New Life, Homily for April 2, 2017

Joyspel. Gratitude. Service.

April 2, 2017

D ear Friends ,

Today’s Gospel presents Jesus as one who offers life to an otherwise lifeless relationship with God.

In my message, I speak of Catholic writer Heather King confronting alcoholism and coming to faith. Under Other Links, you'll find a link to an interview with Heather who speaks of dealing with cancer in light of her faith.

As always, feel free to forward today's homily to others who might appreciate today's message.

Gratefully,

Fr. Dave Mercer, Pastor

Parish Links

Find us on a map

Visit our Website

See our bulletin

5th Sunday of Lent | Homily: New Life

I am the resurrection and the life. [John 11:25-26]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I recently discovered the writer Heather King.[i]

She writes that, at age 13, alcohol became her god. She willingly sacrificed everything for it: career, family, money, health, reputation, her life, even her soul. She willingly sacrificed it all for alcohol. Along the way, she had not one but three abortions. And yet, she went to law school, graduated with honors, and passed the bar exam in three states, each on her first try.

And yet, she was a drunk.

She didn’t like lawyering. So, she quit and returned to waitressing, did some free-lance lawyering to support herself, and discovered her calling to be a writer. She’s talented, taking the reader right into her twenty drunk years and her eventual call to follow Jesus as a Catholic. She opens up the brokenness within her and within the human experience common to all of us.

Heather King writes: “We are fallen, we are broken, and we will take the short cut whenever we can. It’s a gift to find that out about yourself. This is the true cross and blessing of being an alcoholic. I know what depths I am capable of sinking because I’ve done it.”

Today’s Gospel proclamation is just such a story of having fallen, of being broken, of taking the short cut that we call sin. Today’s Gospel proclamation really isn’t about an everyday death that Jesus shows up for and brings his good friend Lazarus back to life. Something much deeper is happening. Here’s what I mean.

Today is the third of three Sundays when we hear three Gospel stories intended to prepare us for and move us toward Easter. Two weeks ago, we first heard of the woman at the well, with the Gospel presenting Jesus as living water for her thirsty soul. Last week, we heard of a man born blind, with the Gospel presenting Jesus as light for his dark, blind eyes. Today, we hear of Lazarus called from the tomb, with the Gospel presenting Jesus as the Resurrection and Life for someone who’s long dead. Or, in the words of Heather King: fallen, broken, taking the short cut whenever we can.

These are not simply stories of miraculous happenings. Keep in mind that thirst, blindness, and death represent a spiritual life that’s become dysfunctional – a relationship with God that’s become dry, dark, and even dead.

We all can find ourselves there. We thirst, but nothing we do seems to satisfy us. We’re blind, but no habit or lifestyle we adopt can see us out of our darkness. Our lives are dead, but we cannot, on our own, bring ourselves back to life.

I offer you a couple points to notice in today’s Gospel proclamation. One being that Jesus cries. Three times in the Gospels, Jesus cries. He cries over Jerusalem’s lack of faith. He cries in the garden of Gethsemane in fear and sorrow at the prospect of his coming passion. Today, he cries again at the death of a friend. That is, in Jesus, God cries when a person dies spiritually. God responds viscerally when sin rules a person’s life.

A second point concerns Jesus’ words. First, he asks where folks have put the body of Lazarus. In other words, he seeks out those who are lost, those who are spiritually dead. He then calls Lazarus to come out of the tomb, and his words have the power to make it happen. Jesus can put new life into a relationship with God that is dead. Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life.

Twelve-step programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, have it right when they speak of the importance of people admitting that they are powerless over the addiction they have and that a Power greater than themselves can restore them to sanity. In the spiritual life, we know it to be Jesus who satisfies our thirsty souls. Jesus is the Light for lives that are dark. Jesus is the Life than calls us out of whatever tomb we are in.

You don’t need to have been an alcoholic beginning at age thirteen, as was Heather King, to know that (again in her own words), “We are fallen, we are broken, and we will take the short cut whenever we can. It’s a gift to find that out about yourself.”

Teenagers, here’s what I ask you to keep in mind. Everyone has a dysfunctional spiritual life. (It’s a matter of degree.) And yet, God’s grace is available for your thirsty soul, for your life that’s blind as a bat, for your relationship with God that’s as good as dead. No matter where life has taken you, there’s always a way back to God. You might not know all the steps to take, but the first step is opening your heart to Jesus and knowing he will be your guide.

In Heather King’s words: “That we’re fallen is always right there for us to see, but the Good News is that we are forgiven.”

Like Lazarus in today’s Gospel proclamation, Jesus calls you and me to come forth from the tomb.

Jesus sets you and me free.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
[i] quotes are from Ron Wall, “A Mad, Wonderful Adventure,” Godspy, www.godspy.com/reviews/a-mad-wonderful-adventure. Heather King's books include Parched, Redeemed, Stripped, Stumble, and her articles have appeared in various publications, including The Crux, The Tidings, America, and Magnificat.