Signposts On The Way

Spirit and life. These are the themes of all of yesterday’s readings as we approach the conclusion of Lent and the Easter celebration that continues for 50 days of joy.

The first thing we note is that the God of Jesus Christ is a God of life. Anyone who shares the Spirit of God has overcome the separation imposed by sin, which introduced death into all our lives. What we have received through the self-giving of Christ is the gift of the Spirit of God, which animates us beyond even the death of our bodies. The first reading shows that sharing God’s Spirit is what God wants for us. It is what we understand as communion—God both invites us and makes it possible for us to share in the divine life through the indwelling of God’s own Spirit within us.

In the story of the raising of Lazarus, much is made of Jesus’ relationship with Lazarus. His sister describes Lazarus as the one whom Jesus loved. The Scriptures observe that “Jesus wept” with grief over his death. The writer tells us several times that Jesus is perturbed, which must be a poor translation of a word that means something like, shaken to the core. Surely, the writer is telling us that just as Jesus loved Lazarus and is deeply disturbed by his loss to death, God loves us in just the same way and does not want to lose us to death. It is this love, not based on our worthiness but rooted in God’s original intention for us to be in communion, that moves God to share the Spirit of Life with us. By accepting this gift received in baptism and later confirmed, we respond to God’s loving invitation to share divine life. Just as we will celebrate at Easter God’s love for Christ manifested in the resurrection, so we will celebrate our sharing in the life-giving Spirit that life in Christ makes possible. We are Lazarus. See how much we are loved!