Sunday, March 17, 2002
5th Sunday of Lent
1st Reading: Ezk 37:12-14
This is what Yahweh says, "I am going to open your
tombs, I shall bring you out of your tombs, my people, and lead you back
to the land of Israel. You will know that I am Yahweh, O my people! when
I open your graves and bring you out of your graves, when I put my spirit
in you and you live. I shall settle you in your land and you will know
that I, Yahweh, have done what I said I would do."
2nd Reading: Rom 8:8-11
Brothers and sisters, those walking according to the flesh
cannot please God.
Yet your existence is not in the flesh, but in the spirit, because the
Spirit of God is within you. If you did not have the Spirit of Christ,
you would not belong to him. But Christ is within you; though the body
is branded by death as a consequence of sin, the spirit is life and holiness.
And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is within you,
He who raised Jesus Christ from among the dead will also give life to
your mortal bodies. Yes, he will do it through his Spirit who dwells within
you.
Gospel:
Jn 11:1-45 (or Jn 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33-45)
The sisters of Lazarus sent this message to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick." On hearing this Jesus said, "This illness will not end in death; rather it is for God's glory and the Son of God will be glorified through it."
It is a fact that Jesus loved Martha and her sister and
Lazarus; yet, after he heard of the illness of Lazarus, he stayed two
days longer in the place where he was. Only then did he say to his disciples,
"Let us go into Judea again." They replied, "Master, recently
the Jews wanted to stone you. Are you going there again?"
When Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had been in the
tomb for four days.
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him while Mary
remained sitting in the house. And she said to Jesus, "If you had
been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that whatever you
ask from God, God will give you." Jesus said, "Your brother
will rise again."
Martha replied, "I know that he will rise in the
resurrection, at the last day." But Jesus said to her, "I am
the resurrection; whoever believes in me, though he die, shall live. Whoever
is alive by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
Martha then answered, "Yes, Lord, I have come
to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into
the world."
When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews also who had come
with her, he was moved in the depths of his spirit and troubled. Then
he asked, "Where have you laid him?" They answered, "Lord,
come and see." And Jesus wept. The Jews said,
"See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "If he could
open the eyes of the blind man, could he not have kept this man from dying?"
Jesus was deeply moved again and drew near to the tomb.
It was a cave with a stone laid across it. Jesus ordered, "Take the
stone away." Martha said to him, "Lord, by now he will smell,
for this is the fourth day." Jesus replied, "Have I not told
you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" So they
removed the stone.
Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank
you for you have heard me. I knew that you hear me always; but my prayer
was for the sake of these people, that they may believe that you sent
me." When Jesus had said this, he cried out in a loud voice, "Lazarus,
come out!" The dead man came out, his hands
and feet bound with linen strips and his face wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus
said to them, "Untie him and let him go." Many
of the Jews who had come with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw what
he did.
Commentary
Each reading shouts: "Resurrection! Life!" The Church won't let us forget we're celebrating Our Lord's passover from death to LIFE! We have many reasons for discouragement. But take heart, the conditions for despair are precisely the conditions for hope. We can't get any lower than the tomb and that's where God is active. No one knows why the world is as it is, why we always go through death to life. What we do know is that our Creator is beside and ahead of us every step of the way. And we are loved! Hear the affection in the reading from Ezekiel? Hear God's joy in giving life? Ever wonder from where comes the love that springs up in your own heart? "The Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is within you!" Jesus, who wept for love of his friend, lives in you!