Texts taken from the Missalette “On Your Word” March-April 2023

5th Sunday of Lent (A)
1st week, psalter

FIRST READING

From the book of the prophet Ezekiel (Ez 37:12-14)
Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will open your graves and have you rise from your tombs, O my people, and I will 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 your tombs, O my people. I will put my spirit in you that you may live, and I will settle you upon your land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. I have promised, and I will do it,” says the Lord.

Commentary on the first reading

Today’s liturgy speaks of resurrection, in a crescendo that moves from this passage of the Old Testament to Christ’s definitive victory over death. Through the mouth of the prophet Ezekiel, God foretells the imminent opening of the tombs. This refers to the return of the exiles from captivity. Since 586 B.C., in fact, the Jews had been deported to Babylon, and discouragement had taken hold of their hearts; but the Lord enables his people, who in a foreign land feel as though they are dead, to experience directly his life-giving power. God, indeed, is the one who has the power to accomplish everything he promises. That day will be like a new creation. The image used here anticipates the future proclamation of humanity’s complete salvation in the resurrection of Jesus. The human heart, too, is among those tombs that the Lord intends to open in order to bring humanity back to himself and grant it new life. During this Lent, let us allow God to enter where we have buried our dignity, into those tombs that hold our humiliations.

SECOND READING

From the letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Romans (Rom 8:8-11)
Brothers and sisters, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; you are in the spirit, since 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 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 that dwells in you. – The word of the Lord.

Commentary on the second reading

The passage from Paul’s Letter to the Romans is the actualization of Ezekiel’s earlier oracle: the Spirit “dwells” in the human person. For us, this is a source of security, peace, and joy, because it constitutes the unshakable foundation of our belonging to Christ. To be indwelt by the Spirit means to possess within ourselves everything we need to live according to Christ’s teachings. Therefore, faithfulness to the Lord is not only possible but already underway: “You are not (this is a present reality) under the dominion of the flesh… Your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life.” The duel between death and life was fought historically, once and for all, on the cross. For each individual Christian, it is made present in the rite of Baptism, when we die to the old life in order to be reborn to new life in Christ. Now, then, we must believe it day by day, moment by moment, above all in our actions - no longer living according to what the world demands, but following what the Spirit suggests, while we await the definitive victory over death.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to John (Jn 11:1-45)
At that time, a certain man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who 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 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.” 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 recover.” 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, so 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 they die, 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 Messiah, 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 the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, and 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.” [Gesù] 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, so 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. –
The Gospel of the Lord.

Commentary on the Gospel of the day

There is a connection and progression among the great texts from John presented during these last Sundays of Lent. After speaking to us about God’s gift, the living water, Jesus, the true Light, opened the eyes of the man born blind. These symbolic actions announce Baptism, that is, rebirth in water and the Spirit. Today, another symbolic action speaks to us of the consequences of Baptism, namely, a new life. Among the many possible reflections, let us focus on Jesus’ weeping beside the tomb of his friend Lazarus. If he knew that he would restore him to life, why did he weep? His tears, though entirely real, have symbolic significance. It is all human misery, culminating in bodily death, that draws tears of compassion from Jesus. Lazarus’s resurrection would directly lead to Jesus’ death sentence; he saves others from death precisely at the price of his own death. Love is a gift. In Jesus, love triumphs because he does not save himself but dies for us. Indeed, for love to triumph, it must know how to lose: this is the fundamental law of the Christian. We cannot obtain something good for others without losing ourselves in love.