The Real Lazarus Effect

There is much talk this Sunday about “The Lazarus Effect”: an anti-AIDS campaign tied directly to today’s Gospel (John 11:1-45) whereby African AIDS victims are brought back from death’s door with relatively inexpensive medications.

Helping the poor and the sick are truly great acts of mercy, which we are all obliged to do.

Yet even as we help the poor, the sick, and the dying, we need to remember that the REAL Lazarus effect involves true resurrection and the power of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Rich or poor, healthy or dying, we must heed the words of Saint Paul in today’s Epistle (Romans 8:8-11):

Those who are in the flesh
cannot please God.

But you are not in the flesh;
on the contrary, you are in the spirit,
if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.

Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ
does not belong to him.

But if Christ is in you,
although the body is dead
because of sin,
the spirit is alive
because of righteousness.

If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead
dwells in you,
the one who raised Christ from the dead
will give life to your mortal bodies also,
through his Spirit dwelling in you.


Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, be merciful to me – a sinner.