Raising of Lazarus: John 11:1-45
By Fr. Mike Paraniuk
HCP columnist
It started out like any other Saturday. I went to work at the old Providence Hospital where I would visit the sick. I dropped off my car keys in the office desk drawer near the chapel and then hit the floors.
But this Saturday would morph into a nightmare. After saying the 4:30 Mass I went to the desk to get my keys. They were gone. Someone stole my keys.
I got this sinking feeling my car would be gone as well. A search of the parking lot confirmed my worst fear. The thief used my key fob to find my little Ford Focus and go on a joy ride. I was scheduled to perform a wedding up north with no way to get there or get home to Batavia.
I went back to the chapel where I found a couple still praying. I told them of my dilemma.
I said, "What am I going to do?"
This couple from the goodness of their heart replied, "Don't worry. My wife and I will take you to the wedding and drive you back home."
What generosity from this couple whom I never met before. But this was no ordinary couple as you will see.
On the way to the wedding, I poured out my anger to them how God could let this happen. I remember quoting St. Teresa who fell off her donkey, throwing her into the mud. "Why did you let this happen? If this is the way you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few of them."
I know how she felt. When I finished venting, the couple spoke. What the man said blew me away.
"Father Mike, we learned a very important lesson. On another Saturday, May 28, 1977, the Beverly Hills Country club burned to ground. One hundred and sixty-five people died. Three of them belonged to my family. My mother, my sister and my niece all perished.
"My faith in God was badly shaken. I prayed, 'God, how could you let this happen?' In my sorrow, I learned what faith is all about. Life is so unpredictable. I can't control it, but I believe God can. I continue to believe that my God is good. He did not want this fire to happen. I believe my mom, sis and niece are with God. I hope to see them again in Heaven."
My problem seemed trivial after hearing his story. He taught me what faith is all about.
The resurrection of Lazarus is more than just Jesus raising him from the dead. It is Jesus urging his followers to have faith in Him. Jesus said to Martha who worried about the smell of decay from the open tomb, "Didn't I tell you that if you had faith, you would see the glory of God?" (John 11:40.)
What is the glory of God? It is God bringing Light out of our darkness, giving meaning to things in life that seem meaningless, to bring hope when you are tempted to despair, and to believe God will bring goodness out of your worst crosses. Do you realize that the worst sin against God was "deicide?" We killed God. The human race put Jesus, the Son of God, to death on the cross. Yet, from this worst sin came the greatest grace known to humans – redemption, salvation and everlasting life.
When things happen in your life don't make sense, picture Jesus standing before you. He looks intensely into your eyes. Jesus speaks, "Didn't I tell you to have faith in Me?"
Let go, and let God be God. You don't have to understand what God is doing, but believe He does. The Lord says in Isaiah 58:8-9, "My thoughts and my ways are not like yours. Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, my thoughts and my ways are higher than yours."
God says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding...". (Proverbs 3:5.) A parishioner's father described faith this way: "Hope for the best. Prepare for worst. And pray like mad."
Happy Lent.
(Addendum: My car was found two days later in Cincinnati. It smelled like a cannabis dispensary.)