Fifth Sunday of Lent

Readings:  Ezekiel 37:12-14;   Romans 8:8-11;   John 11:1-45

 

little brother avibala bitra                                                                        26th March 2023

    The theme of today’s liturgy is resurrection and the life. The three readings of today fit beautifully together as they tell us of death yielding to a new way of life.  The Gospel tells us that Jesus is the Resurrection and life.   Those who believe in him will never die but will live with him forever.  Today we have story of the raising of Lazarus from the dead to bring him back to life symbolizing that Jesus himself is the resurrection and life.  

 This miracle leads us to believe in resurrection and new life which exists in Jesus through the Holy Spirit.  With this miracle the church invites us to reflect on the significance of our Baptism which leads us into the life of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Spirit we received at Baptism is a transforming gift.  The spirit of Christ will strengthen us to bring those baptized together to share in the resurrection of Jesus.

 The First Reading of today from the Book of Ezekiel tells us of God’s promise to put His Spirit within the people so they may live. Prior to this promise, prophet Ezekiel, led by the Spirit, was taken into the plain where his mission was revealed to him. The passage in fact is a prediction of the renewed vitality of the whole people of Israel after their exile from Jerusalem. The people seemed dead: their Temple was destroyed, their land wasted, and their leaders taken into custody. 

 There, Ezekiel was told that through his gift of prophesying, God’s chosen people that had been exiled in Babylon for some time would receive a new spirit that would raise them from their lost hope. Consequently they would be led to a new life in the land of Israel.  Now God promises to put a new spirit within his people which is a promise to give new life to them.

 In the second reading of today Paul continues the theme of Resurrection which is common to other two readings. Here Paul contrasts between two widely contrasting kinds of life, namely, the life of the flesh and the life of the Spirit.  Flesh for Paul did not mean the body and Paul does not despise the body.  Flesh for him meant something similar to what Ezekiel said about the dry bones and the graves.  The life of flesh is dominated by self which has no future.  It is self-destructive and is the way to death. 

  People who are living according to the spirit live a life of grace.  They have God as their center and are spiritually alive.  They have a future and have a path of true life and they believe in God the giver of true life. Therefore Paul says that those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

 The Gospel story of the raising of Lazarus from death has the underlying theme is life and death and new life.  The story opens with the announcement that Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, is ill.  Jesus’ immediate response is to say that this illness will not result in the death of Lazarus but that it will be an occasion for God’s glory to reveal to all and for glory to come to his Son also.  And, though we are told he had a deep love for Lazarus and his sisters, he remained in the same place for another two days.  Eventually he announced to his disciples that they were going to Judea, the province where Jerusalem and Bethany, the home of Lazarus, were situated. The disciples immediately show their concern towards Jesus as the place was dangerous for him and people already tried to stone him.  Jesus’ response is that of courage saying that the daytime is the time for getting things done; when the night comes nothing can be done.

 In the entire episode, Jesus is the central figure, who challenged each participant by clarifying the central issue: the real meaning of death and life.  In Bethany Jesus works this miracle and reunites Lazarus with his family. Paradoxically this miracle of Jesus hastens his own death since it becomes an additional reason for Jewish leaders to destroy Jesus. 

 Ironically therefore, the death of Jesus gave true life to the world. Thus the whole story can be read as a parable of the meaning of Jesus as Christ and Lord.  The raising of Lazarus is not just the resuscitation of a dead man but is a powerful symbol of the new life that all of us can undergo when we submit to Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Through our Baptism we all die to sin to receive a new life of Resurrection.

 Today’s Gospel reading presents to us two messages. First it tells us that through our living faith in Jesus, all our physical bodies will be raised in the final resurrection. Secondly, especially now with the approaching of Easter Sunday, we are called symbolically to resurrect ourselves from sin to grace by partaking in the Sacrament of reconciliation. It is an invitation for us to march forward faithfully in hope, knowing that those who believe in Jesus, will live forever.  

- @Avinash Bitra OFM Cap.