Dear Parishioners,

I hope and pray that all of you are doing well!  As you know, this weekend we celebrate the Fifth and final Sunday before Holy Week. Even though we cannot come to Church in these days, we still have two weeks to make this the Best Lent Ever.  As we listen today about the death of Lazarus, it is good to ask what you and I would do differently in light of our own inevitable death. Today, Martha asks a tough question. In grief over her brother’s death she asks about Jesus’ absence. “If you had been here my brother would not have died.” Jesus speaks to her about the future resurrection. For Martha that seems distant. Jesus then gives her the great revelation: “I am the resurrection and the life.” Yes, in these days, we can ask the same question: “Where are you? Why have you abandoned me?”

Again, Jesus invites us to believe in Him and to have a relationship with Him. It means more than intellectual assent – and it means more than a one-time acceptance. It is an immersion in Christ. St. Paul says that if we die with Christ in baptism we will rise with him to new life. (Rm. 6:3ff) Jesus for his part speaks about eating his body and drinking his blood in order to have eternal life. (Jn. 6:53-54)  Even in these days, we cannot receive Him physically, but we can spiritually.

From this passage, we understand that: the voice of Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb, and he left the tomb. Yes, we believe that the Lord of Life is present among us. He calls us each day.  Come out of your darkness and come into life. Jesus is more powerful than anything holding us back including our sins. He is more powerful than the forces around us and within us that are trying to destroy us, even we are facing with the coronavirus pandemic.

Just as we have been freed from the bonds of sin by the Life of the Lord, we have to go to the cemeteries of the world,and unbind those suffering from the terrors inflicted by an immoral society. We have to call them away from their sins, their weakness, their anger, their addictions, their hatred, and their self-loathing. We have to call, “Come out of your tombs and come into life.”  We have to care for them, re-affirm them and let them know that God’s mercy is infinitely greater than our sins. We have to tell them, “You don’t belong in the darkness, you belong out here in the light. You don’t belong among the dead. You belong among the living. We have to untie them so they also can be free to live.

Following the example of Lazarus, I invite you to put into practice what we’ve been talking about this Lent: A time of silence – ten minutes, maybe more, maybe less – a daily relationship with Jesus. Invite him into your home and into your life.

Life is Worth living when it is lived united to the Lord. Life is full of beauty and full of joy when it is united to Jesus Christ. So, ” Come out of the tombs,” Jesus says to the world and to us. “Come out of the tomb and come into my life. Come into my Joy.”

Be not afraid! Run to the One who hears all your prayers. Go with confidence and trust. Jesus is with you. He will not abandon you.

God bless you and God bless the U.S.A. and the world! Stay home! Stay well! Be cool!

Sincerely Yours in Christ,

Reverend Quang Vinh Chu, Pastor
Saint Mary’s by the Sea