From The American Bible Society:
April 10, 2011
Fifth Sunday of Lent
I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE
John 11:1-45 (Good News Translation)
1 A man named Lazarus, who lived in Bethany, became sick. Bethany was the town where Mary and her sister Martha lived. ( 2 This Mary was the one who poured the perfume on the Lord's feet and wiped them with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was sick.) 3 The sisters sent Jesus a message: “Lord, your dear friend is sick.” 4 When Jesus heard it, he said, “The final result of this sickness will not be the death of Lazarus; this has happened in order to bring glory to God, and it will be the means by which the Son of God will receive glory.” 5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 Yet when he received the news that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was for two more days. 7 Then he said to the disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” 8 “Teacher,” the disciples answered, “just a short time ago the people there wanted to stone you; and are you planning to go back?” 9 Jesus said, “A day has twelve hours, doesn't it? So those who walk in broad daylight do not stumble, for they see the light of this world. 10 But if they walk during the night they stumble, because they have no light. ” 11 Jesus said this and then added, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I will go and wake him up.” 12 The disciples answered, “If he is asleep, Lord, he will get well.” 13 Jesus meant that Lazarus had died, but they thought he meant natural sleep. 14 So Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 but for your sake I am glad that I was not with him, so that you will believe. Let us go to him. ” 16 Thomas (called the Twin) said to his fellow disciples, “Let us all go along with the Teacher, so that we may die with him!” 17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had been buried four days before. 18 Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Judeans had come to see Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother's death. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “If you had been here, Lord, my brother would not have died! 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask him for. ” 23 “Your brother will rise to life,” Jesus told her. 24 “I know,” she replied, “that he will rise to life on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me will live, even though they die; 26 and those who live and believe in me will never die. Do you believe this? ” 27 “Yes, Lord!” she answered. “I do believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” 28 After Martha said this, she went back and called her sister Mary privately. “The Teacher is here,” she told her, “and is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up and hurried out to meet him. ( 30 Jesus had not yet arrived in the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him.) 31 The people who were in the house with Mary comforting her followed her when they saw her get up and hurry out. They thought that she was going to the grave to weep there. 32 Mary arrived where Jesus was, and as soon as she saw him, she fell at his feet. “Lord,” she said, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died!” 33 Jesus saw her weeping, and he saw how the people with her were weeping also; his heart was touched, and he was deeply moved. 34 “Where have you buried him?” he asked them. “Come and see, Lord,” they answered. 35 Jesus wept. 36 “See how much he loved him!” the people said. 37 But some of them said, “He gave sight to the blind man, didn't he? Could he not have kept Lazarus from dying?” 38 Deeply moved once more, Jesus went to the tomb, which was a cave with a stone placed at the entrance. 39 “Take the stone away!” Jesus ordered. Martha, the dead man's sister, answered, “There will be a bad smell, Lord. He has been buried four days!” 40 Jesus said to her, “Didn't I tell you that you would see God's glory if you believed?” 41 They took the stone away. Jesus looked up and said, “I thank you, Father, that you listen to me. 42 I know that you always listen to me, but I say this for the sake of the people here, so that they will believe that you sent me. ” 43 After he had said this, he called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 He came out, his hands and feet wrapped in grave cloths, and with a cloth around his face. “Untie him,” Jesus told them, “and let him go.” 45 Many of the people who had come to visit Mary saw what Jesus did, and they believed in him.
Other Readings: Ezekiel 37:12-14; Psalm 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8; Romans 8:8-11;
Lectio
Just as we saw in the readings of the gospel in the past two Sundays, today’s fragment from Saint John intertwines narrative and dialogue. In all three occasions, the centre of the story is a question and a statement. In the case of the Samaritan woman, she wonders if Jesus could be the Messiah, and it is Jesus who declares ‘I am he’ (4:26, 29). In the story of the man born blind, Jesus asks ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ The answer is concise, direct and firm: ‘I believe, Lord!’ (9:38). Today, both the circumstances (Martha’s mourning of Lazarus’ death) and Jesus’ words (a long introduction and a blunt question: ‘Do you believe in the son of man?’) are more dramatic than ever before. And so is Martha’s answer, perhaps the most solemn profession of faith in the whole gospel: ‘Yes, Lord…I do believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who was to come to the world’ (11:27). Up to this moment in the gospels, every miracle was normally ‘explained’ after it had happened: ‘Your faith has made you well’ (Matthew 9:22). On this occasion, the question about faith comes first, as if it were a condition for Jesus to act. Making clear something basic: miracles do not move to faith, it is faith that makes them possible. As far as we are concerned, the rest of the chapter –the news about Lazarus’ sickness and death, even his resurrection, or the reactions from the Jews, including their decision to kill Jesus- are but secondary elements around Martha’s statement and around Jesus’ own definition as ‘the resurrection and the life’ for those who believe in him. There is also something important left to consider about our reaction in the face of death; be it ours, or that of a relative or a close friend. When we look at Jesus, we understand that it is legitimate to feel the pain of loss, to show our grief, to weep just as he wept over his friend’s death. But, as Christians, it is also our duty to keep the same confidence Jesus showed: Father, ‘I know that you always listen to me’. Even in our worst moments and situations, -even if we are in pain, sickness or death-, we know that ‘the final result will not be death, but the means by which the Son of God will receive glory’ (11:4). That is why our faith leads us to affirm, just like Paul, that ‘If the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from death, lives in us, then he will also give life to our mortal bodies by the presence of his Spirit in us’ (Romans 8:11). This sentence, too, can give us the key to understand the whole content not only of this Sunday but also of the coming celebrations. Close as we are to the mysteries of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, the story of Lazarus’ own death and resurrection anticipates them prophetically.
