Readings, Gospel and Homily (Fr Richard) for the 5th Sunday of Lent
Homily: The friendship of Jesus
"If your friends ask you to meet, you should say
'no'."
This was one of the many
instructions the Prime Minister gave us on Monday that really hit home. The
idea of jumping in the car to meet up with a good friend or go round to their
house is currently out of the question. When we’re deprived of something we
take for granted, personal contact with our friends, we realise how much we love
them, we realise how precious friendship is.
The great English saint of
our Diocese, St Aelred of Rievaulx, who wrote the masterpiece “Spiritual
Friendship”, wrote:
“No
medicine is more valuable, none more efficacious, none better suited to the
cure of all our temporal ills than a friend to whom we may turn for consolation
in time of trouble, and with whom we may share our happiness in time of joy.”
Jesus also cherished
friendship. In today’s Gospel, he travels to Bethany with his disciples who are
close by his side. St John throughout his Gospel uses the word philia, the love
of friendship, to describe his relationship with the disciples. He’d also made
great friends with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. We hear today that Jesus loved
them. Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus and the people who saw his emotion
said: “See how much he loved him!”
Although the wonders of
modern technology mean we’re still able to speak to and even see our friends,
it might be the case we don’t meet up with them for weeks, perhaps even months
now. And, sadly, as people die of coronavirus and indeed of any other illness
at this time, some people will not see their friends again (at least on earth).
But in our isolation,
whatever form that currently takes, we know our best friend, Jesus Christ, will
be always with us, as long as we call on Him. A good priest friend of mine chose
for the words on his ordination card John 15:15, Jesus saying: “I call you
friends.” Indeed, Our Lord is very close to us. We know this because of what St
Paul tells us in our second reading today. As Christians, our interests our
spiritual, “since the Spirit of God has made his home in you.” He tells us that
“if Christ is in you then your spirit is life itself because you have been
justified…” In other words, by Christ’s
Incarnation, Passion, death and Resurrection, He dwells in our hearts. He has
breathed his Spirit deep within us to give us life. We know where one Person of
the Trinity dwells, there are the other two.
At this time of isolation, we
know that Jesus our friend lives among us. This wonderful reality means that,
rather than calling this period a time of isolation, we can turn it on its head
and think of it rather as a time of solitude, a time of resting with our
greatest friend, the Lord.
If we stay faithful to Jesus
our friend, he will raise us up like he did his friend Lazarus. As St Paul
again tells us today: “he who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your
own mortal bodies through his Spirit living in you.” Jesus will lift our
spirits, bring us joy and peace, and lead us, when Our Father calls us, to the
everlasting joys of heaven.
As we today rededicate our
country as Our Lady’s Dowry, we call on Mary, Mother of Christ and Mother of us
all, to bring us deeper into friendship with her Son, who will console us and
raise us up.
