Fifth Week

5th Week of Lent, Saturday

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In today’s First Reading the Lord promises to gather together all of his people into one land, as one nation, in peace and security, under the rule of “David”: the Messiah. His people had been divided politically into the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, exiled, and dispersed throughout the world in what became know as the diaspora. He promises them not only a political reunification, but a purification as well: sin was the cause of their woes, and sin had to be conquered for them to become a nation at peace, with no enmity between them and God, their fellow man, and their very selves.

In today’s Gospel the chief priests and Pharisees received news of the greatest sign worked yet by Our Lord: raising Lazarus from the dead. However, their interpretation of events was far from God’s; they saw Our Lord as threatening the unstable security the nation had under the Romans, and were convinced that Our Lord, whom they thought was a false Messiah seeking to become a king, would bring the destruction of the Romans down upon their heads. Therefore the high priest decided it was time for Our Lord to go, for the good of the nation. As John recalls these deliberations he also sees that the death of Jesus, a despicable act, in fact would lead to the good of the nation, but a good far beyond the conceited political aspirations of those seeking his death for worldly reasons. The chief priests and Pharisees had no idea what good God would make come out of their evil.

Through Our Lord’s death the words in today’s First Reading will be fulfilled. The stage is set for tomorrow’s celebration of Our Lord’s Passion and the beginning of Holy Week. Let’s renew our Lenten resolutions and prepare ourselves for the final push from suffering and death into eternal life.

Readings: Ezekiel 37:21–28; Jeremiah 31:10–13; John 11:45–56.

5th Sunday of Lent, Cycle A

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We’re a week away from the start of Holy Week. Our Lord now has his sights set on Jerusalem, and the pace is quickening. In these next two weeks we’re living just one part of the Gospel passage from today: an encounter with the reality of suffering and death. Jesus is asking us to have faith in him.

In today’s First Reading the prophet Ezekiel reminds us of the Lord’s promise to not only to bring us back to life, but to bring us home. It doesn’t take theology or catechism to realize that death is the biggest “game over” we experience in life. Even believing in the Resurrection does not spare us from fearing the fact that we have to be resurrected from something intrinsically unpleasant: death. Yet even as we lower our loved ones into the tomb we are encouraged by the promise of the Lord that death will not have the last word. We’ll not only be restored to life; we’ll be brought home and returned to those we love.

In today’s Second Reading Paul reminds us that faith in being restored to life is not enough. We have to believe that we have to bear Christ within us to that the Spirit may restore us to life. If we just believe in reincarnation, or being absorbed into some cosmic energy, or just living on in the memory of those we leave behind or some cold stone monument, God’s power cannot restore us to life. When we receive baptism we die in Christ. We go under the water to represent descending into death, but we also bind our fate with that of Christ’s and rise up from the waters of death into new life. Next Sunday we’ll remember Christ’s journey from Incarnation to Passion and Death, and we’ll participate in that. However, in faith and in Christ, we know that was not the end of Our Lord’s story, and it will not be the end of ours either.

In the Gospel today, Jesus shows us our faith combined with him is something much more. It is not just a passive faith that takes the shots as they come. Through Martha’s faith in Christ we see the power of belief conjoined to God. When news reaches him that Lazarus was sick, he didn’t go hurrying to Bethany, and said the illness would not end in death. However, he also added something a little more mysterious, something the disciples didn’t pick up on: the illness was “for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” In our life of faith we have to be attentive to Our Lord’s words, because often at first glance we can pass over what he is really trying to say to us. Faith is not just an assent to something presented to us as credible. It is also a source of light. We can go back to Our Lord’s words over and over in faith and find new light and new meaning.

No one expected Our Lord would be able to bring back someone who’d been dead for days. All the other people he’d raised from the dead had only recently died. When Jesus told Martha her brother would rise, she knew, but she just thought Jesus was consoling her with the Jewish belief – even before Christ’s Resurrection – that Lazarus would be raised with everyone else on the last day. Martha’s faith had been strong enough to withstand not seeing Jesus for days and watching her brother die. It was strong enough to be the instrument for the sign he wanted to work for many other believers: the raising of her brother from death. So he invited her to believe that even those who believed and died would live. She put her faith in him, not just the Jewish teaching about a future resurrection. When Jesus ordered the tomb to be opened, Martha’s faith was rewarded, and the power of God through those who believe was shown.