Just as we saw in the readings of the gospel in the past two Sundays, today’s fragment from Saint John intertwines narrative and dialogue. In all three occasions, the centre of the story is a question and a statement. In the case of the Samaritan woman, she wonders if Jesus could be the Messiah, and it is Jesus who declares ‘I am he’ (4:26, 29). In the story of the man born blind, Jesus asks ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ The answer is concise, direct and firm: ‘I believe, Lord!’ (9:38). Today, both the circumstances (Martha’s mourning of Lazarus’ death) and Jesus’ words (a long introduction and a blunt question: ‘Do you believe in the son of man?’) are more dramatic than ever before. And so is Martha’s answer, perhaps the most solemn profession of faith in the whole gospel: ‘Yes, Lord…I do believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who was to come to the world’ (11:27). Up to this moment in the gospels, every miracle was normally ‘explained’ after it had happened: ‘Your faith has made you well’ (Matthew 9:22). On this occasion, the question about faith comes first, as if it were a condition for Jesus to act. Making clear something basic: miracles do not move to faith, it is faith that makes them possible. As far as we are concerned, the rest of the chapter –the news about Lazarus’ sickness and death, even his resurrection, or the reactions from the Jews, including their decision to kill Jesus- are but secondary elements around Martha’s statement and around Jesus’ own definition as ‘the resurrection and the life’ for those who believe in him. There is also something important left to consider about our reaction in the face of death; be it ours, or that of a relative or a close friend. When we look at Jesus, we understand that it is legitimate to feel the pain of loss, to show our grief, to weep just as he wept over his friend’s death. But, as Christians, it is also our duty to keep the same confidence Jesus showed: Father, ‘I know that you always listen to me’. Even in our worst moments and situations, -even if we are in pain, sickness or death-, we know that ‘the final result will not be death, but the means by which the Son of God will receive glory’ (11:4). That is why our faith leads us to affirm, just like Paul, that ‘If the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from death, lives in us, then he will also give life to our mortal bodies by the presence of his Spirit in us’ (Romans 8:11). This sentence, too, can give us the key to understand the whole content not only of this Sunday but also of the coming celebrations. Close as we are to the mysteries of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, the story of Lazarus’ own death and resurrection anticipates them prophetically.
Meditatio
After reading these words from the gospel, this is the right moment to pose the same question Jesus asked Martha. ‘Do you believe in the son of man?’ And, surely, it cannot be a ‘rhetorical’ question about what we think, but a vital test of our faith. Do we really believe, not in an abstract resurrection, nor only in Jesus’ resurrection, but in our own resurrection from the dead? That is the touchstone to evaluate the depth of our faith. It is up to us to reflect and give an answer.
Oratio
Pray for those who feel death close to them: that the light of hope in the risen Christ can dispel their fear; that they may feel the presence of the one who wept over his friend Lazarus and granted him the gift of sharing his own immortal life. Pray for those who suffer and weep over the loss of their loved ones: that they may find comfort, not only in Christ, but also in the words and gestures of their neighbours. Pray for yourself and for your own fear: that your faith in Christ may let you accept his light and transform you into a bearer of hope for those who suffer the loss of a friend or relative.
Contemplatio
Chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians is a long reflexion of Paul about resurrection. Read peacefully some passages along the week, and contrast the apostle’s words with your own feelings.
