As the days slowly grow longer and the first signs of life begin to appear in nature, we start to feel that winter is loosening its grip. The air may still be cold, yet there is a quiet sense that something is changing. Buds appear on branches, flowers push their way through the soil, and the earth begins to wake from its long sleep. With this awakening of nature comes new work: grass will soon need cutting, gardens will need tending. A new season is upon us. The longer evenings will draw us outside again, to walk more and feel a little more alive.

Yet not everyone experiences this season in the same way. For some, the arrival of spring does not immediately bring new energy. Those who have recently lost someone they love may feel that a part of themselves has been taken away. Others may be burdened by illness, disappointment, exhaustion, or the quiet weight of personal struggles. Life can sometimes feel drained of colour, even when the world around us begins to bloom. As individuals, as families, even as communities, we can find ourselves longing for a deeper kind of renewal, a life that goes beyond the changing of seasons.

That is very much the situation we encounter in today’s Gospel (I copied in the short version of the reading). A family of friends very close to Jesus sends Him an urgent message: “Lord, the one you love is ill.” By the time Jesus arrives, the illness has given way to death. They are frustrated, even annoyed with Jesus: “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Yet Jesus enters fully into their sorrow. Standing before the tomb of Lazarus, He raises him from the dead. In that moment Jesus reveals something extraordinary about Himself: that He is not simply a comforter in times of loss, but the actual “resurrection and the life.”

One of the earliest depictions of today’s Gospel story can be found in the Catacomb of Saint Callistus in Rome, dating from the early third century. This simple but powerful fresco may well be among the first images in the world showing Christ calling Lazarus out of the tomb. What is striking is how different Jesus appears compared to later Christian art. Rather than the familiar bearded figure, He is shown as a young, clean-shaven man with short hair, dressed in the simple tunic of a Roman citizen. Early Christians often portrayed Christ in this youthful way, emphasising His vitality. In the scene Jesus raises His hand and holds a thin rod (known as a virga) as He performs the miracle. This small rod symbolises divine authority and may deliberately recall the staff of Moses, through which God worked miracles in the Old Testament. Just as Moses struck the rock and life-giving water flowed in the desert, here Christ, with a gesture of authority, calls Lazarus out of death.