5th Sunday of Lent
First Reading: Ezekiel 37:12-14
Thus says the Lord GOD: O my people, I will open your graves and have
you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you
shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and have you rise
from them, O my people! I will put my spirit in you that you may live,
and I will settle you upon your land; thus you shall know that I am the
LORD. I have promised, and I will do it, says the LORD.
Responsorial Psalm: 130:1-2.3-4.5-6.7-8
Response: With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; LORD, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to my voice in supplication. (Response)
If you, O LORD, mark iniquities, LORD, who can stand? But with you is forgiveness, that you may be revered. (Response)
I trust in the LORD; my soul trusts in his word. More than sentinels wait for the dawn, let Israel wait for the LORD. (Response)
For with the LORD is kindness and with him is plenteous redemption; And he will redeem Israel from all their iniquities. (Response)
Response: With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; LORD, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to my voice in supplication. (Response)
If you, O LORD, mark iniquities, LORD, who can stand? But with you is forgiveness, that you may be revered. (Response)
I trust in the LORD; my soul trusts in his word. More than sentinels wait for the dawn, let Israel wait for the LORD. (Response)
For with the LORD is kindness and with him is plenteous redemption; And he will redeem Israel from all their iniquities. (Response)
Second Reading: Romans 8:8-11
Brothers
and sisters: 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 that dwells in you.
Gospel Reading: John 11:1-45
Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her
sister Martha. Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed
oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was
ill. So the sisters sent word to him, saying, "Master, the one you love
is ill." When Jesus heard this he said, "This illness is not to end in
death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified
through it." Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when
he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where
he was. Then after this he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to
Judea." The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to
stone you, and you want to go back there?" Jesus answered, "Are there
not twelve hours in a day? If one walks during the day, he does not
stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks at
night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." He said this, and
then told them, "Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken
him." So the disciples said to him, "Master, if he is asleep, he will be
saved." But Jesus was talking about his death, while they thought that
he meant ordinary sleep. So then Jesus said to them clearly, "Lazarus
has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may
believe. Let us go to him." So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his
fellow disciples, "Let us also go to die with him." When Jesus arrived,
he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now
Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away. And many of the
Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother.
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary
sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my
brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask
of God, God will give you." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise."
Martha said to him, "I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the
last day." Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever
believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and
believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him,
"Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of
God, the one who is coming into the world." When she had said this, she
went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, "The teacher is here
and is asking for you." As soon as she heard this, she rose quickly and
went to him. For Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still
where Martha had met him. So when the Jews who were with her in the
house comforting her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed
her, presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary
came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to
him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When
Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he
became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, "Where have you laid
him?" They said to him, "Sir, come and see." And Jesus wept. So the Jews
said, "See how he loved him." But some of them said, "Could not the one
who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this
man would not have died?" So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb.
It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, "Take away the
stone." Martha, the dead man's sister, said to him, "Lord, by now there
will be a stench; he has been dead for four days." Jesus said to her,
"Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?"
So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said,
"Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but
because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that
you sent me." And when he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice,
"Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with
burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to
them, "Untie him and let him go." Now many of the Jews who had come to
Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.
Belief in the person of Jesus and believe that he was the resurrection was essential for the work of miracle. People in general, and Martha and Mary in particular, were people of faith. They believed in the resurrection. Yet they were surrounded with facts and figures of death and realities. Jesus made them realize that life (with its facts and figures) should be accompanied by faith and faith alone would make them see God in events.
Reflection: Fr. James Theophilus
When Jesus heard the news of Lazarus he remained in the place where he was for another two days. Waiting was not a time of wasting for a believer. Waiting patiently for the will of God to be revealed was also a time of prayer. It was a time of prayer in trying to discern the will and the plan of God. Once Jesus had discerned the will of God he was ready to meet the dead and challenge the death. It was no longer he who was acting but it was God who was acting in and through Jesus.Belief in the person of Jesus and believe that he was the resurrection was essential for the work of miracle. People in general, and Martha and Mary in particular, were people of faith. They believed in the resurrection. Yet they were surrounded with facts and figures of death and realities. Jesus made them realize that life (with its facts and figures) should be accompanied by faith and faith alone would make them see God in events.
