Lazarus! Come forth!

What a dramatic scene in today's Gospel--the raising of Lazarus!

From the pitch dark, wrapped like a mummy, Lazarous strides forth!

No doubt, his tomb was hewn in a rock, with an ebtrance they walked into to entomb him.

So where is Lazarous today?

He is everywhee people feel, constrained, cut off from life:

Joe, alcoholic, Come forth!

Sue drug addict, come forth!

Mike unforgiving relative, come forth!

Jane, grudge holder, come forth!

Donald, mocker of the handicapped, come forth!

Judy, gossip and tale bearer, come forth!

Max, sexual deviate, come forth!

Lazarus is all around us.

Only, reconciliation, and renewal

can set him and her free.

And so we pray:

Free us O Lord from stinking tombs.

Unwrap the bans that bind us,

so we might go up to Jerusalem,

and be free to witness the great things about to unfold.

"I have set my eyes on your hills, Jerusalem my destiny.

Though I cannot see the end for me,

I cannot walk alone.

We have set our hearts for the way, this journey is our destiny.

Let no one walk alone.

This journey makes us one..."

Amen