5th Sunday of Lent
26th March 2023 (Sunday) Readings and Reflection
Reading of the Day
First Reading: Ezekiel 37:12-14
Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord."
Psalm 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-7a, 7b-8 (R. 7bc)
R/. With the Lord there is mercy, in him is plentiful redemption.
Second Reading: Romans 8:8-11
Brethren: Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who 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 life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Gospel : John 11:1-45
At that time: A certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?" Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." After saying these things, he said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him." The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 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 from God, God will give you." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world." When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying 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 also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept. So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?" Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odour, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him.
Daily Gospel Reflection
The Reflection by Fr. Thumma Mariadas Reddy MSFS{alertWarning}
Main Theme: Live and let live!
Indicative: In a world that is dominated by a culture of death, we are called to live and promote a culture of life. Where and how to find it? {alertSuccess}
1. Today’s word of God, in all three readings, focuses on the theme of life. God is the author of life. Jesus is the giver of life. Holy Spirit is the promoter of life. God wants us to live, live now with the divine life and later live in eternity. He wants to give us life and life in abundance (Jn 10.10).
2. God promises life through the prophet Ezekiel: “I will open your graves, rise you from them and bring you back. I will put my spirit within you that you may live”. These words come true in Jesus Christ. He opens the grave of Lazarus, raises him from death and brings him back. He puts within him his life-giving spirit and he lives.
3. Now how to receive and experience this life? We live when we do not die. Therefore, overcome the power of death in order to live. The death that we speak of, is obviously not physical death. It is spiritual death. Such a death is caused by sin.
4. The effects of sin are concretely seen in the works of the flesh. The flesh is not to be equated with the body. The flesh is whatever is opposed to the Spirit and the spiritual. Flesh signifies all our sinful tendencies, inclinations and acts. As long as we live in the realm of the flesh, guided by the urges and pulls of the flesh, and indulge in the deviations and pleasures of the flesh, we will not be pleasing to God. We will be dead in the Spirit.
5. Therefore, we will live when we rise from the graves of sin, flesh and death. It is not enough that we avoid flesh but need to foster the life of the Spirit. That is possible only when we live, not in the realm of the flesh but of the Spirit.
6. Living in the realm of the Spirit is possible when we walk by the promptings and higher surging of the Spirit. We will walk by the Spirit when we allow the Spirit to dwell within us. The Spirit will dwell in us when Christ lives in us. And Christ lives in us when we constantly strive to belong to him. We belong to him when we follow his way and the ways of righteousness.
Imperative: Our call for a culture of life simply means “to live and let others live”. Live in God and live in good. Let the forces of death, especially aggression, violence and destruction cease. Let the streams of respect and concern for life and person flourish{alertSuccess}