Homily

During the past few months, I have had some oral surgeries which, sad to say, resulted in a fair amount of pain probably similar to that of child birth. Not wanting to waste this suffering, I thought it might be a good opportunity to gain some pity from you, dear parishioners. So I began to look for opportunities to let you know how much I was suffering without appearing to be complaining in any way, so that I could maximize the amount of sympathy I might be given in exchange for my stoic attitude. I am sorry to say that my plan was a total failure. Every person to whom I confided my sad and tragic account of dental disasters replied to me with their own story of how they had suffered even worse pain due to injuries or procedures involving the mouth, thus ruining my plan. And I never even saw it coming. After a couple of people I had to abandon my scheme, because I was in danger of feeling sorry for everybody else.

But it was a bit of a rough time for me, pain-wise. It was a struggle to have to be thinking about your mouth all the time. Yet I know that many of you have much more difficult struggles to deal with in your own lives; things, situations, conditions, harsh realities of life in this world. For example many of you are parents. Although some of the heroes of Faith mentioned in today's epistle were sawn in two and put to death by the sword, their intense suffering lasted only briefly, but parenting goes on for years and years and years.

The men and women of faith mentioned today went through many struggles as we heard. You, too, have been through many struggles, and may be dealing with troubles even now. Death, illness (either yours or someone else's), chronic pain, mental or emotional or spiritual distress, problems with spouse or children or parents or other people, trouble at school or at work, or financial difficulties, temptations and the burdens of sin. Maybe we wrestle with doubts, or fears, or anxieties and tensions, regrets of the past, worries about the future, cares for ourselves and cares for others. Our struggles may not always be as dramatic as those of the people in the letter to the Hebrews, but they can be just as serious all the same. We have had our struggles, we may be in the midst of struggling right now, and certainly the future will bring us some kind of difficulty, because that is the way things go in the fallen world. We will face trouble. It's impossible to escape it.

Now on Wednesday mornings, we have been studying the Gospel of John. It has become clear to us that one of the Evangelist's themes is about the sad lack of faith in Jesus Christ. People come closer to full belief in Him only to fall back again. Some believe, but only to a certain degree, and can go no further, while others once believed but now have lost faith. And there are those who believe as long as a miracle can be performed but soon after their faith fades. And then there are those who not only show no faith in Jesus Christ, they actively seek to kill Him. We see the pain this causes Jesus Christ at the tomb of Lazarus, where, after several years of teaching, ministering, healing and miracle-working, even those closest to Him are unable, unwilling to put their complete trust in Him. In a sense, they do not see Him; certainly they do not see Him as He says He is. They do not see Him as He truly is. Instead they look for other ways not only to understand Him, but other ways in which to try and solve their own struggles. Jesus may be good for a miracle now and then but after that we're kind of back all on our own. And for this continued lack of faith, just as the time of His own suffering and death was close at hand, Jesus stood at the tomb of Lazarus among those closest to Him and He wept for it all. He wept for them all.

Dear friends, whatever struggles we may be experiencing right now, whatever troubles may come to us in the future, the answer to them all is the same answer as when we live in times of peace: let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ. Yes, we may look for solutions and answers to resolve our troubles, but in the very first place, let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ, for He is the ultimate answer for every distress, He is the final solution for every trouble, He is the life we are looking for, even if our faith, like the disciples and Martha and Mary of Bethany, is weak and unsure. For all those in need, He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In our struggles, let us look for solutions, but always and everywhere, let us first come to Jesus, because our plans, our efforts and our labors may be a good thing for right now, but in the end there is always only one Who can save us.

This is a great and most important Lenten reality for us to put into practice: let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ, so that He may inspire and perfect our faith.