Pope Leo reflected on our inner thirst for the infinite ... and the multitude obstacles that are getting in the way of it.
Pope Leo reflected on the deep meaning of the rich liturgy of the 5th Sunday of Lent, which recounts the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead. The world is constantly seeking "novelty and change, even at the cost of sacrificing important things — time, energy, values, affections," he reflected.
But instead, God wants "to free our hearts from habits, conditioning and ways of thinking which, like boulders, shut us away in the tomb of selfishness, materialism, violence and superficiality. In these places there is no life, but only confusion, dissatisfaction, and loneliness."
Here is the full text of his brief reflection:
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Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
On this Fifth Sunday of Lent, the liturgy proclaims the Gospel of the raising of Lazarus (cf. Jn 11:1-45).
In the Lenten journey, this is a sign that speaks of Christ’s victory over death and of the gift of eternal life, which we receive through Baptism (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1265). Today Jesus also says to us, as he did to Martha, Lazarus’s sister: “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (Jn 11:25-26).
The liturgy thus invites us, in light of the fact that Holy Week is drawing near, to relive the events of the Lord’s Passion — the entry into Jerusalem, the Last Supper, the trial, the crucifixion, the burial — so that we may grasp their most authentic meaning and open ourselves to the gift of grace they contain.
These events are fulfilled in the risen Christ, who has conquered death and lives within us through Baptism, for our salvation and the fullness of life.
His grace illumines this world, which seems to constantly search for novelty and change, even at the cost of sacrificing important things — time, energy, values, affections — as if fame, material goods, entertainment and fleeting relationships could fill our hearts or make us immortal. It is a symptom of a longing for the infinite that each of us carries within us, a need that cannot be satisfied by passing things. Nothing finite can quench our inner thirst, for we are made for God, and we find no peace until we rest in him (cf. Confessions, I, 1.1).
The account of the resurrection of Lazarus, then, invites us to listen to this profound need and, with the power of the Holy Spirit, to free our hearts from habits, conditioning and ways of thinking which, like boulders, shut us away in the tomb of selfishness, materialism, violence and superficiality. In these places there is no life, but only confusion, dissatisfaction, and loneliness.
Jesus also cries out to us: “Come out!” (Jn 11:43), urging us to emerge from these cramped spaces, renewed by his grace, to walk in the light of love, as new women and men, capable of hoping and loving, without calculation and without measure, according to the model of his infinite charity.
May the Virgin Mary help us to live these holy days with her faith, her trust and her fidelity, so that the glorious experience of encountering her risen Son may be renewed in us each day.
