Pope Benedict XVI spoke about the Sunday Gospel reading of the Raising of Lazarus
during his Angelus address. He said the reading gives us the opportunity to think
of our own resurrection at the end of time. He said death is for us like a wall that
keeps us from seeing what is beyond. Yet, the Pope says, our heart reaches out beyond
this wall, and although we can not know what it hides, we think about it and imagine
it. He said the idea of personal resurrection is a difficult one, and even among
Christians, it is often accompanied by doubts and confusion, because it is a reality
that transcends the limits of our reason, and requires an act of faith. The Holy
Father said Christ breaks down the wall of death, and the resurrection of Lazarus
is a sign of his complete mastery over physical death. But, the Pope reminded us,
there's another death – sin, the spiritual death which threatens to ruin the life
of every man. To defeat death Christ died, and his Resurrection is not a return to
the previous life, but the opening of a new reality, finally reunited with the God
of Heaven. Listen: