Fr Luke Macnamara OSB
Five years ago I visited a 19 years old prisoner facing a life sentence. He was in the most secure part of a maximum security prison. I passed through so many locked doors that I was unsure I would ever get out. Reflecting back on that day, I wonder about what others prisons I have encountered in my life and the lives of others. There are many forces at work in the world that can imprison us and cut us off. Social media can so engross us that it ends up isolating us from those physically around us. Gambling and pornography can consume us leaving us with no energy to engage with others. Sometimes things beyond our control can imprison us such as physical illnesses or depression. Finally, there is one force that imprisons us all and that is death.
In the Acts of the Apostles, Peter and John in Jerusalem and Paul in Philippi are released from a series of high security prisons, usually with the assistance of an angel. When Jesus stands before the tomb of Lazarus and faces the definitive prison of death, he prays to God: “Father, I thank you for hearing my prayer. I knew indeed that you always hear me, but I speak for the sake of all these who stand round me, so that they may believe it was you who sent me.” It is only after praying to the Father and only after giving the Father thanks that Jesus
calls Lazarus out from the tomb. The restoring to life of Lazarus is the work of the Father and the Son and the result of prayer. Jesus reveals the power of God, Father and Son, to break the bonds of death. So if Jesus through prayer has broken the bonds of death for Lazarus, might we not also imitate him and through prayer ask that he liberate us from our various prisons and our beloved death from theirs, that they may enjoy eternal life. The name Lazarus signifies “one who is helped by God”. We can all be Lazaruses by invoking God’s help that we may have fullness of life wherever we may be.