Flesh vs. Spirit

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent

Once again we encounter St. Paul’s style of making a point through contrasts; today’s is one with which we should all be familiar – flesh vs. spirit. For those of us who grew up in a Western culture, when we hear the word “flesh,” we immediately think of our body and the sins that can be committed through bodily action. When we hear the word “spirit,” many of us will begin to think that St. Paul is contrasting body and soul. However, that really isn’t a helpful way of looking at it.

The “flesh” and its accompanying sins refers to ANYTHING that leads us away from God. St. Paul includes a lengthy catalog of such sins in his Letter to the Galatians (5:19-21) Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. St. Paul’s catalog includes sins of impurity, but it also speaks of many other actions to which people are prone if they live according to the flesh.

The contrast to the “flesh” is life in the “spirit.” Generally speaking, the “spirit” refers to ANYTHING that leads us towards God. Again turning to the Letter to the Galatians, St. Paul includes this catalog:  In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

So today’s passage from the Letter to the Romans teaches us that through Baptism – in which we died with Christ and rose again with him – we are living in the Spirit. Such a life is characterized by all of the things that he mentions in his Letter to the Galatians. Remember that the second reading in the Lenten Lectionary for Mass has as its purpose to set forth our participation in the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus through our baptism. Once again, this is very aptly done through this passage from the Letter to the Romans.

A further contrast is employed by St. Paul which teaches us that those who live according to the flesh are dead to Christ while those who live in the spirit are alive in Christ even though they may be physically dead. This teaching corresponds to both the first reading and the Gospel passage for today. Although the Hebrew Scriptures very rarely speak of a life after death, the prophet Ezekiel is an exception to that rule as he proclaims that God will rescue us from our graves and will breathe the life of the spirit into our bodies. The Gospel story is the sign of the raising of Lazarus. This particular raising is only mentioned in St. John’s Gospel. The sacred writer goes to great lengths to teach us that this is not a resuscitation story by telling us that the corpse was buried four days ago, that it had been prepared for burial and wrapped in the bindings used by the people of the Middle East at that time in history. The stories of Jesus bringing dead people to life in the synoptic Gospels all take place before the body is buried, in some cases while they are still in their homes.

Jesus is the Resurrection, a point that St. Paul continually returns to in his writings. Those who die, if they have placed their faith in Jesus, will live forever. This point is made over and over again with the sister of Lazarus, Martha of Bethany, who makes her own very strong profession of faith in her response to his pronouncement.

Leaving the life of the flesh behind is something most of us have to do each and every day of our lives. We are constantly tempted by the flesh to move from the fruits of the spirit. However, if we have faith in Jesus, the Spirit will invade our lives and prompt us ever nearer to our God.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator