NB. Not many chances to preach these days, so here's one from 2011. . .
5th Sunday of Lent 2011 Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Joseph, Ponchatula, LA
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5th Sunday of Lent 2011 Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Joseph, Ponchatula, LA
Brothers and sisters, I bring you some dramatic news this morning!
Reports have come in from all over the world that the dead walk among
us. They've been sighted in all the world's major cities, shambling
around dressed like the living, doing the ordinary things that the
living do. They are difficult to spot since their demeanor is easily
confused with those who still cling to life. They go to work, eat their
family meals; go to school, church, the grocery store. The media have
given these deceased mimics a group name. They are called simply, “The
Dead.” But since that label is rather boring, I've decided to refer to
them as Zombies. So, yes, Zombies walk among us, and more specifically,
Catholic Zombies walk among us and pray among us and go to communion
with us. In fact, there are probably several right here this morning!
Otherwise normal looking, normal sounding Catholics who shamble around
in their living bodies without a living spirit. What animates them, what
gives them the appearance of being alive is uncertain. What is certain
is that they are truly dead, and that their bodies are a walking grave.
What can be done for these poor spiritless creatures? They must be freed
from what binds them to the grave; freed from the walking death of
sin.
In the story of Lazarus' resurrection, we have an abridged version of
the Dummies Guide to Catholic Zombies. This handy guide helps us to
identify, diagnose, and treat those who appear to be alive in Christ but
are actually long dead to his spirit. A warning page 23 of the Guide
calls our attention to an uncomfortable truth: “The Catholic Zombie
virus is virulent and unpredictable. It can infect anyone at anytime. It
attacks the Catholic's sin-immunity response system, replicating its
viral disobedience-DNA and leaves the Spirit of Christ Defense Network
incapable of properly responding to temptation. No one is immune. Even
the holiest Catholic is susceptible to infection and re-infection.” As a
start to the recovery process, the Guide refers both the infected and
their care-givers to the story of Lazarus' resurrection and to Paul's
short treatise on the relationship between the spiritually dead and
Christ. These two passages make it clear that the truly living—those who
live in Christ, body and soul—live b/c they dwell in the Lord's
righteousness, believing wholeheartedly in the Lord when He says to
them, “O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them.
. .Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and
have you rise from them, O my people!” Working backwards from cure to
disease, the Guide reports that those most susceptible to infection by
the Catholic Zombie virus are those who allow their Christ Defense
Network to become weakened through inattention to personal prayer, the
sacraments, good works, and holy reading. Working from disease to cure,
we can see that the best treatment for the Zombie Catholic is personal
prayer, the sacraments, good works, and holy reading. In other words,
the best treatment is prevention.
To get a better grip on how we can prevent the spread of the Catholic
Zombie virus more effectively, let's look at Lazarus' resurrection story
and tease out exactly how prevention works. Probably the most obvious
tact to take in preventing the spread of the virus is to ensure that
everyone around you knows the basics of good spiritual hygiene. For
example, when Lazarus' sister, Martha, asserts to her brother's
physician, Jesus, that Lazarus would rise again on the last day, Dr.
Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me,
even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me
will never die.” After this brief revelation, Jesus asks Martha, “Do you
believe this?” She responds, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that
you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the
world.” So, the first step to prevention is a profession of faith in the
Christ, the Son of God. By believing in the Christ, who is the
resurrection and the life, we can bolster our resistance to the Catholic
Zombie virus and ward off the onslaught of temptations that comes from
doubt.
Another step in good spiritual hygiene is obedience to the Christ. The
Guide points out that obedience is not a matter of mindless compliance
with rules and regulations. Obedience starts by trusting Christ's wisdom
and believing in the promises of his Father. Listen first, then act.
Lazarus emerges from his tomb after having been dead for four days.
Martha, Mary, and the disciples all play essential roles in his
resurrection by obeying Christ. Jesus says to the disciples, “Let us go
to back to Judea.” And they do. He asks to see Mary. And she runs to
him. He asks to see Lazarus. And they take him to the tomb. He orders
the tombstone removed. They obey. He cries out, “Lazarus, come out!” And
he does. Finally, with the newly resurrected Lazarus standing before
him, Jesus says, “Untie him and let him go.” We know that Jesus'
intervention here works as prevention b/c John reports, “Now many of the
Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in
him.” Belief in the Christ is the first step in preventing the spread
of the zombie virus! With belief comes repentance and with repentance
comes the overwhelming mercy of God. Once we have come to depend
absolutely on God's mercy, obedience to His Word is not only no longer a
burden, it is a privilege—a privilege that inoculates believers against
the weaknesses of doubt, anxiety, and pride.
The final step in good spiritual hygiene is hope in the resurrection.
The Lazarus story contains a very odd scene. Jesus is informed that
Lazarus is sick and on the verge of death, John reports, “. . .when
[Jesus] heard that [Lazarus] was ill, he remained for two days in the
place where he was.” His friend is deathly ill and Jesus decides to hang
around Bethany for two days. Hardly the reaction we would expect. Later
on, Mary chastises Jesus for the delay, saying, “Lord, if you had been
here, my brother would not have died.” The Jews who went with Mary to
visit Jesus, upon seeing Jesus weep for the grief of the sisters, say,
“Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done
something so that this man would not have died?” Why did Jesus delay
visiting his dying friend? To instill in his disciples the virtue of
hope, to bolster in them an immunity to the despair that death often
brings. When he first heard that Lazarus was dying, Jesus says, “This
illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the
Son of God may be glorified through it.” Lazarus' resurrection from the
tomb serves to show the disciples (and us) that death is not an end for
the believing soul. The hope of life after death renders the Catholic
Zombie virus inert. With a deeply held hope in Christ, we too will hear
him order us out of the tomb and tell our family and friends, “Untie him
and let him go.”
The Catholic Zombie virus is deadly. It can kill the spirit of Christ in
us and leave us to walk among the living and the dead. The best
treatment is prevention. Personal prayer, the sacraments, good works,
and holy reading. But none of these is effective without a firm belief
in the Christ, a willingness to obey his commands, and the good habit of
hoping upon the resurrection. If you are dead inside, take heart, b/c
the Lord has promised, “O my people, I will open your graves and have
you rise from them. . . I will put my spirit in you that you may live. .
.thus you shall know that I am the LORD. I have promised, and I will do
it, says the LORD.”
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