Introduction: St John offers us a gospel narrative deep in emotion and rich in significance. We read of intertwining relationships (Lazarus, Christ, Martha and Mary) which invite us to contemplate that Christian friendship which binds us together in special ties of affection and esteem. Christ's own humanity was richly blessed with loyal friendships, enriched and ennobled by him through faith and his divine mission. Our own friendship with Christ has the power not only to lead us to heaven but to lead our neighbor there as well, and to transform this world into a new civilization of love.  

Gospel Passage: Jn 11:1-45  

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness is not unto death; it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by means of it." 

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go into Judea again." The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were but now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?" Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any one walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if any one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." Thus he spoke, and then he said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awake him out of sleep." The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead; and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."  

Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."  

Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary sat in the house. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. And even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world."  

When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying quietly, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Then Mary, when she came where Jesus was and saw him, fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled; and he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept. So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"  

Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb; it was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I know that you always hear me, but I have said this on account of the people standing by, that they may believe that thou didst send me." When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."  

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him. 

1. "Lord, the one whom you love is ill." 

A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure.
A faithful friend is beyond price, no sum can balance his worth.
A faithful friend is a life-saving remedy, such as he who fears God finds;
For he who fears God behaves accordingly, and his friend will be like himself. (Sirach 6:14-17)  

Martha's message conveys her pressing wish and intimate trouble of soul to our Lord by appealing to his heart, which held a special esteem for her brother: "Lord, the one whom you love is ill."  

We observe a special place in Christ's heart towards Martha and Mary. "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus." They in their turn reciprocated his love by their diligent watch and expectation. "When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him." "The Teacher is here and is calling for you (Mary)." "And when she (Mary) heard it, she rose quickly and went to him."  

Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." Thomas is not trying to grab the attention of the other disciples by being melodramatic here. The storm clouds of powerful opposition had greatly endangered our Lord's life during his previous visit to Jerusalem. The threat of imprisonment and or death at the hands of the Pharisees was imminent and so real that our Lord decided to prudently wait 2 days before departing for Bethany. Thomas, for the moment, was brave enough to want to follow Christ wherever he might want to go no matter where that be, even in spite of this imminent danger. Unfortunately for Thomas, his friendship would buckle along with his weak human nature when he fled with the rest of the disciples in Gethsemane. His faithless realism would betray him to look for some other pragmatic tangible path instead of remaining fixed on the loyalty of his friendship with the person of Jesus Christ, "the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (Jn 14:6).  

For now though, we can admire the brave loyalty of Thomas in this scene of the raising of Lazarus in contrast to the disciples reaction when in unison they incredulously exclaimed "Rabbi, the Jews were but now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?" Thomas' immediate loyalty to Christ, (v 8) and his impulsive willingness to accept even death and rally the other disciples in order to come to the aid of a friend of our Lord, testifies to the reciprocal friendship that he found in Jesus.  

Thomas' words then sum up the common destiny of all Christians, which is to be dead with Christ and alive with him in his resurrection (cf. Gal 2:19f.) Our Lord later, during his own farewell speech would say, there is no greater love than to lay down one's life for a friend. We are now prepared to see how Christ will use this most noble dimension of man to produce the last and greatest of his miracles, a miracle that witnesses to both the final resurrection and of the rising from sin to grace that takes place in the soul of the believer.  

2. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by means of it. 

The corpse begins to decay, and they must bury Lazarus. They lay his corpse on a stone slab, still with a glance to the horizon in mournful hope of Christ's arrival. But he is buried and the stone rolled over the tomb with no sign of Christ or his disciples or the messengers that they had sent to find him. They walk away from the tomb to the loud wailing of friends and relatives.  

That enduring patience of Mary and Martha draws out from them a deeper faith that would give them the capacity to fully receive the fruits of the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus. Our Lord had raised people from the dead on other occasions. It still took spectacular faith for Martha to be totally open to God's will: "Even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." It is a mature, unconditional faith ready to meet the unconditional love of Her Savior. "Take away the stone." Smell the stench of a corrupted body, hear the wailing and sobbing cease in utter awe when Jesus says, "Lazarus, come out." Look at him. The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Hear Jesus say, "Unbind him, and let him go." We must doubt no longer, but believe that this miracle is not only for Lazarus but "for your sake." Can we now understand why God sometimes makes us wait? "I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe." Deny our Lord no longer, but rejoice at Martha's first profession of faith, saying not only with your lips but also with your life, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world."  

3. "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any one walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if any one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." 

If Christ gave these friends of His such choice graces and blessing and miracles, should he not demand more from them? It would be awful to think that he would perform such a great miracle and receive so little fruit of conversion of heart and heralds of his promises from these friends whom he called to witness and participate in this his greatest sign.  

They are all given the grace here to be his disciples to be his apostles and witnesses to a skeptic, cynical, and lost world. Their lives have a mission now. They hold the cure to the world's ills. They cannot hide that light under a bushel basket. We are to proclaim with the witness of the authenticity of our lives and dedication to our apostolate that Christ is the resurrection; not only for just some distant future fading away like blue jeans over time, or sunset in the distant horizon of eternity. We must see in this gospel that Christ is the resurrection and the life now and in eternity. We can once again conquer the world for Christ as did St. Paul because like Him we know Him in whom we believe.  

Lord, I have been with you to the tomb of Lazarus and I am a witness that you raised him from the dead. I know in faith that you have raised me from death in sin in exactly the same way thanks to my Baptism, and I want to pour upon you the same gratitude that Martha, Mary and Lazarus must have shown you after your miracle. I will respond to you in faith, and I will proclaim your goodness everywhere, with my light set high upon my bushel basket to give light to everyone I know. Lord, strengthen me, make me a true disciple and a true apostle so that I may faithfully fulfill the commitment to the Christian mission that my baptism implies.  

Questionnaire: To help you to examine your life, in the light of the inspirations God just gave you in these moments you shared with him.  

1. What is Christ asking me to do to strengthen my friendship with him? Am I willing to commit my entire life to him in order to follow him?  

2. Am I completely willing to embrace the cross and follow Christ in my mission as a baptized Christian and as his apostle?  

3. What can I do to base my friendships with others on the gift of faith I have received from Christ?