FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK
My Dear Parishioners
“I can’t wait until things go back to normal.” That instinct lives deep within us. Whenever life becomes uncomfortable or unfamiliar, we want what is predictable. Even if “normal” wasn’t perfect, at least it was manageable.
The problem is that we carry this instinct into our spiritual lives. We fall into the same sins and habits again and again. Two options stands before us, and somehow we keep choosing the one that never satisfies. We convince ourselves that this time it will work. This time it will finally bring the happiness or relief we’re looking for. And yet-nothing. Still searching.
The people of Israel did the same. Freed from slavery in Egypt and led into the desert, they quickly longed to return when the journey became difficult. Later, after being exiled to Babylon because of their own infidelity, they cried out to God to restore what they had lost. They wanted to go back.
But through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord says something striking: “Remember not the events of the past… See, I am doing something new! Do you not perceive it?” (Is 43:18–19). God is not interested in restoring “normal.” He is preparing something new.
That promise of newness runs straight through today’s Gospel, the raising of Lazarus. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus are among Jesus ’closest friends. They know him. They trust him.
So, when Lazarus becomes ill, they send word with confidence: “Lord, the one you love is ill.” They believe he can do something.
But Jesus delays. And Lazarus dies.
When Jesus finally arrives, Martha goes out to meet him. Her words are honest and full of faith: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Mary says the exact same thing when she comes to him.
But notice what they desire. They are not asking for something unimaginable. They are not hoping for resurrection. They wanted Jesus to come sooner. They wanted Lazarus healed before things went too far. They wanted their brother back the way he was. They wanted what we all want: the situation fixed, the suffering prevented, things restored to what they had been. In other words, they wanted “normal.”
Even the bystanders echo this mindset: “Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?” The expectation is clear.
Jesus should have intervened earlier. He should have preserved what they already had. But Jesus is not content to return them to yesterday. He is preparing to reveal something entirely new.
And this is precisely where Jesus acts. “Lazarus, come out.” And the dead man walks out of the tomb.
This is not a return to normal. This is not the illness reversed. This is not a slightly improved version of what was lost. This is the invasion of divine life into the very place of death. It is something unforeseen and unforeseeable! Martha and Mary asked for healing. Jesus gives resurrection.
How often do we narrow our expectations the same way? We ask for a better job, a restored relationship, relief from suffering, a little more comfort, —normal on steroids! None of those desires are wrong. But they are limited. We tend to desire only what we can imagine.
God, however, works in ways we cannot imagine. That is the pattern of salvation history. Israel wanted to go back. God promised something new.
The raising of Lazarus is a sign pointing forward to Easter. Christianity exists not because things went back to normal, but because a dead man rose from the dead. And dead people don’t do that. The Resurrection of Christ is not “normal on steroids.” It is an entirely new creation breaking into the world!
The danger for us is reducing all of this to something ordinary. We can treat faith as routine. We can approach Easter as familiar. But the Gospel confronts us with a reality that shatters normal expectations.
The same Lord who stood before Martha and Mary stands before us. He sees the places in our lives that feel sealed, stagnant, or beyond hope. He sees the sins and habits we return to because they are familiar. And he calls us not back to what we know, but forward into what we cannot yet see.
Stop returning to “normal” thinking it will finally satisfy. Stop settling for small hopes. Strain forward to what lies ahead. “See, I am doing something new. Do you not perceive it?”
The question is not whether God will act. The question is whether we will recognize—and receive—the new life He is already bringing forth.
Peace,
Fr. Monteleone
To read the complete bulletin click here
