“I mean to raise you from your graves my people, & lead you back to the soil of Israel” ..the chosen people had lost their way; their way of life as well as their lives; now dead on foreign soil..exiles, the lapsed, the lost, the dis-eased..dead & in such numbers there was no one to bury them..a valley of dry bones.. & just 4 verses before our reading “come from the four winds, breath ; breathe on these dead..let them live! & as ever God keeps his promise..then & now.. “I shall put my spirit in you, & you shall live, I shall resettle you on your own soil” this our time of self-isolation on home ground our own soil, in our own homes in this season of Lent..a time of return to those who love us most..& to fall in love again with God..
“I prophesied as he had ordered me..” your family awaiting your word..; Lord have mercy “..the breath entered them; they came to life again..” through me.. ; Christ have mercy “& stood on their feet, a great, an immense army” ..troops medics for Christ.. ; Lord have mercy May Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins & bring us to everlasting life. Amen.
[ Ezekiel 37; 12-14 ]
“..yet when he heard that his friend Lazarus was ill, he stayed where he was for two more days.” “Lazarus is dead, & for your sake I am glad I was not there..” “Martha went out to meet him ; Mary remained sitting in the house..” ..an extraordinary gospel, weaving appropriately & challengingly into our present extraordinary situation; when we are asked & now, because of our complacency in life & faith to heed wise counsel, by imposition, the critical need for social distancing; the reality of a life & death situation for us in our beloved valley of milk & honey 28/29 March 2020; who would have thought it only a fortnight ago? what a difference & what a distance & the struggle; an incarnational struggle of giving birth the new life & faith opportunities in the midst of lockdown in fear uncertainty & imminent tragedy, where our gospel, ever alive, its words & reality ever becoming flesh & rarely as vividly than in this moment, a chronos meets Kairos ; clockwork time confronted by divine time; & coincidentally this very weekend when our clocks change; going forward anticipating the light of Easter & a resurrection ; this a liminal moment as we bridge gap between fear/ despair & faith/trustfulness. In characters in gospel we recognise ourselves “from a distance” Mary [ Mary of Magdala ] breaches convention of gender, religious self hygiene & scrupulosity, to enter meal & anoint Our Lord’s feet ; ointment of healing, of love & service; her courage to enter the so called zone of holiness & bring in her herself & her own disease, to infect or to disinfect the professed squeaky cleanness of the doctors of the Law; doctors or custodians of best practice?..she for so long kept at a distance & no longer. Jesus himself self-distances as news came of critical illness of his friend Lazarus; 2miles Jerusalem to Bethany; Ampleforth to Gilling; a huge journey in such short distance, & he delays chronologically two more days ; until the kairos decision “let us go to Judea “ & the poetic teaching of contrast/difference between light & darkness..& there & then, not 2 days earlier in its darkness “the light to guide him” Jesus then & us now awaiting the divine moment when his Fathers our Fathers will & time line becomes ever clearer & defining..self defining in our self-isolation “who do you say I am?” ..who was I 2wks ago & who will I become over the next unpredictable time in our own lockdown?..& remember listen again to beautiful melodies of distance & self distancing as story is told again, or is it now for first time? in this once in a lifetime self defining moment for each & all of us? “I was glad I was not there because now you will believe” really? how ironic Thomas the twin professes “let us too go & die with him” professes to close gap/difference, & then, so soon after, betrays his allegiance by walking out of self-isolation of disciples in upper room to a time of self distancing again; until he, like us, returns & is given the cream & the milk to see & to touch; the intimacy of touch so long denied/imposed & now to await its return in chronos & kairos time “my Lord & my God” if only Thomas knew what was to become of him, because of, not in spite of, his doubts & his bouts of self-isolation; as we find ourselves, find our real selves at last, after many a year of self distancing, on an extraordinary journey in faith & relationship as chronos & kairos meet..notice clocks go forward; no looking back to slavery of life & faith up to now with a nostalgic cry for the good old days, for the melons & cucumbers of Egypt, as chosen people conveniently self distanced their memories from slavery of brick-making..our slavery to building edifices of plenty prosperity & self service now diseased demolished destroyed “tinsel things”.. ..notice the distance between Martha’ reaction & Mary’s response; Martha confronts her beloved “if you had been here [when you should have been in chronos time] my brother would not have died” & then, bless her, her faith emerges into a kairos moment “but I know that even now, whatever you ask of God he will grant you” a prayer for you & I to voice in this liminal moment of opportunity to voice our own regret at where we find ourselves in this crisis, knowing that even, especially now, in this crisis, whatever you/we ask of God he will grant us..Jesus inviting her then & us now to close gap distance in faith between doubt & belief; between Thomas & Mary Magdalen ; Thomas “unless I am albe to touch, I refuse to believe” & in contrast Mary “we have seen him he is alive!” “yes Lord I believe you are the Christ the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world” our world 28/29 March 2020 in a world pandemic. Martha then calls Mary out of her self-isolation “the Master is here & wants to see you” she responds quickly with hunger passion & faith “Lord, if you had been here my brother [ my sister my 86yr old grandfather with underlying health problems ] would not have died” ..