10 April 2011, Fifth Sunday of Lent

Reading 1
Ez 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.

Ps 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
Responsorial PsalmR. (7)

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.
With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
If you, O LORD, mark iniquities,
LORD, who can stand?
But with you is forgiveness,
that you may be revered.
R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
I trust in the LORD;
my soul trusts in his word.
More than sentinels wait for the dawn,
let Israel wait for the LORD.
R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
For with the LORD is kindness
and with him is plenteous redemption;
And he will redeem Israel
from all their iniquities.
R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.

Reading 2
Rom 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 dwelling in you.

Gospel
Jn 11:1-45 or 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-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.”
hen 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 Christ, 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.

or

The sisters of Lazarus sent word to Jesus, 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.”

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus
had already been in the tomb for four days.
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,
“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 Christ, the Son of God,
the one who is coming into the world.”

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.

Meditation: Romans 8:8-11

The one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you. (Romans 8:11)


When Jesus receives word that his friend Lazarus is gravely ill, he declares, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God” (John 11:4). On the face of it, this isn’t true. Lazarus dies, then spends days in the tomb. It’s all the more amazing, then, when Jesus calls him forth to life!

Mary and Martha and their friends have gathered to grieve. When Jesus finally shows up, they reproach him for not coming as soon as they sent word. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21,32). But now it’s too late.

Or is it? “Even now,” Martha ventures, “I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you” (John 11:22). She doesn’t quite dare take literally Jesus’ promise that her brother will rise. She is content to know that Lazarus will participate in the final resurrection. After all, his body has been dead long enough to start decomposing. But Jesus dares to go further. He cries out to dead Lazarus, and the man comes out alive.

Death doesn’t have the last word! No matter how final defeat seems, the victory belongs to God’s Anointed.

What has the last word in my life? Is it discouragement over my sins? Is it the troubles that beset me? Which is stronger: the power of God’s Spirit in me or the pull of temptation that constantly tries to swamp the Spirit?

For example, what happens when I fall ill or feel anxious, angry, or harassed? I can blame God. I can feel sorry for myself. I can skimp on my prayer time. Surely God understands that I can’t set aside time to pray when I am so sick, so worried, so busy.

Or I can turn to the Lord, draw near to him, and let him give me his eternal, hopeful perspective.

“Jesus, I long to live by the power of your Spirit. Call me forth to life, and empower me to say yes to you.”

Ezekiel 37:12-14;



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Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion

(Ezekiel 37:12-14; Psalm 130:1-8; Romans 8:8-11; John 11:1-45)


1. In the first reading, Ezekiel speaks of the days when the Lord will put his Spirit in each one of us. And we know that this has happened at our Baptism! What practical steps can you take this week to help you focus on and be more sensitive to the fact that the very Spirit of the Living God is present within you?

2. The responsorial psalm uses the metaphor of sentinels anxiously awaiting the light of dawn after a dark and lonely night of keeping watch, to represent our waiting on the Lord and putting our trust in him. How might you approach the Eucharist, or your times of prayer, with a deeper longing and trust in the Lord?

3. St. Paul in the second reading tells us that because the Spirit of God dwells in us, God promises that our mortal bodies will be raised from the dead too! Death will have no hold over us. As you dwell on this truth, what thoughts or sentiments does it bring to your mind?

4. In the Gospel, we read that Jesus’ appearance in Bethany was a cause of worry because people were seeking his life. The response of Thomas was to follow Christ even at the risk of personal harm. Could you describe your relationship with the Lord in the same way? Why or why not?

5. In the Gospel, and in the mediation, we also see there is often a temptation to blame God. For example, “when I fall ill or feel anxious, angry, or harassed.” This could also occur when we believe God did not come in time, or for not healing, or for not meeting our demands. Can you share a time you saw God glorified in a situation even when it did not go according to your expectations? Can you share a time when you were tempted to point a finger of accusation against God?

6. In the meditation, the following questions are asked: “What has the last word in my life? Is it discouragement over my sins? Is it the troubles that beset me? Which is stronger: the power of God’s Spirit in me or the pull of temptation that constantly tries to swamp the Spirit?” How would you answer these questions?

7. Take some time now to pray that you will receive the grace to live each day by the power of the Holy Spirit and not by your fallen human nature. Use the prayer at the end of the meditation as the starting point. What can you do right now, and in the remaining weeks of Lent, to help make this happen?