5th Sunday Lent A - Homily 6

Homily 6 - 2023 

I find it wonderfully encouraging to be reminded of just how special his friends were to Jesus. One of the things that struck me in today’s Gospel Reading was the author’s comment: “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus”, and his observation how, when Jesus saw the tears of Martha and Mary at their brother Lazarus’s tomb, he even started weeping himself — prompting the bystanders to remark, “See how much he loved him”. I think it was the only occasion in all four Gospels where we read that Jesus wept.

Jesus’ openness to friends, male and female, put me in mind of the conclusion of a psychological survey taken many year’s back somewhere n the United States, that very few men have genuine male friends — mates, brothers and cousins, and acquaintances, yes; but not close friends.

Recently I read the comment of an American priest whose ideas I find I generally agree with. He was writing about the issue that many of us worry about — the perplexing drop in numbers of people coming regularly to Mass. His view was this: “Faith is not easy today for any of us. To have real faith, an actual belief in God, requires something more than simply continuing to roll with the flow of our own particular faith communities. I say this because it is becoming clearer that today it is much easier to have faith in Christianity — in Jesus’ moral teaching, in a code of ethics, in God’s call for justice, in an ideology of Christianity, and even in the value of gathering for worship, than it is to have a personal and real relationship to God.”

I think that Pope Francis would agree with him. He raised this issue recently when he was talking to group of young people in Rome. He was saying while many Catholics are quite comfortable in their faith and continue coming regularly to Mass, he lamented [and these are his words]: “although they recite prayers and perform works of piety, they never really engage in dialogue with the Lord.”

Today’s Gospel started me wondering how many Catholics could class Jesus as a genuine friend, how many ready to “really engage in dialogue with the Lord” — indeed, how many even want to.