In today’s Gospel, the tomb is right where God meets us.  Like many of our brothers and sisters across the world right now, Jesus received news that his good friend Lazarus had fallen ill.  By the time he is able to make the journey to pay him a visit, he has died.  Upon arriving in Bethany, Jesus is met separately by Lazarus’ sisters Mary and Martha who both have the same words for him: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  In our current reality of this pandemic, we might be saying the same thing to God.  Our sadness and our anger is real.  The Psalmist puts words to how we might be feeling: “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.”  (PS 130:1) 
 
Jesus steps forward to the tomb of his friend with three powerful commands:
 
“Take away the stone.”
“Lazarus, come out!”
“Untie him and let him go.”
 
Jesus calls us out of dark, death-dealing tombs and into the healing, holy light of his love.  It might be hard to hear the voice of Jesus in these fearful times over the voices of dark spirits that tempt us to panic and isolate and keep the tomb’s stone right where it is.  In a recent interview, Pope Francis provides a simple way to step into the light:
 
“We must rediscover the concreteness of little things, small gestures of attention we can offer those close to us, our family, our friends...We must understand that in small things lies our treasure.  These gestures of tenderness, affection, compassion are minimal and tend to be lost in the anonymity of everyday life, but they are nonetheless decisive, important.”
 
Let what dominates our minds and hearts be the firm commitment God has made to us:  “I will put my spirit in you that you may live...I have promised, and I will do it.”  (EZ 37:14)