20200329
FOUR
DAYS LATE
29 March, 2020, Sunday, 5th
Week in Lent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
|
First reading
|
|
Ezekiel 37:12-14 ©
|
I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live
The Lord says
this: I am now going to open your graves; I mean to raise you from your graves,
my people, and lead you back to the soil of Israel. And you will know that I am
the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people.
And I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live, and I shall resettle you
on your own soil; and you will know that I, the Lord, have said and done
this – it is the Lord who speaks.
|
Responsorial
Psalm
|
Psalm 129(130) ©
|
With
the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
Out
of the depths I cry to you, O Lord,
Lord,
hear my voice!
O let
your ears be attentive
to
the voice of my pleading.
With
the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
If
you, O Lord, should mark our guilt,
Lord,
who would survive?
But
with you is found forgiveness:
for
this we revere you.
With
the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
My
soul is waiting for the Lord.
I
count on his word.
My
soul is longing for the Lord
more
than watchman for daybreak.
(Let
the watchman count on daybreak
and
Israel on the Lord.)
With
the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
Because
with the Lord there is mercy
and
fullness of redemption,
Israel
indeed he will redeem
from
all its iniquity.
With
the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
|
Second reading
|
Romans 8:8-11 ©
|
The Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you
People who are
interested only in unspiritual things can never be pleasing to God. Your
interests, however, are not in the unspiritual, but in the spiritual, since the
Spirit of God has made his home in you. In fact, unless you possessed the
Spirit of Christ you would not belong to him. Though your body may be dead it
is because of sin, but if Christ is in you then your spirit is life itself
because you have been justified; and if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from
the dead is living in you, then he who raised Jesus from the dead will give
life to your own mortal bodies through his Spirit living in you.
|
Gospel
Acclamation
|
Jn11:25, 26
|
Glory
and praise to you, O Christ!
I am
the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;
whoever
believes in me will never die.
Glory
and praise to you, O Christ!
|
Gospel
|
John 11:1-45 ©
|
I am the resurrection and the life
There was a man
named Lazarus who lived in the village of Bethany with the two sisters, Mary
and Martha, and he was ill. It was the same Mary, the sister of the sick man
Lazarus, who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair.
The sisters sent this message to Jesus, ‘Lord, the man you love is ill.’ On
receiving the message, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will end not in death but in
God’s glory, and through it the Son of God will be glorified.’
Jesus
loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, yet when he heard that Lazarus was ill
he stayed where he was for two more days before saying to the disciples, ‘Let
us go to Judaea.’ The disciples said, ‘Rabbi, it is not long since the Jews
wanted to stone you; are you going back again?’ Jesus replied:
‘Are
there not twelve hours in the day?
A man
can walk in the daytime without stumbling
because
he has the light of this world to see by;
but
if he walks at night he stumbles,
because
there is no light to guide him.’
He said that and
then added, ‘Our friend Lazarus is resting, I am going to wake him.’ The
disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he is able to rest he is sure to get better.’
The phrase Jesus used referred to the death of Lazarus, but they thought that
by ‘rest’ he meant ‘sleep’, so Jesus put it plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead; and for
your sake I am glad I was not there because now you will believe. But let us go
to him.’ Then Thomas – known as the Twin – said to the other
disciples, ‘Let us go too, and die with him.’
On
arriving, Jesus found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days already.
Bethany is only about two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to
Martha and Mary to sympathise with them over their brother. When Martha heard
that Jesus had come she went to meet him. Mary remained sitting in the house.
Martha said to Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died,
but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.’ ‘Your
brother’ said Jesus to her ‘will rise again.’ Martha said, ‘I know he will rise
again at the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said:
‘I am
the resurrection and the life.
If
anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live,
and
whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
Do
you believe this?’
‘Yes, Lord,’ she
said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to
come into this world.’