Reflections written by Rev. Fr. Mariano Perrón Director of Inter-Religious Affairs Archdiocese of Madrid, Spain
© 2010 American Bible Society. All Rights Reserved. 1865 Broadway, New York, NY 10023-7505
April 10, 2011
Fifth Sunday of Lent
I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE
John 11:1-45 (Good News Translation)
1 A man named Lazarus, who lived in Bethany, became sick. Bethany was the town where Mary and her sister Martha lived. ( 2 This Mary was the one who poured the perfume on the Lord's feet and wiped them with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was sick.) 3 The sisters sent Jesus a message: “Lord, your dear friend is sick.” 4 When Jesus heard it, he said, “The final result of this sickness will not be the death of Lazarus; this has happened in order to bring glory to God, and it will be the means by which the Son of God will receive glory.” 5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 Yet when he received the news that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was for two more days. 7 Then he said to the disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” 8 “Teacher,” the disciples answered, “just a short time ago the people there wanted to stone you; and are you planning to go back?” 9 Jesus said, “A day has twelve hours, doesn't it? So those who walk in broad daylight do not stumble, for they see the light of this world. 10 But if they walk during the night they stumble, because they have no light. ” 11 Jesus said this and then added, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I will go and wake him up.” 12 The disciples answered, “If he is asleep, Lord, he will get well.” 13 Jesus meant that Lazarus had died, but they thought he meant natural sleep. 14 So Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 but for your sake I am glad that I was not with him, so that you will believe. Let us go to him. ” 16 Thomas (called the Twin) said to his fellow disciples, “Let us all go along with the Teacher, so that we may die with him!” 17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had been buried four days before. 18 Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Judeans had come to see Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother's death. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “If you had been here, Lord, my brother would not have died! 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask him for. ” 23 “Your brother will rise to life,” Jesus told her. 24 “I know,” she replied, “that he will rise to life on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me will live, even though they die; 26 and those who live and believe in me will never die. Do you believe this? ” 27 “Yes, Lord!” she answered. “I do believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” 28 After Martha said this, she went back and called her sister Mary privately. “The Teacher is here,” she told her, “and is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up and hurried out to meet him. ( 30 Jesus had not yet arrived in the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him.) 31 The people who were in the house with Mary comforting her followed her when they saw her get up and hurry out. They thought that she was going to the grave to weep there. 32 Mary arrived where Jesus was, and as soon as she saw him, she fell at his feet. “Lord,” she said, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died!” 33 Jesus saw her weeping, and he saw how the people with her were weeping also; his heart was touched, and he was deeply moved. 34 “Where have you buried him?” he asked them. “Come and see, Lord,” they answered. 35 Jesus wept. 36 “See how much he loved him!” the people said. 37 But some of them said, “He gave sight to the blind man, didn't he? Could he not have kept Lazarus from dying?” 38 Deeply moved once more, Jesus went to the tomb, which was a cave with a stone placed at the entrance. 39 “Take the stone away!” Jesus ordered. Martha, the dead man's sister, answered, “There will be a bad smell, Lord. He has been buried four days!” 40 Jesus said to her, “Didn't I tell you that you would see God's glory if you believed?” 41 They took the stone away. Jesus looked up and said, “I thank you, Father, that you listen to me. 42 I know that you always listen to me, but I say this for the sake of the people here, so that they will believe that you sent me. ” 43 After he had said this, he called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 He came out, his hands and feet wrapped in grave cloths, and with a cloth around his face. “Untie him,” Jesus told them, “and let him go.” 45 Many of the people who had come to visit Mary saw what Jesus did, and they believed in him.
Other Readings: Ezekiel 37:12-14; Psalm 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8; Romans 8:8-11;
Lectio
Just as we saw in the readings of the gospel in the past two Sundays, today’s fragment from Saint John intertwines narrative and dialogue. In all three occasions, the centre of the story is a question and a statement. In the case of the Samaritan woman, she wonders if Jesus could be the Messiah, and it is Jesus who declares ‘I am he’ (4:26, 29). In the story of the man born blind, Jesus asks ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ The answer is concise, direct and firm: ‘I believe, Lord!’ (9:38). Today, both the circumstances (Martha’s mourning of Lazarus’ death) and Jesus’ words (a long introduction and a blunt question: ‘Do you believe in the son of man?’) are more dramatic than ever before. And so is Martha’s answer, perhaps the most solemn profession of faith in the whole gospel: ‘Yes, Lord…I do believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who was to come to the world’ (11:27). Up to this moment in the gospels, every miracle was normally ‘explained’ after it had happened: ‘Your faith has made you well’ (Matthew 9:22). On this occasion, the question about faith comes first, as if it were a condition for Jesus to act. Making clear something basic: miracles do not move to faith, it is faith that makes them possible. As far as we are concerned, the rest of the chapter –the news about Lazarus’ sickness and death, even his resurrection, or the reactions from the Jews, including their decision to kill Jesus- are but secondary elements around Martha’s statement and around Jesus’ own definition as ‘the resurrection and the life’ for those who believe in him. There is also something important left to consider about our reaction in the face of death; be it ours, or that of a relative or a close friend. When we look at Jesus, we understand that it is legitimate to feel the pain of loss, to show our grief, to weep just as he wept over his friend’s death. But, as Christians, it is also our duty to keep the same confidence Jesus showed: Father, ‘I know that you always listen to me’. Even in our worst moments and situations, -even if we are in pain, sickness or death-, we know that ‘the final result will not be death, but the means by which the Son of God will receive glory’ (11:4). That is why our faith leads us to affirm, just like Paul, that ‘If the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from death, lives in us, then he will also give life to our mortal bodies by the presence of his Spirit in us’ (Romans 8:11). This sentence, too, can give us the key to understand the whole content not only of this Sunday but also of the coming celebrations. Close as we are to the mysteries of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, the story of Lazarus’ own death and resurrection anticipates them prophetically.
