Last week's gospel of the healing of the man blind challenged us to think about our own blindness and to seek Christ's healing for ourselves. The healing also showed forth the glory of God at work in Jesus.  This week God's glory is shown in the raising up of Jesus' friend Lazarus. 
    The story reminds us that death is a real part of life.  In the Genesis story we were told that it was through Adam's sin that death came into the world.  In today's gospel we see the full effects of death.  Martha and Mary, the dead man's sisters, are overwhelmed with grief.  The dialog between Jesus and Martha reveals her faith struggling to believe in the face of personal disaster.  When Jesus asks for the stone to be removed, Martha is concerned about the stench of death.  When Lazarus comes forth, he must be untied in order to be set free. 
    What are the effects of death?  Grief, corruption, and paralysis! Yet in the face of all of this Jesus is still victorious.  God's glory shines forth even through death.  Our God is truly the God of the living and the dead. 
    Each of us will confront death some day.  We will face the death of those we love and ultimately our own death.  How will God's glory shine forth in our experiences of death?  Death should be no stranger for a disciple of the Lord.  Dying and rising marks the way of life for those baptized into Jesus.  It is a question of understanding, "whose life is it anyway?"  If we seek our own will in this life, then we are not living out our faith.  For disciples of Christ, our lives really belong to the Lord.  It is no longer just us, but Christ living in us. 
    Our daily prayer, our Sunday Eucharist, our love and service for friends and neighbors strengthens and develops our faith.  The more we live like Christ, the more Christ lives in us.  In these daily choices to know and follow the Lord, our relationship with him grows.  Faith doesn't just appear when we need it.  It comes from a committed struggle to follow Christ.  We will have moments of success and failure, but most important is our commitment to follow him.