WEBVTT

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Father and Son of the Holy Spirit, how could

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we possibly say more after hearing that incredible

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account that St. John the theologian gives us?

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In just a few words, although it's a long account,

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but he's spare in his description. He gives us

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everything we need to know. It's very, it's soul

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-shaking. I want to start by congratulating all

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those who celebrate the anniversary of their

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baptism on this blessed day. That God would continue

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to strengthen you, to give you zeal and love

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for him and your brothers and sisters as you

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progress and mature in the Christian life. This

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account we heard from St. John in the chapter

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11 not only is spare in words and just so shaking,

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it rings true, doesn't it? Martha's hope that

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Jesus can do anything, then her rebuke to him,

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if you had been here, my brother would not have

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died. It echoes the universal voice that we hear.

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It's the cry of believers and unbelievers too,

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who wonder why God allows death and suffering.

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Why doesn't God deal with stuff that we know

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is important the way we want him to deal with

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it? We might stand in wonderment how it is that

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the God -man, Jesus Christ, weeps at the death

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of his friend, the one he loves, it says. So

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clearly in the account, we see that death, which

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is something not created by God, the book of

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wisdom tells us that, and we know from the account

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in Genesis that when God said to Adam and Eve,

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when you eat of that, you shall surely die. And

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they did die spiritually immediately. They lost

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the Holy Spirit, and then they died physically

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as time went. And we see that this death which

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God did not create, which God does not want,

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which is, St. Paul says, is the last enemy to

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be overcome. And he shouts out, death, where

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is thy sting? Oh, Hades, where is thy victory?

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Because since the resurrection, the crucifixion

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and the resurrection, the sting and the finality

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of death are gone. So when Christ says, he who

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believes in me shall never die, the words are

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true. But so many of us are married to the idea

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of progress. Things should get better. Why are

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things not better? Why are things the same? Why

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does this these horrible things continue? Why

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can't we should be progressing? But that's that's

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a devious and terrible and corrupt idea. Because

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Christ doesn't compel anyone. He invites. He

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loves. He gathers us together. And it's one heart

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at a time. It's not a group of people that he

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comes to. Your friend Lazarus, the gospel says.

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We are his friend. All of humanity is his friend.

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Perhaps Jesus still weeps. The hour is coming

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in which all who are in the grave will hear his

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voice and come forth. We hear in chapter 5 in

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the Gospel of John. And now, in order to destroy

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death and its grip on humanity, Christ himself,

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and this means God himself, love itself, life

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itself, and there is no other, raises Lazarus.

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not by asking God, his Father, to do it, but

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by his own word. Come forth. And he is raised

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not as a ghoul or some kind of zombie. This day

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is a sign of what is to come the following week.

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Scriptures are full of signs. Moses asked for

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a sign. God tells him to throw his staff down

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and it becomes a snake. Then he says, pick it

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up by its tail, which is a very dangerous thing

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to do. And he picks it up and becomes a staff.

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And this is the sign that he will have authority

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and judgment. And the most famous sign of all,

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of course, is the sign given to Ahaz, who says,

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I don't really want a sign, but he gets it anyway.

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Deliverance will come. God will come when a virgin

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conceives. and bears a child. And this is the

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sign that the hour has come in which all that

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are in the grave will hear his voice. And brothers

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and sisters, we have been baptized. We have heard

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that voice. And our souls, which were under the

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stone in the tomb, have come forth and are now

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living for the life of the age to come, the kingdom

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of God. War has been declared, the right kind

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of war. to the right enemy, that is death. The

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word that Lazarus was raised from the dead spread

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like wildfire, and people came to see him. We'll

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hear that in the gospel later. And yes, we come

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back to church this evening. The church does

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our best to take us through all of Lent. for

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example, was this passage so we could come to

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Bethany today and then to Jerusalem and then

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to Golgotha and then to the tomb. Church does

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its best. We just respond. I'm mindful that today

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and tomorrow are united by a single hymn, a triparian

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we call it, by raising Lazarus from the dead.

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You've heard it sung, and you'll hear it sung

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many, many times. Our singing of that traparion,

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and it is tempered, properly so, and sung with

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restraint, with the understanding that these

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two days between the end of Lent and Holy Week

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were certainly very sorrowful days for our Savior.

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For everything he did, was in preparation for

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the Passion. And those tears he wept were not

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for show. He groaned in his spirit, St. John

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says, weeping for the death he sees and for those

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who do not hear his voice and come forth. He

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did everything not to gain followers, not to

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start some kind of religious movement, or to

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gain fame. but to save us. It's a very odd combination

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of things. These two days are filled with the

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shadow cast upon them from Holy Friday, the darkness

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and the rebellion, our rebellion, our sin, because

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the crucifixion wasn't because of some bad people's

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sins, but also... these days also have the light

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shining, the revelation of what that cross is,

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God's kingdom. And St. Paul says, therefore,

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since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot

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be shaken, have full trust in God. He's faithful.

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Let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably

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with reverence and fear. The master calls thee,

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is what Martha said to Mary. The master calls

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you and me. He wants me to stay. He wants us

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to accompany him through Holy Week. How do we

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do that? We simply come back. To our Lord, who

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is our life, be glory and honor now and ever

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to ages of ages. Amen.