Homily for 5^th Sunday of Lent 2006

Once I encountered a person with severe depression who attempted suicide on a number of occasions. She knew what was happening to her but could not change. No one could help her. She was divorced and lived alone avoiding contact with family and friends. Later I heard that one of her attempts at suicide succeeded. No one seemed able to reach her.

About 1 million adults and 100,000 young people live with depression each year. Within 20 years it is estimated that it will be second only to heart disease as the medical cause of death and disability.

We all get a bit depressed, down in the dumps. But for many people it becomes a chronic and life debilitating condition. For them their feelings are out of proportion to the real events in our lives. But it is hard for a person to realise they are severely depressed. Mild depression is such a common event in our lives. There are both physical, mental, and environmental reasons for it. So, too, there are many kinds of therapies both medical and psychological, natural and alternative. Depression is one of the diseases of our age. I have come close to it on a couple of occasions myself.

(The official definition of depression by World Health Organisation is given in this way:

A person has depression when there is:

• Two weeks of abnormal depressed mood

• Loss of interest and decreased energy

• Loss of confidence

• Excessive guilt

• Recurrent thoughts of death

• Poor concentration

• Agitation or retardation

• Sleep disturbance

• Change in appetite
  Mild depression includes the first two symptoms and at least one other. Severe depression is the first two symptoms and at least five others.

For information on depresion go go Beyondblue, the national depression initiative: www.beyondblue.org.au )

Depression also has a spiritual dimension. Because it reflects the anxiety of our complex age and the loss of direction and confidence in one's ability to live in our demanding world. Often excessive guilt is involved which bears little relationship to what a person has done. In a religious context such a person can see themselves unworthy of God. And they can use that as an excuse to avoid following medical advice. Whereas, the truth of God is quite the opposite. God loves the person who is most at risk.

But no amount of advice or coercion can change a person in that state. Their family and friends can only stand with them sharing the darkness seeking what professional help they can. I imagine it is being like Lazarus in the tomb. A kind of living death. The tomb is closed, there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

Jesus raising of Lazarus was one of the seven great “signs” in John's Gospel. Miracles, yes, but John calls the signs pointing to another reality. In this case Lazarus is brought back to life only to be a sign of the one who is life, Jesus himself. “I am the resurrection and the life”, Jesus said.

Sometimes we feel powerless to help ourselves or others. We are powerless in the face of death, we cannot avoid it. We remember the times when we felt rejected, discouraged, grieving, in despair, feeling that life was not worth living, or overwhelmed by guilt. Maybe not clinical depression, but a hard place to be for anyone.

We can thank God for sending Jesus to us as we lay in that kind of tomb. Jesus in the person of a spouse, a friend, a parent, aunt or uncle, a member of the church. We remember them saying “Come out. It is OK to come out!” and are thankful.

Living and loving a person with real severe depression costs a great deal. Let us pray for those whose love remains faithful in that darkness. Jesus came close to that kind of despair when he cried out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” Most of his friends ran away. But God is faithful. In Lazarus we see that the dry and dead bones of our lives can live again (cf the First Reading today Ezekiel 37:12014. But read the whole of chapter 37). But only with the Spirit of God. Our resurrection is not complete just with our risen bodies like Lazarus. It is complete only when we live by the Spirit of God. St Paul speaks of this in the Second reading (Romans 8:8-11). And that begins here and now.

We have listened to two of John's great “signs” this Lent. The healing of the man blind from birth last week and now the raising of Lazarus. Both are about faith in the Holy One of God. Lent is about our conversion to Christ. That our eyes may see and that we might live.

Fr Graham