Dig Deeper into Sunday’s Gospel: Read John 11:1–45
As I write this, daylight saving time (DST) has just started, and I’m feeling its unwelcome effects. While it’s wonderful to have more sunshine here in Southern California, my body still takes a few weeks to adjust to even a simple one-hour “spring forward.” I’m left feeling groggy in the mornings, my routines feel off, and I’m reminded of how sensitive we are to even small changes in time and light.
I’ll never understand how a shift in the clock—or the sunrise—can affect us in so many ways. It’s a subtle reminder that the concept of time isn't just a number on a clock or days on the calendar. Reflecting on this, I find myself wondering about another kind of timing—the mysterious timing of God.
Why do certain things happen the way they do? Why can a single hour throw us off balance, and why does it sometimes feel like God is slow to act, silent, or late? This week’s gospel reading from John brings the questions of God’s timing and His divinity into focus as “Jesus is drawing close to the end of his earthly mission.”[1]
We begin with a message from His close friends as Mary and Martha send word to Jesus: “Master, the one you love is ill” (John 11:3). They could have said, Lazarus is ill, come and heal him, but they didn’t, which makes me ponder their choice of words.
Here, in this one verse, we hear their hope for help, trust, and confidence that the One who loves will respond. How many of us, hearing that a loved one is sick, do not rush straight to their side? Knowing the Lord’s deep love for their brother, Mary and Martha’s plea to Jesus shows their faith in Him as Lord. The one you love is ill. This is not a stranger’s request, but rather from one confident in His love. Mary and Martha knew how much the Lord loved them. They must have been sure that He would come and heal their brother, having no doubt that His love for Lazarus would compel Him to answer their plea.
The one you love is ill. Could this not be a prayer we all can pray? With these words, we, too, can have faith that we do not approach the Lord as strangers but rather as beloved daughters.
In his book The Better Part, Fr. John Bartunek reflects on this moment, but he invites us to see ourselves there: "Lord, I am here, the one you love, and I am ill. I am sick with the infection of selfishness, vanity, arrogance, and self-indulgence. I am weighed down by troubles and worries."[2]
Fr. Bartunek reveals something important. We are Lazarus. We are the ones Jesus loves. We are the ones who are at times sick in body, mind, and spirit. Like Lazarus, we need Jesus’ healing.
The gospel passage shows us that when we pray, we do so as His beloved. We don’t have to earn His attention or convince Him of our worthiness. Like Mary and Martha, we can simply acknowledge that we are ill and in need of His healing, trusting that He cares, hears our prayer, and will respond—even if His response isn’t according to our timetable or in the way we think best.
Remember, Jesus does not rush to Lazarus’ side. “So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was” (John 11:6). Jesus waits. His disciples were probably puzzled by His response. Why would He delay when they knew He had the power to heal his close friend?
During this waiting, do we remember the times we've asked for God’s help, healing, and answers? Do we also find ourselves struggling to understand God’s timing and asking, “Lord, what are you waiting for?”
Waiting is never easy. When we suffer or a loved one is in pain, each moment can feel like an eternity. It’s easy to believe in God’s perfect timing when life aligns with our expectations, plans, and hopes. Just as our Lord had a purpose for the suffering Mary and Martha endured, He also has a purpose for our suffering.
It is in these moments that we must remember the rest of the story. Jesus’ delay is not a sign of a lack of love, but part of a greater plan—a plan that will display God’s glory in an even more powerful way.
“And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe” (John 11:15).
I wonder if, like the time change, there is something for us in the waiting and the adjustment that comes with it. After Jesus thanked the Father in John 11:41, He then said, “I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me” (John 11:42).
That they would believe. And that we would believe too.
Perhaps this is the greater purpose. In the waiting, our belief in who He is and what He can do will grow. In the waiting, our faith will be stretched, but our patience and trust will deepen. In the waiting, we are invited to a greater awareness of God’s presence and His purpose.
Just as our bodies take time to adapt to change—whether it’s due to daylight savings, physical healing, or spiritual growth—so too do our souls. It’s in the in between times, when prayers seem unanswered, when healing is delayed, when we are weighed down by the "infection" of our own weaknesses, that we can remember who we are and believe in who He is.
Jeremiah 31:3 reminds us of God’s promise: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I will continue my faithfulness to you.”
So my dear sisters, as we continue to journey through this Lenten season, may we find comfort in knowing that our prayers, like those of Mary and Martha, are heard by a Lord who loves us deeply. May we grow in patience and trust, confident that even when God’s timing is not ours, His love for us never wavers, and His plans are always for our greater good.
Trusting His timing,
Karen
Food for thought or journaling …
Where do you struggle to trust that God hears your prayers and that His plans are for your good?
Dear Lord, help us to rest in Your love, to trust in Your timing, and to believe that You work all things for our good. Amen.
[1] John Bartunek, LC, THD, The Better Part: A Christ-Centered Resource for Personal Prayer, (Sophia Institute Press, 2013), 905.
[2] Ibid., 906.
