Study and Meditations on this Sunday's Scripture Readings: April 10, 2011

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To help us prepare for this coming Sunday, here are the readings, studies and reflections for this coming Sunday’s Scripture readings. **This Sunday is the 5th Sunday of Lent, Cycle A, **and in this Sundays Gospel Reading we will hear about the raising of Lazarus from the dead.

Here are the Scripture readings from the U.S. Catholic bishops website.

My own weekly study can be found here under “Current Study.”

Here are three audio reflections on the readings by Sister Ann Shields, Dr. Scott Hahn and Fr. Robert Barron.

Here are a pair of Catholic Bible study podcasts on the Gospel Reading, each about an hour long:

–Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother
–St. Martha’s Adult Faith Formation
*
The Navarre Bible Commentary *for each reading can be viewed here.

Further study resources for the Readings: St. Charles Borromeo Bible Study can be found here, and Catholic Matters can be found here.

Discussion, questions and charitable comments are always welcome. Have a blessed week!

 

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1st Reading - Ezekiel 37:12-14

Ezekiel is of a priestly family and was among the captives who were carried off to Babylon in 597 B.C. He is called “The Prophet of Divine Fidelity” because he emphasizes the fact that God is faithful in His threats as well as in His promises. He kept up the courage of his fellow captives by foretelling the doom of Babylon, the end of the captivity, and the redemption of mankind by the Messiah. He is said to have died a martyr.

Among the exiles in Babylon he denounced the sins of the people which brought about the exile, and foretold greater misfortunes still for Judah. Jerusalem and its temple would be destroyed by the Babylonians, and the remainder of the people taken into captivity. They had deserted Yahweh; he would now desert them for a while. But Ezekiel, like Jeremiah and Isaiah, had words of encouragement also. Better days were to come, when Yahweh would take back his people once more and dwell in their midst forever (37 : 25). The verses taken from Ezekiel today are part of this encouragement.

Today’s reading takes place in Babylon, and Ezekiel is led out by the spirit into a plain (on which may have remained the unburied bones of those who had fallen in battle. [This is the passage which led to the old Negro spiritual “Dem Bones”.] These are the words which lead up to today’s reading (see Ezekiel 37:1-11).

Here is the 1st Reading as we will hear it this Sunday:

Thus says the Lord GOD:
O my people, I will open your graves
and have you rise from them,
and 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 them,
O my people!
I will put my spirit in you that you may live,
and I will settle you upon your land;
thus you shall know that I am the LORD.
I have promised, and I will do it, says the LORD.

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

 

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From the *Navarre Bible *commentary with RSV-CE text:

The dry bones
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*[12] “]Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open their graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you home into the land of Israel. [13] And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. [14] And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done it, says the Lord.” *

---

Commentary: **

**12-14. **This remarkable vision of the bones being brought back to life sets the scene for the climax of the resurgence of Israel, the unification of the two kingdoms (cf. 37:15-28). The dramatic contrast drawn here between death and life, bones and spirit, shows that the revitalization that God will bring about goes much further than material reconstruction or simply a return to the promised land; it implies, rather, a new beginning, both personal and social.

The vision itself (vv. 2-10) takes place on an immense plain (cf. 3:22-23) and it addresses the exiles’ profound concern about their future: “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost” (v. 11). It is one of Ezekiel’s most famous and most commented-on visions because it is very vivid and easy to understand. The prophet himself explains it as having to do with the destruction-restoration of Israel (vv. 11-14), though the Fathers of the Church see in it veiled references to the resurrection of the dead: “The Creator will revive our mortal bodies here on earth; he promises resurrection, the opening of sepulchers and tombs, and the gift of immortality …]. And in all this, we see that he alone is God, who can do all things, the good Father who from his endless bounty will give life to the lifeless” (St Irenaeus, Adversus haereses, 5, 15, 1). St Jerome writes in similar terms: “The image of the resurrection would not have been used to describe the restoration of the people of Israel if the future resurrection of the dead had not been foreseen, because no one can be led to draw a conclusion from an idea that has no basis is reality” (Commentarii in Ezechielem, 27, 1ff.