& we have the ingredients, individuals & timing for an extraordinary miracle, in your home your family as you invite Jesus to breach your spiritual distance, your spiritual self isolation your “go it alone” Catholicism thus far, of being apart, or of lip service, or a sense of guilt or unworthiness, a “non-sense” “I will put my spirit in you & you will live & shall resettle you on your own soil” in your own homes where for so long you have been served on hand & foot..now in kairos to be resettled with a settled conscience, a self realisation of just how blessed we have been & will remain so..where Jesus prays among us “I speak for the sake of all these who stand around me, so that they may believe it was you who sent me” with that prayer of intercession & self abandonment now spriritual intimacy of the Son to the Father, he has the grace power & passion to cry “cry” “Lazarus [ John Catherine Mary ] here; come out! unbind them, let them go free” ..healed cured resurrected..& crucially for those who had taken up Our Lord’s call to be invited in, who had come & seen, “where have you put him?” “come & see” came seen & “believed in him” our spiritual vaccine at this crisis moment ..to come diseased infected, to realise we have been called out of our self distancing “the Master is here & wants to see you” to self invite & from a distance ..
..I'd like to leave you with few words of a song called “from a distance “ sung in 1990 by Bette Midler..full text is enclosed for each of you to read & if you google it, then to sing.. in song & in prayer..
from a distance we all have enough and no one is in need and there are no guns, no bombs, no disease no hungry mouths to feed
God is watching us God is watching us God is watching us from a distance..
[ 5thSun Lent Yr A ; John 11; 1-45]
from a distance the world looks blue & green and the snow capped mountains white from a distance the ocean meets the stream and the eagle takes to flight
from a distance there is harmony and it echoes through the land it’s a voice of hope it’s a voice of peace it’s the voice of every man
from a distance we all have enough and no one is in need and there are no guns, no bombs, no disease no hungry mouths to feed
marching in a common band playing songs of hope playing songs of peace they are the songs of every man
God is watching us God is watching us God is watching us from a distance
from a distance you look like my friend even though we are at war from a distance I just cannot comprehend what all this fightings for from a distance there is harmony and it echoes through the land and it’s the hope of hopes it’s the love of loves it’s the heart of every man it’s the hope of hopes it’s the love of loves this is the song of every man
God is watching us God is watching us God is watching us from a distance
God is watching us God is watching us God is watching us from a distance
“from a distance “ Bette Midler 1990
“..& I shall put my spirit in you, & you will live, & I shall resettle you on your own soil; & you will know that I, the Lord, have said & done this..”
..for Pope Francis & his leadership team, as they too walk with us into an uncertain & different future for our faith ; we remember specially the people of Italy who are at the seat of the pandemic.. [ out of the depths ] ..we cry to you O Lord
..for our world so devastated by the virus, as countries & communities await its arrival, struggle to cope with its high period of crisis, & then come to terms with the consequences..
..for the medical teams who continue to save lives often at cost to their own; for our own NHS staff on the front line, for the support services, & for those of us volunteering at risk to ourselves to help serve Christ in each person in need..
..for the sick elderly housebound, the young & those most vulnerable at this time.. may we be generous in being in touch from a distance as we offer them our ears & our prayers..
..for those who have died from the virus ; may they be welcomed into the kingdom with great joy ; & for their families isolated in their grief..
..for our two monastic communities in our Parish at Ampleforth & Stanbrook as they self-isolate to protect their own elderly & sick; in thanksgiving for their prayerful support for us socially distant yet spiritually in full communion with us as the Body of Christ in suffering..
..for ourselves, for the realisation that this kairos moment invites each of us to self-isolate to be with Our Lord in presence prayer & silence..
let us ask Our Lady of Lourdes, help of the sick, to pray with us & for us ..Hail Mary..