When we visit the tombs of our departed loved ones, do we really believe the words of Ezekiel in today’s First Reading will come true? Can we imagine their tombs being opened one day and being reunited with them again? Let’s strive for the same faith as Mary and Martha. Our Lord will work a miracle that goes way beyond out expectations.

Readings: Ezekiel 37:12–14; Psalm 130:1–8; Romans 8:8–11; John 11:1–45.

5th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday, Year I

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Today’s First Reading recalls the sad moment when history became salvation history: the Fall of Adam and Eve. Even today it bears valuable lessons for us on how to identify and resist temptation.

First, the serpent exaggerates God’s strictness: he asks Eve to confirm if the Lord had prohibited all trees in the garden. He exaggerates God’s strictness, and, while Eve does not buy into it completely, she does buy into it: the Lord had said, “You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die.” Eve says the Lord said, “You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die,” which is not the same.

Did Eve not listen completely to what the Lord had said? Did Adam repeat it to her incorrectly? Was she too starting to feel the pinch of being forbidden to do something? We’ll know in eternity, but from today’s First Reading we know that the serpent questioned whether God was being reasonable, and she believed the serpent over the Lord. Whenever you’re faced with a doubt, especially in moments of temptation, it is important to stick to the facts and not blow anything out of proportion.

The Fall wasn’t immediate: Eve started considering the fruit, relishing the thought of eating it and all the “good” it bore after she spoke with the serpent. If you dwell on temptation, instead of refuting and rejecting it, it will worm it’s way into your heart. The best remedy to temptation is to ignore it: being tempted is not sinful, but consenting to it is. It always blows the potential “good” out of proportion and tries to blind you to its downside. Adam and Eve soon realized that the “good” they’d expected from eating the fruit what not all it was cracked up to be. Experience with temptation and sin reminds us of this over and over again, and it’s important to learn from experience.

Lastly, Adam was with Eve during her moment of temptation and said and did nothing to stop her. Eve didn’t exactly twist his arm about eating the fruit. We are responsible for each other’s spiritual well being: if we love someone we’ll warn them about sin and help them not fall into it.

Let’s pray today for everyone experiencing temptation and for the strength to overcome it in our own lives.

Readings: Genesis 3:1–8; Psalm 32:1–2, 5–7; Mark 7:31–37. See also 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B.

 

5th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday, Year I

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In today’s First Reading the Lord teaches us that it is not good for us to be alone. We were born into a family, a web of relationships forged by blood and by love, along with a responsibility to care for one another. With the creation of Eve in today’s First Reading Adam finally finds some who does not only keep him from loneliness, but who makes him complete. This interrelationship is meant to become a communion of life and love, an image of the communion of Persons whom we worship as the Most Holy Trinity.

For those blessed with children this communion grows and extends to the entire family, but it doesn’t just stop there. United and loving families are the building blocks of society, and the Lord also gathers believers together into communion with him and with their fellow believers in the Church. A communion of life and love helps each person to realize that they’re never truly alone, and never completely unloved.

Say an extra prayer today for the lonely and marginalized, so that they experience the love of God and the love of others. If you know someone who is struggling with loneliness, today’s the day to extend the hand of friendship and help them realize they’re not alone.

Readings: Genesis 2:18–25; Psalm 128:1–5; Mark 7:24–30. See also 18th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday, Year II and 18th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday.

5th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday, Year I

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Today’s First Reading, a recap of the creation of man and the Lord’s first counsel to him, is in stark contrast to the debates regarding ritual purity in today’s Gospel. At the beginning of history man enjoyed a paradise of God’s design, filled with a life that came from God himself, and the only request in return was to not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From its phrasing it is more of a warning of what would happen if Adam did: the Lord was counseling him.

Centuries later man had come up with hundreds of ways to wash himself clean of what we know comes after the story in today’s First Reading. Our Lord makes them remember the garden, the beginning, when everything was good; if Creation made them impure it was because they used Creation impurely. In the wisdom literature of the Old Testament we’re reminded, and Our Lord reiterates in today’s Gospel, that God didn’t create anything evil (Wisdom 1:14–15). Our Lord encourages us to remember that it is in our hands to turn evil back toward good.

We may not restore the beauty of Eden in our earthly lifetime, but we can morally beautify our world. Let’s ask Our Lord today to help us turn back the clock on sin through using his Creation to do good.

Readings: Genesis 2:4b–9, 15–17; Psalm 104:1–2a, 27–28, 29b–30; Mark 7:14–23.