When
she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in a low voice,
‘The Master is here and wants to see you.’ Hearing this, Mary got up quickly
and went to him. Jesus had not yet come into the village; he was still at the
place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were in the house
sympathising with Mary saw her get up so quickly and go out, they followed her,
thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
Mary
went to Jesus, and as soon as she saw him she threw herself at his feet,
saying, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ At the
sight of her tears, and those of the Jews who followed her, Jesus said in great
distress, with a sigh that came straight from the heart, ‘Where have you put
him?’ They said, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus wept; and the Jews said, ‘See how
much he loved him!’ But there were some who remarked, ‘He opened the eyes of
the blind man, could he not have prevented this man’s death?’ Still sighing,
Jesus reached the tomb: it was a cave with a stone to close the opening. Jesus
said, ‘Take the stone away.’ Martha said to him, ‘Lord, by now he will smell;
this is the fourth day.’ Jesus replied, ‘Have I not told you that if you
believe you will see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus
lifted up his eyes and said:
‘Father,
I thank you for hearing my prayer.
I
knew indeed that you always hear me,
but I
speak for the sake of all these who stand round me,
so
that they may believe it was you who sent me.’
When he had said
this, he cried in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, here! Come out!’ The dead man came
out, his feet and hands bound with bands of stuff and a cloth round his face.
Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, let him go free.’
Many
of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what he did believed in
him.
FOUR DAYS LATE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [EZ
37:12-14; ROM 8:8-11; JN 11:1-45 (OR
>< 11:3-7, 17:20-27, 33-45) ]
The context of today’s
first reading is Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones. It was symbolic of
what the Israelites were going through. They were dispersed and in exile.
They had no hope for life because everything they had was taken away, their
land, their kingdom and their temple. They were languishing in
Babylon. We may feel this way as well in our current situation.
Life is so difficult during this time of Covid-19 crisis. We are cut off
from our friends. We have to stay at home most of the time, even when
working! We cannot socialize. Some of us have lost our jobs.
Many have been retrenched. We are worried that we cannot make ends
meet. We are also fearful of being infected with this virus and worry for
our loved ones who are infected.
In such crisis, we turn
to the Lord seeking for help.
In desperation, we turn to Him hoping that He would hear our prayers. We
ask Him to come to our aid. Indeed, if you have seen images of the
thousands of coffins and makeshift hospitals on the streets of Italy, your
heart would grieve for them. Unfortunately, God seems far away. He
is tardy in coming to our help. This was the experience of Mary and
Martha. When their brother, Lazarus, was sick and at the point of death,
they sent a message to our Lord, “Lord, the man you love is
ill.” They needed the Lord to come quickly and heal him or else he would
surely die. However, He delayed! “He stayed where he was for
two more days.”
Why did He delay His
trip even though He loved them? They didn’t understand. Neither do we! When He arrived, “Lazarus had been
in the tomb for four days already.” The sisters could not hide their
disappointment and pain. Martha said to the Lord, “If you had been here,
my brother would not have died.” When Mary saw the Lord, she said the
same thing, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Indeed, this is what we often say to the Lord as well. If the Lord loves
us, why does He not answer our prayers immediately? Why did He not get me
that job which I needed so badly? Why did He not heal me of my illness or
my loved one? Why did He allow so many thousands to be infected and die
of the Covid-19 virus? Indeed, we are often so disappointed in the
Lord. It is understandable because the Lord seems apathetic to our needs.
Yet, He is not
indifferent to our pains.
This is what the gospel wants to assure us. He is divine, yet He feels
with us. He wept at the death of His dear friend, Lazarus. He wept
when Mary wept. Jesus felt sorry for them. Jesus “in great
distress, with a sigh that came straight from the heart, ‘Where have you put
him?'” Therefore, the Lord is not oblivious or immune to human
pain. As a man, He shared our emotions and sorrows. He too felt the
pain of losing someone He loved. He shared the pain of Mary’s
tears. He could imagine how distraught the sisters were in the last four
days, bereaving their brother’s death. Nevertheless, Jesus was not
overcome by the death of Lazarus, unlike Mary and Martha and the
people. Jesus was not overwhelmed by his death. He did not
allow His emotions to make Him lose perspective and His confidence in His Father
or forget His mission. He did not allow grief to cloud or unsettle His
Faith in His heavenly Father. He remained calm when Lazarus died.
