5th Sunday of Lent (Cycle A, Yr. I)
Community Word: Trusting and obeying God lead us to a life of holiness.
Theme: We live a life of holiness when we believe in the resurrection on the last day.
Promise: “I will put my spirit in you that you may live… I have promised, and I will do it…” (Ez 37:14
Reflection:
Resurrection is the highest point and goal of our earthly life. It is the meaning and purpose of our earthly journey. Resurrection is the reason we make sacrifices and endeavor to live a good and just life. It is the reason why we follow Jesus and fulfill His commandments. Resurrection is our hope of glory, and the promised fulfillment of eternal life with God.
The theme for the 5th Sunday of Lent is: We live a life of holiness when we believe in the resurrection on the last day. Our faith in God can help us triumph over the passion we share with Jesus – all the problems, struggles and difficulties we face in life – just as it can overcome our fear of death – and death itself. We are more than ever reminded to go back to God and embrace His grace of healing.
Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead through faith, the kind of faith that is deeper than mere knowledge. It is full confidence that the goodness and power of God can overcome any known obstacle, even the natural law involving the loss of life. With faith as small as a mustard seed, the Lord tells us that we can do marvelous things, things that may seem humanly impossible. How much less demanding it would be for us to let go of our old ways, abandon bad habits, get rid of our old self-centered ways, and make ourselves available for the cross.
Jesus shows us that faith is the equivalent of life. We have to understand that God is concerned with growing our faith, more than with making us comfortable. When we believe in God, we are fully alive with a life that far surpasses our natural, physical life. When we live in and through the power of God, all things become possible. Thus, for the person with faith, death is to fall asleep for a moment and then to wake up in the embrace of a loving Father, who welcomes us home to live with Him forever. When Jesus is in our life, death is not the end, because Jesus is Lord of Life, and he triumphs even over death. This means that we should not fear death. It is an experience each of us must go through as we pass from this life to the next.
With no meaningful relationship with God, our life may have its lost purpose and direction. We may be slaves to sin, shackled to addiction, obsessions and fatal attractions. We may be among the living dead who live in tombs, tombs of the spirit, mind and heart, and from where Jesus calls us to come forth. When Jesus says that He is the Resurrection and the Life, He is teaching us that the critical moment in every human life is not the moment of a job promotion, or marriage, or of giving birth. Not even the moment of death, but the moment when we turn from unbelief to authentic belief in Jesus. The moment is decisive because it connects us to Jesus in a very personal way.
The miracle of Lazarus coming to life is the promise of new spiritual life that Jesus can give to us here and now. Jesus gives us this new life that conquers any kind of death. The point of this Lazarus gospel is that Jesus is our hope, as embodied in our promise this 5th Sunday of Lent – “I will put my spirit in you that you may live… I have promised, and I will do it…” (Ez 37:14)
Prayer:
Our great God, we remember the times when we were not unlike Lazarus in the tomb – seemingly lifeless and without hope, overwhelmed by guilt that we wanted to hide ourselves away from this world. Continue to strengthen us with your love that we may hear you call us out of the tomb to set us free and be resurrected to a new life.
Reflection Questions:

1. How have your difficulties, trials and life struggles reshaped your faith in God’s healing grace?
2. What are the works of God you have to do, and to be prepared to face Jesus whenever your time comes?
   This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
   March 26, 2023 (Sun) – Ez 37:12-14/ Ps 130:1-8/ Rom 8:8-11/ Jn 11:1-45
   March 27, 2023 (Mon) – Dn 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33 – 62/ Ps23:1-6/ Jn 8:1-11
   March 28, 2023 (Tues) – Nm 21:4-9/ Ps 102:2, 3, 16-21/ Jn 8:21-30
   March 29, 2023 (Wed) – Dn 3:14-20, 91-92, 95/ Dn 3:52-56/ Jn 8:31-42
   March 30, 2023 (Thur) – Gn 17:3-9/ Ps 105:4-9/ Jn 8:51-59
   March 31, 2023 (Fri) – Jer 20:L10-13/ Ps18:2-7/ Jn10:31-42
   April 1, 2023 (Sat) – Ez 37:21-28/ Jer31:10-13/ Jn 11:45-56
   “Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. Read your Bible daily!”