Untie Him and Let Him Go Page 1 of 5 5th Sunday Lent A Fr. Manh Tran, SJ

Focus: The homily is about weeps with our loss and transforms our death into life

Function: To experience the life of Jesus here and now

Issue: Death

This past Friday, I was shocked to see a big bold headline on the front page of the San Diego

newspaper: U.S. now number 1 in cases. Yes, the U.S. now has the highest number of people

being infected, more than Italy and China. There are more than 90,000 being infected and

more than 1,000 deaths due to the Coronavirus pandemic. And the number keeps rising each

day. Moreover, there are more than 3 million people who filed for unemployment benefits

last week. Just 3 weeks ago, barely 200,000 people applied for unemployment benefits.

When you and I hear or read the news about this Coronavirus pandemic, we can experience

all kinds of emotions: fearful, anxious, isolated, sad, overwhelmed, powerless, worried about

the loss of income, feeling like living in a prison because of the state order, “Stay at home.”

Children feel stuck, bored, or missing their friends at school. These feelings, particularly fears

and anxiety, are real and powerful.

If you and I are feeling fearful, anxious, overwhelmed, powerless, isolated, or sad due to the

loss of our ordinary life or loved ones these days, if you and I ever wondered, “Where is God

these days?” God has 2 messages for you and me today

I’m here with you and

I will transform your fears and sadness into life. Untie Him and Let Him Go Page 2 of 5 5th Sunday Lent A Fr. Manh Tran, SJ

Message: I’m here with you

In today’s gospel, we see a family of two sisters losing their brother, Lazarus. We can

speculate that their parents were dead because the gospel didn’t mention them. Losing

parents and now a brother. I can’t imagine what it's like to live in a society where women

were considered inferior and now have to deal with the loss of their loved ones, which means

losing income, security, and emotional support. They must have felt scared, devastated, and

perhaps abandoned by their best friend, Jesus.

In the midst of this crisis and valley of tears, Jesus showed up. When heard Jesus was

coming, Martha ran to meet Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have

died.” Similarly, Mary, her sister, ran toward Jesus and fell at his feet and cried to him, “Lord,

if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

What did Jesus do? When Jesus saw her weeping and the neighbors who had come with her

weeping, Jesus became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?”

And Jesus wept. Jesus wept. This is the shortest sentence in the entire , but it totally

captures the heart of God in the person of Jesus. Jesus loved Lazarus as the gospel described,

“When people saw Jesus weeping and said, ‘See how he loved him.’” Yes, Jesus wept because

he loved him. Jesus, the son of God, can enter into the reality of life: the loss of loved ones.

Jesus can feel what Mary and Martha must have felt--fearful, anxious, and perhaps

abandoned by God. Untie Him and Let Him Go Page 3 of 5 5th Sunday Lent A Fr. Manh Tran, SJ

I don’t know about you. When going through a tough time and someone shows up and

stays with me, I feel much consoled and that’s good enough for me. Jesus showed up and

wept because he loved Lazarus and their sisters and that’s probably enough for them. But

that’s not enough for Jesus.

His love didn’t end with some tears and feeling perturbed. His love moved him to transform

Mary and Martha’s river of tears into songs of joy, which leads me to the 2nd message today.

Message: Jesus can transform our fears and sorrows into life

Jesus can transform our fears and sorrows into life because he is the resurrection and the life.

As Jesus told Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he

dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

I’m struck by the conversation between Martha and Jesus. When Jesus said to Martha, “Your

brother will rise.” Martha said to Jesus, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last

day.” And Jesus told her, “no, not on the last day. I mean right here right now.” Notice, Jesus

did not say, “I will be the resurrection and the life” which is in the future as Martha and most

of us believe. But Jesus said, “I am” which is in the present. Here and now. Jesus basically

told Martha, as well as you and me today, ``You can experience and share life with me here

and now,” because I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies,

will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? Untie Him and Let Him Go Page 4 of 5 5th Sunday Lent A Fr. Manh Tran, SJ

Martha answered Jesus, “Yes, Lord. I do believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God,

the one who is coming into the world.”

And you know the rest of the story. Jesus went to the tomb and said, “Take away the stone.”

Jesus brought Lazarus back to life. He has transformed Mary and Martha’s river of tears into

a river of life because he is the resurrection and the life. Church, this is the good news.

Actions:

If you and I are feeling fearful, anxious, overwhelmed, powerless, isolated, or sad due to the

loss of our ordinary life or loved ones these days or if you and I ever wondered, “Where is

God these days?” God has 2 messages for you and me today.

 I’m here with you.

 I will transform your fears and sadness into life because I’m the resurrection and the

life.

Let me end with a short story to illustrate how God is at work these days. A few days ago, my

brother called me, which is very rare. I thought to myself, “Oh no. He’s in trouble.” I picked

up the phone and asked him right away, “Are you out of a job?” “How do you know?” he

asked. I told him, “Most people working in the restaurants are gettting laid off or furloughed.

Since you’re working at a restaurant, I’m guessing that you’re out of a job.”

“Yes, I got laid off for these past two weeks…. ”I thought to myself, “Oh no. He’s in trouble.

When my brother gets laid off, he gets really angry and causes a lot of trouble for his family.” Untie Him and Let Him Go Page 5 of 5 5th Sunday Lent A Fr. Manh Tran, SJ

As I was thinking the worst, he continued, “I have two pieces of good news to tell you. I quit

smoking and I quit taking sleeping pills. ”I was shocked to hear that. What helped you to quit

smoking and quit sleeping pills?

He explained, “I got laid off because of Coronavirus. For these past two weeks, I have been

spending a lot of time with my wife at home, our love for each other has gotten deeper. And

she kept nagging me to quit and I decided to quit.” I was thrilled to hear that. Church, Jesus

is at work! He can transform our fears and sorrows due to Coronavirus into the river of life.

Do you believe that? Let the church say Amen.

Fr. Manh Tran, SJ