\nSo: take this opportunity to make this Lent matter.<\/p>\n
Remember the woman at the well, and the beggar who was blind.\u00a0 Both were transformed by one encounter with Jesus.\u00a0 And remember, especially, Lazarus.\u00a0 Remember how Jesus wept for him.\u00a0 And remember how he then cried: \u201cCome out!\u201d<\/p>\n
He is weeping for all of us.\u00a0 He is calling to all of us.<\/p>\n
Follow the sound of his voice. Grope toward the light.\u00a0 It may seem like hope is lost, like nothing can change.\u00a0 It may even seem to some of us like we are as good as dead.<\/p>\n
But we aren\u2019t.\u00a0 We can begin life anew.\u00a0 All of us can start again.\u00a0 Just like Lazarus.<\/p>\n
Hollywood knows that the great question that has compelled us since the beginning of time is: \u201cWhat happened next?\u201d<\/p>\n
This Lent, we have a chance to write our own answer \u2013 to create a sequel to our lives, the next chapter in our story.<\/p>\n
What will it be?<\/p>\n
Image: \u201cJesus Wept,\u201d by James Tissot<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every now and then, you\u2019ll find a film critic who bemoans the state of Hollywood movies by pointing out that there are too many sequels. Last year, a writer noted that in 2010 there were 86 sequels in various stages of development.\u00a0 Just this year, we have \u201cScream 4\u201d about to open,\u00a0 along with \u201cUnderworld […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[11175,523],"class_list":["post-2962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homilies","tag-homilies","tag-lent"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n