Every one of us at one time or another has suffered some type of loss in our lives. It could be the loss of a spouse or a child, a parent or grandparent, a brother or sister. In my own life 15 years ago, my wife and I suffered the loss of our 19 year old son who was killed in an automobile accident. Three years ago I suffered the loss of my father who died of a heart attack on his way home from Mass. These are the most severe types of losses and most everyone has had someone near and dear to them die. But there are also other types of losses within our living and life that we may also experience, the break up of a marriage, betrayal by a friend, the loss of a job, a financial setback, accidents and illness. All of these too, can cause a great degree of suffering and pain, and be a type of death experience. It’s part of being human and living in a sinful world.

Within the whole of human experience, death has always been the beast, the dragon, which eats up our hopes and spoils our plans and casts a shadow of darkness over even our brightest days. But Jesus came to slay the dragon. He does this by means of a power that may seem at first glance to be inadequate to the task. It is the power of loving, for it is only love that can overcome evil.

In each of today’s three readings we have a common theme, namely, resurrection & life. In the 1^st reading we hear God’s word: "I will open your graves and have you rise from them; …I will put my spirit within you that you may live; …thus you will know that I am the Lord." God is actually talking about the Israelites during their captivity in Babylon, and how God will free them, and return them to their own land, and they will have new life, all because of God’s love for them.

In the 2^nd reading St, Paul says, "If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit dwelling in you." This is a reference to the future resurrection and life of unending glory for all who during their time on earth are loyal and faithful to God.

And in the gospel, St. John continues his account of the signs and wonders that reveal and confirm the identity of Jesus as he makes his way to Jerusalem and his passion, death and resurrection. Today’s gospel presents us with a very human story of loss and regret, love and fear, of death, and of new life brought about by faith in Christ Jesus.

Jesus, as true God, has the power over life and death that belongs only to God. Two Sundays ago we heard Jesus tell the Samaritan woman that he is the promised Messiah who is speaking to her. Last week we heard how Jesus restored sight to the man born blind. In today’s gospel, in order to give even more indisputable evidence as to his true identity, and also, in preparation of his own death and resurrection, Jesus raises his close friend Lazarus from the dead, four days after he had been in the tomb. A purposeful delay on Jesus’ part, since after four days, the Jews believed that the spirit had departed from the dead body.

When we feel the cold hand of death upon us, whether it be through the loss of a loved one or in the experience of our own mortality, or helplessness in life’s many difficulties, we often cry out in anguish, "Why?" or "Why me?" It is in these times we can easily identify with Martha when she said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." But the reality is that Jesus is with us always. It is just that he is more concerned with a life that is so much more important than this fragile existence that we call life.

In today’s gospel we see the divine power of God made manifest in our world through the presence of Jesus. In response to Martha’s grief at the loss of her brother, Jesus says to her, "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." This absolute statement of Jesus means that his loving has taken him beyond the reach of death. Death is no longer an end, but merely, an episode on the journey of life. This saying of Jesus gives us hope and comfort when confronted by the death of a loved one, or even the contemplation of our own death. But we must remember, however, that the raising of Lazarus was only a temporary sign of Christ’s power, because Lazarus died again, like us, to await the final resurrection. As St. Paul reminds us, we will rise with our glorified bodies, the glory that comes from having died and risen with Christ.

Today’s gospel also shows us another very important aspect of Jesus’ identity. He is genuinely sad and distressed, both at the death of his close friend Lazarus, and also, at the grief of Martha and Mary. St. John tells us that Jesus loved them. Therefore, when he sees their grief, he weeps too. Thus, we see that as well as being fully divine, Jesus is also fully human. If anything, Jesus sees more clearly and feels more keenly the evil of death, and here death is at work among his friends.

It could be said that Jesus is weeping for us also, because Lazarus stands for all fallen humanity, subject to sin and death. Jesus’ tears are also his prayers, as he prepares to offer himself up as ransom; to save us from those very powers of sin and death.

So, in those dark times of our lives when all seems lost, when grief seems to much for us, or things seem to overwhelm us, when there does not seem to be any solution to our problems, when the darkness of sin makes us feel we cannot find a way out of the pit; let us remember that Jesus is the Way. It is by trusting in Jesus, that he will always love us and care for us, that we find the Truth of living and life. It is Jesus who takes our darkness, especially the darkness of our sins, upon himself and leads us to new Life.

We should take comfort and solace from the fact that it is at times like these that Jesus is standing right there with us. He shares our suffering and loss and wants to hold us in His arms and absorb all our pain and sorrow. He wants so deeply to fill us with hope in the promise of a new and better tomorrow.