The Resurrection of Lazarus by James Tissot.

Each one of us is tied up with things that bind us with a certain kind of living, a regular pattern of behaving. We believe it will never change. We believe we simply have to stay tied up in a dark and lonely place for the rest of our lives.

We may not be tied to severe addictions such as drugs, which are life threatening, or pornography, which seeks to enslave us in selfish, lustful cravings rather than a gift of self. We may not be tied to gambling, which can lead us to severe debt. But the binding chains that deprive us of a healthy, equilibrated and moral lifestyle may be more subtle.

Our fallen nature may have led us to inordinate desires such as love of money, whereby we seek to build a Babylonia to secure our future, yet “nobody knows the day or the hour” (Mat. 24:36). We may have formulated a selfish definition of ‘success’ but failed miserably to acknowledge the cost, “for what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Mat. 16:26). We may harbour resentment towards a neighbour, yet “whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone” (Mk 11:25).

Lent is a special time... when Christ seeks to bring us out of our tomb and liberate us

Lent is a special time of soul searching where we open our hearts and minds to Divine Grace to show us the dark areas of our life that keep us enslaved. It is not a time of a draconian judgement of our sins, but rather a time when Christ’s endless compassionate love seeks to bring us out of our tomb and liberate us.

We are like Lazarus tied up in a tomb with bandages. But Jesus cried out: “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. It is the same Jesus calling to us: “Come out of your misery, and live. Come out of your fears and insecurities, and live. Come out of your addictions and drink of the water of life.”

The moment we feel deep sorrow and a desire for forgiveness and healing is the moment of being reconciled with God, the moment we move out of our tomb. It is the moment of reunion, the moment of re-establishing the bond and the connection to the Divine presence in our life. It is the moment that moves us towards the healing process of the sacrament of reconciliation and experience the joyful liberation from slavery. It is the moment the chains are broken and the prisoner is set free.

Lent is linked to repentance, which means changing our state of mind, our way of life. It is a time when we invoke the grace of God, when we realise we have taken a wrong turning. It is the desire to go back home. And just like the prodigal son we turn our back to our frenzied way of life and run into the loving arms of our Heavenly Father, who is waiting for us with joyful tears. As we utter the words: “Against you have I sinned, O Lord,” he orders his servants to prepare a banquet, for we were lost but now have been found.

Pope Francis said: “Lent [is] a providential time to change course, to recover the capacity to react in the face of the reality of evil that always challenges us. Lent is a time of conversion in which the faithful grow in awareness of Christ’s redemptive work and recall the mystery of baptism which calls all Christians not to become accustomed to the degradation and misery around us.”

Christ is calling us to come forth from our tomb to a renewed vitality. The raising of Lazarus is not just the resuscitation of a dead man but is a powerful symbol of the new life that all of us can undergo when we submit to Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

gordon@atomserve.net

Gordon Vassallo is an accredited spiritual guide at the Centre of Ignatian Spirituality.