Just as we saw in the readings of the gospel in the past two Sundays, today’s fragment from Saint John intertwines narrative and dialogue. In all three occasions, the centre of the story is a question and a statement. In the case of the Samaritan woman, she wonders if Jesus could be the Messiah, and it is Jesus who declares ‘I am he’ (4:26, 29). In the story of the man born blind, Jesus asks ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ The answer is concise, direct and firm: ‘I believe, Lord!’ (9:38). Today, both the circumstances (Martha’s mourning of Lazarus’ death) and Jesus’ words (a long introduction and a blunt question: ‘Do you believe in the son of man?’) are more dramatic than ever before. And so is Martha’s answer, perhaps the most solemn profession of faith in the whole gospel: ‘Yes, Lord…I do believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who was to come to the world’ (11:27). Up to this moment in the gospels, every miracle was normally ‘explained’ after it had happened: ‘Your faith has made you well’ (Matthew 9:22). On this occasion, the question about faith comes first, as if it were a condition for Jesus to act. Making clear something basic: miracles do not move to faith, it is faith that makes them possible. As far as we are concerned, the rest of the chapter –the news about Lazarus’ sickness and death, even his resurrection, or the reactions from the Jews, including their decision to kill Jesus- are but secondary elements around Martha’s statement and around Jesus’ own definition as ‘the resurrection and the life’ for those who believe in him. There is also something important left to consider about our reaction in the face of death; be it ours, or that of a relative or a close friend. When we look at Jesus, we understand that it is legitimate to feel the pain of loss, to show our grief, to weep just as he wept over his friend’s death. But, as Christians, it is also our duty to keep the same confidence Jesus showed: Father, ‘I know that you always listen to me’. Even in our worst moments and situations, -even if we are in pain, sickness or death-, we know that ‘the final result will not be death, but the means by which the Son of God will receive glory’ (11:4). That is why our faith leads us to affirm, just like Paul, that ‘If the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from death, lives in us, then he will also give life to our mortal bodies by the presence of his Spirit in us’ (Romans 8:11). This sentence, too, can give us the key to understand the whole content not only of this Sunday but also of the coming celebrations. Close as we are to the mysteries of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, the story of Lazarus’ own death and resurrection anticipates them prophetically.
Meditatio
After reading these words from the gospel, this is the right moment to pose the same question Jesus asked Martha. ‘Do you believe in the son of man?’ And, surely, it cannot be a ‘rhetorical’ question about what we think, but a vital test of our faith. Do we really believe, not in an abstract resurrection, nor only in Jesus’ resurrection, but in our own resurrection from the dead? That is the touchstone to evaluate the depth of our faith. It is up to us to reflect and give an answer.
Oratio
Pray for those who feel death close to them: that the light of hope in the risen Christ can dispel their fear; that they may feel the presence of the one who wept over his friend Lazarus and granted him the gift of sharing his own immortal life. Pray for those who suffer and weep over the loss of their loved ones: that they may find comfort, not only in Christ, but also in the words and gestures of their neighbours. Pray for yourself and for your own fear: that your faith in Christ may let you accept his light and transform you into a bearer of hope for those who suffer the loss of a friend or relative.
Contemplatio
Chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians is a long reflexion of Paul about resurrection. Read peacefully some passages along the week, and contrast the apostle’s words with your own feelings.
Reflections written by Rev. Fr. Mariano Perrón Director of Inter-Religious Affairs Archdiocese of Madrid, Spain
© 2010 American Bible Society. All Rights Reserved. 1865 Broadway, New York, NY 10023-7505
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