Some time back I saw a program about Stephen Hawking, the English physicist who
is confined to a wheelchair because of Lou Gehrig's disease, but
whose brain is working perfectly, and who is an extra-ordinary
genius. He wrote A brief history of time, attempting to
explain the origins of the universe. Over fifty years ago he was
diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease and he was told he had at best
two years to live. Today he is still doing ground-breaking work in
physics although the only muscle that he can still move is one of his
cheeks. There is a small sensor beside his cheek, which is attached
to a computer. By moving his cheek he can speak to people and
continue working through his computer. No doubt one of the
reasons why he is still alive is his will to live. He has an
extraordinary determination to keep going.
There is so
much more to being alive than just physical health, although that is
what we all wish for. Many people would consider that life would not
be worth living if you were in the physical state that Stephen
Hawking is in, and yet look at what he has already done.
For a few
years I used to work in a hospital as chaplain in my hometown of
Galway. I often saw people who, having lost the will to live, would
go down-hill very quickly and die. I also saw people who were told
that they would probably not recover, but because they were
absolutely determined to keep going, they would recover, often
completely against the odds. One of the key differences between
those who keep going and those who don’t is something spiritual:
hope. When we have hope we can keep going even against the odds. If
we have no hope, we may not survive even the ordinary.
A few years
ago in housing subdivision called Moyross, in Limerick city—one of
the toughest and most troubled areas of that city—a new group of
Religious have moved in. They are called the Franciscan Friars of the
Renewal, which were started by Fr. Benedict Goreschel in the Bronx,
New York. They live very like the Missionaries of Charity (Mother
Teresa’s order) in extreme poverty. Apparently the area has been
transformed, for the simple reason that they have given the people
there new hope. By moving in there, they have shown those people that
they are worth something and that in itself has given them new hope.
Because we
believe that God wants us to be happy, to live life in all its
fullness, that gives us hope which we are inspired to pass on to
others. Because we have hope we are able to work to promote and
strengthen married life even when it goes wrong; we continue to work
with younger people and encourage them not to give up even when they
have ruined their lives through drugs, or alcohol; we continue to work for
justice and peace often in very difficult circumstances. Our faith in
God gives us hope, which in turn inspires others to keep going. Think
of the hope that Pope Francis has given people by the way he
lives.
In this
beautiful Gospel we hear how Jesus deliberately waited when he heard
that Lazarus was sick, in order to work this miracle before
everyone’s eyes. He wanted to show them something. He wanted to
show them that God has power even over death and that if He allows
people to die that it is not the end. Just as Jesus called Lazarus
out of death, so Jesus will also call us out of death when we die and
we will begin a new and wonderful life with him, if we have chosen
life with God. We make that choice by the way we live.
In bringing
Lazarus back to life, Jesus was helping people to believe in who he
was. He is the one who has power over life and death. He is master of
all things. He was also giving the people hope, showing them that
there is a bigger picture that we do not understand. Death is not the
end. Physical health is not everything either, but having hope is
essential if we are to keep going through the many difficulties that
we continue to face. Our hope in God and the world to come gives us
strength to keep going even when we are suffering, or struggling, or
when everything goes wrong. If we do not have hope we could despair. If
we believe in nothing else apart from this world then it will be
very difficult to keep going when faced with the many difficulties
that we are so often faced with, which don’t seem to have any
solution: situations of injustice that we can do nothing about;
people killed through violence and hatred. If we believe in nothing
else, then how are we supposed to keep going?
In one of his
letters to the Christians in Corinth, which is in modern day Greece, St. Paul
wrote the following: “If our faith in Christ has been for this life
only, then of all people we are the most to be pitied” (1 Cor
15:9). In other words if we think that this life is everything then we have
completely missed the point. But our faith tells us that this life is
only a small part of what is going on and it is so important that we
don’t lose sight of the bigger picture. I am sure that was one
of the reasons why Jesus deliberately waited until Lazarus was dead before he
went to him, so that he could bring him back to life in front of everyone,
so that they would realize that Jesus is Lord of the living and
the dead and all things are in his hands.
“I shall
put my spirit in you, and you will live and I shall resettle you on
your own soil; and you will know that I the Lord have said and done
this.”