What chains weigh us down? What sins have we grown comfortable with in our lives? Wanting more than our fair share of things? Making ourselves out to be better than other people? Battling against the sin of pride? Falling into the sin of gluttony with food or drink? Struggling with lust or viewing pornography? Embracing laziness? Cursing too much? Arguing with our family members and friends? Lying to get ahead? Insulting one another? What chains weigh us down?

So often in our lives, we can become accustomed to giving into certain temptations that they simply become a part of who we are or a part of our routine. We become so comfortable with them that we simply cannot resist them. We claim things we were never meant to claim as part of us. Then we come to the season of Lent, which is supposed to be a time when we focus on these particular aspects of ourselves and ask the Lord to assist us in that journey of breaking free. It is a time when we honestly examine our lives, identifying those chains that tie us to a life of sin. We commit ourselves to a season of penance and forgo certain things in order to bring us back on track in our relationship with Christ. But, actually following through with our Lenten sacrifices is not easy. It means we have to give up control of our lives to God. I don’t know about you, but I HATE giving up control. Despite that, though, there is something deep within each of us that calls us out of ourselves – it’s a person, really. It is Jesus, He is the one who calls us to be raised from death into newness of life.

In the reading from the Gospel of John we’ve just heard, Jesus has returned to Bethany upon receiving the news that his friend Lazarus had died. By the time Jesus arrives at the tomb, death had firmly taken its hold on Lazarus. His body had begun to decay and decompose. He has been dead for four days, yet the Lord tells the people to roll away the stone. Martha says to Jesus: “But, Lord, there will be a stench.” Imagine that stench! And yet, Jesus still calls him to come out. Now, imagine the state of our souls when we are shackled to a life of sin. They can look and smell pretty awful, don’t you think?

But still Christ comes to break our chains, to liberate us from the impacts of sin. He comes to call us out of the tomb and raises us to new life….a new life of faith, hope, and love which can only be found in Him. He calls each of us individually by name. “Lazarus, come out!” He echoes the same call to me: “Tom, come out!” He calls you as well: “Paul, come out!” “Emilee, come out!” “Adam, come out!” “Michelle, come out!” Do we listen to His call and respond? Do we have the courage to give up control of our lives and allow Christ to work within us? Do we emerge from the tomb like Lazarus?

When Lazarus emerges from the tomb, his hands and feet were bound and his head covered with a cloth. Imagine trying to walk in newness of life while still being shackled to our former ways. It’s not possible! Jesus then tells the people gathered there to “untie him and let him go.” Christ recognizes that we cannot release the shackles from our hands and feet on our own. We can’t remove the cloth that blinds us to the reality of His love without His intervention. One-by-one He slowly unwraps the bonds and finally…removes our chains and casts them aside.

In a particular way, this message applies to our Elect. We are quickly approaching the celebration of Easter and your welcoming into the Church. In these final days of the Lenten season, allow this time to truly be a sacred journey, a spiritual renewal. Examine your hearts, invite the Lord ever more deeply into your life. Allow Him to show you those areas where He wants to bring liberation and freedom. Dive more deeply into that relationship with Him. These next several days will be especially poignant for all of you as you prepare to receive the Sacraments of the Church…it will be a moment when you experience God’s transformative grace. Be open to whatever He wants to do in and through you.

For all of us, this is our time to embrace a profound moment of conversion, allowing God’s love to permeate every aspect of our lives. As we close this Lenten season, may we be ready to receive the abundant blessings that await us in the resurrection of Christ. May our prayer this week be filled with new fervor…come Lord into our hearts, free us from the chains that weigh us down and drag us back into the way of sin. May our Easter season be a time of great rejoicing as we emerge from our former ways and walk in newness of life with you. 

Photo: Fierceness, Eyasu Etsub. Used under Unsplash license.