On this final Sunday of Lent before Palm Sunday, we hear Jesus call Lazarus forth from the tomb. Jesus calls us as well, calls us forth from our tombs of sin and death, where our harmful habits and attitudes separate us from God, from life. He is the resurrection. He is the life. Jesus’ words to Martha then are his words to us now: Do you believe this? Do you believe that God can bring life out of death? Do you believe that God can free us from the burial bands of sin? Let us recover that faith within us and so prepare ourselves to witness the Resurrection.
Introduction to the Liturgy of the Word
In the second reading, we hear Paul tell the Romans that if the Spirit of God dwells in them, their mortal bodies will be given life. Centuries before Jesus was born, Ezekiel sees with the eyes of prophecy the day when God will raise the dead. In the Gospel, we watch as Jesus calls Lazarus forth from the tomb. God gives new life, life that triumphs over death. “I am the resurrection and the life,” Jesus testifies to Martha and testifies to us.
Reflections
The story of creation teaches us that God has the power over life. God created plant life and animal life, and most preciously, human life. The fall of the first humans brought death into the world, which appeared to give an absolute finality to life, but this is not so. Ezekiel prophesies that God would open the graves of the Chosen People and bring them back to the promised land. Jesus actually brings Lazarus forth from the tomb, though he had been dead for four days. But because Lazarus eventually would die once more, it is not until God raises Jesus from the dead that death is defeated, is rendered powerless, once and for all. Always, God has the power over life and death.
The people came to comfort Martha and Mary. Seeing Jesus, some wonder why this miracle worker hadn’t prevented Lazarus’s death. Others identify with his tears of grief. They all end up taking part in Jesus’ work. Some roll away the stone, despite knowing there would be a stench. Some untie Lazarus’s burial bands, though they may have recoiled from touching someone who had been dead for four days. All are able to hear Jesus address his Father as the one who sent him and always hears him. Jesus called Lazarus forth from the tomb, but he also called upon his friends and neighbors to allow Lazarus to live his new life.
The first voice Lazarus hears when his life is restored is his Savior’s, calling to him to come out of the tomb, to come back to the land of the living. When we turn away from God, when we turn away from our neighbor in need (where Jesus may always be found), we find ourselves in a spiritual death, entering the tomb that separates us from God. Jesus is always calling us forth, out of those bands that separate us from God and others, back to the land of the living. Let us listen, let us respond, and let the Spirit dwelling in us guide us to life in the Lord. If we have Jesus within us and Jesus is indeed the resurrection and the life, then we have the resurrection and the life within us.
Question of the Week
What spiritual darkness is Jesus calling me to come out of today? What difficulties can I anticipate in shedding these burial bands that separate me from God’s grace?
-from Pastoral Patterns
readings of the mass
LISTEN HEREto the Audio Recordings of the Readings of Sunday, March 26, 2023
SELECT HEREfor the Readings of Sunday, March 26, 2023
Offerings
The Sunday offerings are a portion of our blessings that we give to God (Church) in gratitude to what God has done for us...ONLINE GIVING OPTIONS
