Three weeks ago, the Gospel related the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mt. Tabor. By providing his weak apostles with a glimpse of his heavenly glory, the Lord sought to prepare them to face the tragic events of Good Friday. Today’s Gospel account is also a preparation for the Lord’s disciples, for it points to the glory to come at Easter.
At Bethany the Lord consoles his grieving friends, Martha and Mary over the death of their brother, Lazarus. He would reveal himself as the Master over the cruel mystery of death. By restoring Lazarus to his sisters, by bringing him back to life, Jesus proclaims that death is not the last word.
Through faith in Christ, the Resurrection and the Life, the cruel mystery of death is conquered. Through his own Resurrection he will do for us what he did for Lazarus. The disciple then, knows something more. The disciple knows that death is vanquished. This is the foundational truth of Christianity, the very reason Christ came into the world, the reason for the Incarnation and Redemption.
Still the death of a loved one, the prospect of our own death, often fills us with fear. Fr. Henri Nouwen admitted, “Death is a passage to new life. That sounds beautiful, but few of us desire to make this passage.”
Reflecting, years ago, on the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales, Cardinal Basil Hume encouraged his listeners to confront the cruel mystery of death with confident faith. His words are worth repeating:
“We ask why, why? Death is a formidable foe until we learn to make it a friend. Death is to be feared if we do not become it. Death is the ultimate absurdity if we do not see it as fulfillment. Death haunts us when viewed as a journey into nothingness rather than a pilgrimage to a place where true happiness is to be found.
The human mind cannot understand death. We face it with fear and uncertainty, revulsion, even; or we turn away from it for it is too hard to bear. But faith gives answers when reason fails. Faith admits us into death’s secrets. Death is not the end of the road, but a gateway to a better place. It is in this place that our noblest aspirations will be realized. It is here that we will understand how our experiences of goodness, love, beauty, and joy are realities which exist perfectly in God.”
This is the conviction that enables us to accompany Jesus next Sunday as he enters Jerusalem to come to what would be his triumph—where he would reign from the Cross.
