5TH SUNDAY OF LENT
Psalter: Week 1 / (Violet)
Ps 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
With the Lord there is mercy & fullness of redemption.
1st Reading: Ezk 37:12-14
So prophesy! Say to them: 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
So, 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, 33b–45)
There was a sick man named Lazarus who was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This is the same Mary, who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair. Her brother Lazarus was sick.
So the sisters 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?”
Jesus said to them, “Are not twelve working hours needed to complete a day? Those who walk in the daytime shall not stumble, for they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, for there is no light in them.”
After that, Jesus said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going to wake him up.” The disciples replied, “Lord, a sick person who sleeps will recover.” But Jesus had referred to Lazarus’ death, while they thought that he had meant the repose of sleep. So Jesus said plainly, “Lazarus is dead; and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Then Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
When Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. As Bethany is near Jerusalem, about two miles away, many Jews had come to Martha and Mary, after the death of their brother, to comfort them.
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, while Mary remained sitting in the house. Martha 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 lives and believes 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.”
After that, Martha went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, “The Master is here and is calling for you.” As soon as Mary heard this, she rose and went to him. Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. The Jews, who were with Mary in the house consoling her, also came. When they saw her get up and go out, they followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep.
When Mary came to the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping, who had come with her, he was moved to the depths of his spirit and troubled. Then he asked, “Where have you laid him?” They answered, “Lord, come and see.” 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, again deeply moved, drew near to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. Jesus said, “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 raised 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. Jesus said to them, “Untie him, and let him go.” The plot to kill Jesus
Many of the Jews who had come with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw what he did; but some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees called together the Council.
REFLECTION:
Read: God promises the people of Israel that with His Spirit, they will be redeemed of their lifeless, tomblike existence. Paul assures resurrection by the power of the Spirit. Jesus affirms himself as the resurrection and life by raising Lazarus back to life.
Reflect: Burdened by earthly struggles, our life may sometimes degenerate to tomb-like existence—with no joy, hope, love, with only the stench of pessimism and depression arising from it. The only way out is to open ourselves up to the Spirit of Christ and his promise of a new beginning. Hasn’t he told us that if we believed, we would see the glory of God working in our lives?
Pray: Ask Christ to regenerate those areas of your life that seem dead.
Act: Act like a person full of God’s life and spirit today.
Daily Reflection
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Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL
With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
Readings and Reflections
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