Coffee With God

Reflection: John 11:19-27

Today, is the first time the Church celebrates the memoria of the siblings Martha, Mary and Lazarus. Recognizing their welcome of and witness to Christ, Pope Francis has approved changing the liturgical feast of St. Martha on July 29 to include her sister and brother, Mary and Lazarus, on the church’s universal calendar of feast days. The Gospel brings us the account of Jesus reaching out to the family of Martha and Mary who have just lost their brother. How often have we come across people losing faith because of the death of someone in the family? Death leads us to doubt God’s presence. If God exists, why is there death? Martha believed in the resurrection of the dead. She is convinced that, at the end of the world, her brother Lazarus will return to life together with all the righteous and will take part in the Kingdom of God. This is her way of understanding the resurrection – perhaps similar to that of many us – Christians today. That resurrection is too far away and does not make any sense. Why would God let one die only to bring him back to life again? Why make one wait that long? This is the biggest lesson, the Lord wants to give us today. Our faith does not ask us believe in a death and a resurrection that will take place at the end of the world. We are called to believe that the person redeemed by Christ does not die. What does this mean? To explain this there is a need to resort to comparisons. Let us suppose that in the womb of a mother there are twins. They can see, understand, and speak to each other during the nine months of gestation. They only know their own little world and cannot imagine what life is like outside. They do not know that people marry, work, and travel. They have no idea that there are animals, plants, flowers, beaches. The only thing they know is the kind of life they have inside the womb. After nine months, the twins are born by turn. And the one who was born a few seconds later and remained, even for a short time, in the womb of the mother, would certainly think: “My brother is dead. He’s not here anymore. He disappeared and left me …” and he cries. But the brother is not dead. He only left a restricted, short, limited life and went into another form of life. The disciple—Jesus says to Martha—does not experience death at all but is born to a new form of life. He enters the world of God, takes part in a life that is no longer subject to limits and death. It is a life without end.