“I will put my Spirit within you” (v. 14). The spirit of the Lord is, at least, the power of God (cf. Gen 2:7) performing an act of creation. It is also the principle of life causing man to “become a living being” (Gen 2:7); and, certainly, it is the principle of supernatural life. The same God that created all things can revitalize his demoralized people in Babylon and can allow humankind to partake of his own life. This promise, like others found in the prophets (cf. 11:19; Jer 31:31-34; Joel 3:1-5) will find its complete fulfillment at Pentecost, when the Spirit descends on the apostles: “According to these promises, at the ‘end time’ the Lord’s Spirit will renew the hearts of men, engraving a new law in them. He will gather and reconcile the scattered and divided peoples; he will transform the first creation, and God will dwell there with men in peace” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 715).

 

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From the 1859 Haydock Commentary with Douay-Rheims text. There is no commentary for the verses which comprise our 2nd Reading, but there are for the preceding verses which place our Reading in context:

A vision of the resurrection of dry bones, foreshewing the deliverance of the people from their captivity. Juda and Israel shall be all one kingdom under Christ. God’s everlasting covenant with the Church.

12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves, and will bring you out of your sepulchres, O my people: and will bring you into the land of Israel.

13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have opened your sepulchres, and shall have brought you out of your graves, O my people:

14 And shall have put my spirit in you, and you shall live, and I shall make you rest upon your own land: and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and done it, saith the Lord God…

Ver. 1. Spirit, by a divine impulse. He was not really removed. (Menochius) (Calmet) — *Bones. *“This passage is very famous.” (St. Jerome) — It insinuates the liberation of the captives and of the Gentiles, as well as the mystery of the resurrection. (Worthington) — If this were not to take place, it would not be adduced as a figure. (Tertullian) (St. Jerome)

Ver. 5. *Spirit. *That is, life, soul, and breath. (Challoner) — At the resurrection, the same souls shall return to their respective bodies.

Ver. 7. Noise of the bones moving, which denotes the wars of Cyrus and the hurry of the nations to which he restored liberty.

**Ver. 9.**I] Spirit; wind or soul

. The latter animates the body, as the grace (Calmet) of the Holy Spirit does the soul. (Haydock)
**
Ver. 11. **Off, like branches. Notwithstanding these desponding thoughts, God will restore his people, (Worthington) by means of Cyrus. The grave is often put for punishment and grievous calamities, Osee vi. 3.

 

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Other thoughts and comments on the 1st Reading:

**12 Therefore, prophesy and say to them: Thus says the Lord GOD: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel: **In the eleven verses preceding this passage the prophet has described how God through him, spoke to the dry bones of the Israelites and raised them up and gave them life once more. As is clear from verse 11, there is no question of resurrection of the body here (that concept had not yet fully developed among the Jews at this time): the dry bones are the exiled Israelites who say “our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost, we are clean cut off.” Now God tells these despairing Israelites that all is not lost. He will give them a real life, not that of slavery, once more. The life of Israel has been totally destroyed by an attacking army, but it will be restored.

**13 Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and have you rise from them, O my people!: **They are still his chosen people in spite of their neglect of him. He will give them a new spirit, a spirit of obedience once more.
**
14 I will put my spirit in you that you may live: **Living in slavery in a foreign land was not life.

**and I will settle you upon your land: **He will bring them back from exile and establish them in Judah again.
**
thus you shall know: **They will then realize that nothing short of the power of Yahweh could have done this for them.

**that I am the LORD. I have promised, and I will do it, says the LORD: **The Hebrew word for spirit is ruah. God’s breath. The aim of the prophecy is to give the captives new spirit to rise from their captivity. Although not referring to the resurrection of individuals, the concept is not far removed.

 

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Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraphs referencing Ezekiel 37:1-14

703 The Word of God and his Breath are at the origin of the being and life of every creature:63

    *It belongs to the Holy Spirit to rule, sanctify, and animate creation, for he is God, consubstantial with the Father and the Son. . . . Power over life pertains to the Spirit, for being God he preserves creation in the Father through the Son.*64

63. Cf. Pss 33:6; 104:30; Gen 1:2; 2:7; Eccl 3:20-21; Ezek 37:10.

64. Byzantine liturgy, Sundays of the second mode, Troparion of Morning Prayer.

**715 **The prophetic texts that directly concern the sending of the Holy Spirit are oracles by which God speaks to the heart of his people in the language of the promise, with the accents of "love and fidelity."85 St. Peter will proclaim their fulfillment on the morning of Pentecost.86 According to these promises, at the “end time” the Lord’s Spirit will renew the hearts of men, engraving a new law in them. He will gather and reconcile the scattered and divided peoples; he will transform the first creation, and God will dwell there with men in peace.

