All Souls Day

For two thousand years this gospel has resonated with God’s people.  The reason is obvious: the same four characters in it are present at every death.  First, there is Lazarus, a beloved family member.  We can imagine him slowly wasting away each day.  Many of us have witnessed our parents, our spouse, son or daughter or sibling slowly dying.  It was hard to watch.  We felt so hopeless.  We are here today with that memory in our hearts.

Then there are Martha and Mary, the grieving relatives.  We are they.  Now every morning we wake up in any empty bed.  There is the empty place at the dinner table, the loneliness, the ache in the heart.  There is the son or daughter who won’t be home any more for Thanksgiving and Christmas, the child who died much too young.  There are, in a word, our tears, grief, memories, and, yes, anger.  “If you had been here my brother would not have died.”

Next there is the crowd who came to comfort Martha and Mary.  They are the folks who brought food to the house and sandwiches after the funeral.  They are the ones who sent us Mass cards, called and asked if there was anything they could do.  They sympathized with our loss and felt helpless in the face of our grief.  Bless them for being there.  But when they left, it was lonely.

And finally there is Jesus in the story.  He’s crying.  This was his friend, remember, and he loved his friend.  But, we note, this Jesus not only has tears, he has compassion.  He has pity.  So Jesus has them bring out the dead body and he prays and calls out, “Friend, Lazarus, come forth.”  And when Lazarus does, Jesus simply says, “Untie him and set him free.”

We are here to remember that Jesus has said the same thing to our loved ones.  “Come forth.  Untie him.  Untie her.  Set them free.”  And off come the tubes, the bed, the hospital, the depression.  And there stands our husband, our wife, our child, our sister, our brother who has known the tears of Jesus and the power behind them.  They have been untied, freed.  The gospel lives once more and we are assembled on this feast of All Souls to affirm it and find comfort in it.

Yes, we are all here today with memories and prayers, and, if our loss is fresh, with tears.  But this gospel has been replayed once more.  Lazarus, Martha and Mary, friends, and Jesus have again marched across this church.  Lazarus, our loved one, so cherished in memory, Martha and Mary who are us, supporting each other in this assembly, and Jesus, Jesus whose words still echo, “untie them and set them free.”

Paul A. Magnano

Pastor