Lazarus come out
Mass presided by Msgr. Simas Sermon : Deacon Dick Bayless

If the driver had listened to warnings, the accident could have been prevented.

Somewhere I heard 'if' clauses are based upon 2020 hindsight, Lazarus is dead, and if Jesus had come, he wouldn't be dead. Martha said "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died". Brothers and sisters, do I resent the losses in my life, and somehow blame God for them? Rather than seeing them as places God's glory will be revealed.

Though Martha claimed her belief in Jesus as Christ, the son of God, she still did not know what this really meant. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he made clear that God is not limited by human experiences, or expectations. "Jesus deepens our belief, something entirely new is happening". He reveals the eternity of risen life. Even when Jesus tells Martha: "I am the one who raises the dead to life", she finds it hard to believe he means "Now", in the case of her dead brother.

Where do I doubt that Jesus can bring life? Jesus stands before the tomb weeping; he places no barriers to his feelings about death. Could he actually be staring at, and facing the tomb of his own death? Can I be with him there? Can I stand before him here? And face the tombs of my daily life.

Jesus shouts the liberating words of life - "Lazarus come out" - how is he shouting that to me today? Perhaps, when we attend reconciliation during our Easter duty, Father Larry says grace will come, when I experience how my death will not end in death, but in giving glory to God. When I experience how entombed I have been, tied and bound, no longer alive, dead for a long time, I will sense the power of the command of Jesus that I come forth with.

This Lazarus gospel is frequently chosen for the gospel at funerals. Proclaiming this gospel at the mass for Christian burial is a celebration of the risen life of Jesus’ risen life, and our hope and belief that the deceased person now shares in that life.

white is the usual color for funerals, the color we also use to celebrate Easter.

拉匝祿出來

發生車禍之後，有人說如果我預先告訴司機將會發生車禍，那麼，車禍就不會發生了。

拉匝祿病死後，(事後)諸葛亮就會說，如果耶穌早到一步，拉匝祿就不會死了。瑪爾大說：“主啊，要是你在這裡，我的兄弟就不會死了”。弟兄姊妹們，我們是不是常常將自己生命中的失意歸咎給天主，卻沒有想到用這個機會來彰顯天主的榮耀。

瑪爾大相信耶穌是天主子，但是她卻不知道祂的真正意義。當耶穌復活拉匝祿時，祂明確的表現出天主的能力，遠遠超越了人類的經驗和期待。對瑪爾大而言，這是一個全新的經驗。這個奧蹟加深了我們的信仰，也揭示了復活生命的永恆性。當耶穌告訴瑪爾大：“我讓死人復活” 時，馬爾大很難想像，耶穌指的是“現在就復活”。對象就是她死去的兄弟。

我是否懷疑耶穌能帶來新生命呢？當耶穌在拉匝祿墓前哭泣時，祂表現了對死者的懷念和悲傷。難道祂也正在面對和凝視著自己死亡之墓嗎？我是否可以和耶穌在一起面對死亡呢？我是否可以在主的面前，來埋葬我日常生活的老我呢？

耶穌喊出這句復活生命的話 “拉匝祿出來”。 祂今天是否向我吶喊著同一句話呢？當我們在復活節參加和好聖事時，Larry 神父告訴我們 ”當你體驗到你的死亡不會以死來結束，而將以榮耀歸與天主來結束，恩寵就會降臨到你的身上“。

當我體驗到被捆綁，束縛，埋葬在罪惡之中，而覺得已經死了很久。這時候，耶穌的吶喊 “拉匝祿出來” 可以復活我的生命。

拉匝祿復活的故事經常被選用在葬禮中。葬禮彌撒中宣講這福音，可以慶祝耶穌復活的生命，並且讓我們與死者分享對復活的希望和信念。白色是葬禮常用的顏色，也是我們慶祝復活節的顏色。