Then why was He
late? Jesus knew that Lazarus’ death was part of the larger plan of
God and that his death would glorify Him so that all of humanity can be
glorified with Him. He
calmly told His disciples, “Our friend Lazarus is resting, I am going to wake
him. Lazarus is dead; and for your sake I am glad I was not there because
now you will believe.” He prayed with confidence at the tomb,
“Father, I thank you for hearing my prayer. I knew indeed that you always hear
me, but I speak for the sake of all these who stand round me, so that they may
believe it was you who sent me.” He had never doubted His Father.
The truth is that God had
a greater plan for them, and indeed, for us all. Jesus said, “This sickness will end
not in death but in God’s glory, and through it the Son of God will be
glorified.” Jesus had to allow Lazarus to die in order for all of us to
live. Only through the raising of Lazarus from the dead, would people
come to believe in Him and find life eternal. By delaying His
coming, no one would doubt that Lazarus really died. When the Lord asked
that the stone be moved away, “Martha said to him, ‘Lord, by now he will smell;
this is the fourth day.'” Clearly, the delay of Jesus was to underscore
that Lazarus truly died and was not simply sick or in coma. And upon
reaching the tomb, the Lord cried in a loud voice, “Lazarus, here! Come
out!” Indeed, Jesus might be four days late, but He was just on time! God’s
time is the best time. He knows what He is doing. We must trust in
His divine plan for us. God’s ways are not man’s ways.
But we can trust Him
only if we confess in Jesus as the Resurrection and the Life. It is significant that the word,
“Lord” rather than the usual word “Master” is used by Jesus in the gospel seven
times. As the resurrection and the life, He is the Lord. “Jesus
said: ‘I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though
he dies he will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do
you believe this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the
Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.'” She
confessed the same faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God as that of St
Peter. We, too, must confess in Jesus as the Lord of life. If Jesus
is the Lord, then we can place everything in His hands. Whether
alive or dead, we belong to the Lord!
However, confessing in
Jesus as the Resurrection and the Life is one thing. Understanding the
full implication of this confession is another. In Martha’s case, she had faith in Jesus
but like St Peter, she was still thinking in human ways. Peter could not
accept that His master as the Son of the Living God would have to suffer and
die. Martha too was thinking about resurrection in the next life.
Jesus said, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha answered, “I know he
will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.” Martha’s hope was
for life after death. She wanted to delimit the power and goodness
of God in giving us life. However, Jesus wants to give us life here and
now.
If we confess in Jesus
as Lord, we must believe that He has the power to give life, here and now. St Paul wrote, “if Christ is in you
then your spirit is life itself because you have been justified; and if the
Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then he who
raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your own mortal bodies through his
Spirit living in you.” Christ wants to free us from our fears, sins and
hopelessness. However, we must surrender our lives to Him. We
must allow His Spirit to make His home in us. Only in this way, can
we live the life of the Spirit, the life of God. When God’s love is in
our hearts, we will overcome all fears and doubts in life. Love
overcomes all fears. Love is stronger than death. It was
love for Lazarus that made Jesus take the risk of going to Bethany. When
we love, we do not fear death because even if we die, we live knowing that we
have lived for others and not for ourselves. We will always be ready to
meet God and be in perfect peace. Anyone who loves lives forever, here
and hereafter. It is love that conquers death.
Hence, it is urgent that
we take the courage to step out of our tomb and comfort zone. Many of us remain in our tombs because of
sin and selfishness. St Paul warns us about those living unspiritual
lives; “People who are interested only in unspiritual things can never be
pleasing to God.” Although many of us fear death, we are not cognizant
that we are already living a living death. When we live a life of sin,
selfishness and pleasure, we prevent ourselves from being truly human.
One who is human is capable of authentic relationship, is self-giving and
empathetic. When we live in fear of others, we live in isolation and
loneliness. When we live without God, we will fall into depression
because of hopelessness. But if during this time of Covid-19 we can learn
to reach out to our brothers and sisters in new ways, using the internet,
digital and social media, supporting each other and encouraging each other, we
will be able to find life and love. Jesus has come to unbind us as He
unbound Lazarus from his sins and from death. We are set free if we
come to the Lord.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment