My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

As we move into the home stretch of our Lenten journey, it is a good time to look back on the previous month or so and ask ourselves relative to our Lenten resolutions of prayer, sacrifice and giving to others. Have we remained faithful to those commitments? Has it been easy?  Difficult?  Have we had any lapses in resolve and fallen back into old habits? Have we become lax in Lenten discipline?  For some of us, unfortunately, we have allowed our Lenten commitments to fall by the wayside. These days intended to be filled with moments of intense prayer and sacrifice have become just regular days with little thought of our spiritual lives and call to repentence.  However, just because we have Lent slip by a bit, it doesn't mean that we can't reclaim the graces of this holy season.

This weekend, we are challenged and encouraged by the raisinig of Lazarus from the tomb. After lying in death for four days, the Lord Jesus calls his friend back to life and frees him from the bonds of death. If we have allowed our Lenten observances to lapse, then we can imagine ourselves as Lazarus in the tomb and hear the Lord call us back to life. "Lazarus come out!"  The Lord is calling us back to the zealous observance of prayer, fasting and giving to others. He wants to free us from the bonds of apathy, boredom, spiritual lethargy and so much more.

Let's use these days of Lent to renew our efforts to leave sin behind and grow in the grace of holiness Christ wishes for all of us. We can still fast, we can still sacrifice, we can still do for others. As Lazarus was returned to life so that he could be a sign of God's power in the world, so our lives of faith can make God's love present to others, if we but heed his voice to step out of the darkness into His light.

In Christ the Life, 

Msgr. John McDermott, VG