85. Cf. Ezek 11:19; 36:25-28; 37:1-14; Jer 31:31-34; and cf. Joel 3:1-5.

86. Cf. Acts 2:17-21.

 

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A meditation for practical application from Catholic Matters:

**APPLICATION: **God revealed himself and his true nature to his Chosen People in the Old Testament by his actions more than by his words. They were a stubborn, stiff-necked people—they were so often ungrateful for all the benefits he conferred on them. They forgot him in material prosperity and only turned to him in need. The idolatry and misconduct of their kings ever since Solomon (with a few notable exceptions), and the no-less-pagan outlook of the majority of the people, brought on them the destruction of Jerusalem with its temple, the center of their life and religion, in the year 587. They had been warned by God’s prophets but they turned a deaf ear to all remonstrances and warnings. When the foretold calamity fell they turned to Yahweh, but too late.

However, when they had done their penance in Babylon, Yahweh came to their aid once more and brought them back to Judah and Jerusalem, where they eventually rebuilt the city and their temple and where they remained until the promised Messiah came.

In all of this we have the merciful, forgiving God, revealing himself, while using this very ungrateful people to carry out his plan for raising the whole human race to adopted divine sonship through the loving mystery of the Incarnation.

We Christians have seen that plan fulfilled. We know we have been adopted by God and made heirs of heaven because Christ made himself our brother. We know too that we shall rise again from the dead and be brought back not to Judah or Jerusalem, but to the land of eternal happiness—to “the Jerusalem that is above.” God revealed much of his divine qualities to the Jews, but how incomparably greater is the revelation we have received from him through the coming of Christ among us!

The Jews of that day had but a very vague idea of life after death; we are certain that our physical death is not the end for us but rather the beginning of our true life. The Jews called God their “father” but because of their infidelity the father-son relationship was a cold one, built more on fear than on love. We call God our Father, but we use the term with sincerity and love for we have become his children through the brotherhood of Christ, his real, divine Son.

God helped the Jews often in their temporal needs, they seldom sought spiritual aid from him. We have in the mystical body of Christ, his Church, all the spiritual helps we need for our journey to heaven, and temporal favors on innumerable occasions, during our stay on earth. God said of his Chosen People: “What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done for it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, what did it yield—wild grapes?”

Unfortunately, he has to make the same complaint of many in his Christian vineyard, and how much more has he done for them than he ever did for the Jews? God forbid that any one of us should be deserving of this complaint. When we meet him on the day of judgment let us hope and pray that we will have the true grapes of a virtuous life to offer him.

 

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2nd Reading - Romans 8:8-11

In Romans 5:1-11 Saint Paul announced that justified Christians have been empowered to live a new life as the result of God’s love manifested in the liberating acts of Christ. Now that liberation from sin, death, and the Law has taken place, they are able to live this life “for God”, whose love is poured out through the dynamic principle of such life, the Spirit of God Himself. Christian existence is dominated by the Spirit, not the flesh.

Here is the 2nd Reading as we will hear it this Sunday:

Brothers and sisters:
Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
But you are not in the flesh;
on the contrary, you are in the spirit,
if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Whoever 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 dwelling in you.

 

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From the *Navarre Bible *commentary with RSV-CE text:

**1-13. **After original sin man is pulled in two different directions: either he seeks God above all things and contends, with God’s grace, against the inclinations of his own concupiscence; or else he lets himself be overwhelmed by the disordered passions of the flesh. The former lifestyle is “life in the Spirit”, the latter, life “according to the flesh”. “There are only two possible ways of living on this earth: either we live a supernatural life, or we live an animal life” (St. J. Escriva, “Friends of God”, 200).

Sanctifying grace is the source of life “according to the Spirit”. It is not a matter of simply being in the state of grace or of performing a number of regular pious practices. Life according to the Spirit–spiritual or supernatural life–means a living-according-to-God which influences everything a Christian does: he is constantly trying to bring his thoughts, yearnings, desires and actions into line with what God is asking of him; in everything he does he tries to follow the inspirations of the Holy Spirit.

Life according to the flesh, on the other hand, has its source in the triple concupiscence which is a consequence of original sin–“all that is in the world the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life” (1 Jn 2:16). In this present life it is not possible to kill concupiscence at its root: it is forever producing new growths. The Christian is freed from original sin through Baptism (chap. 6); the coming of Christ has set aside the ritualistic precepts of the Mosaic Law (chap. 7); but his life in Jesus Christ is threatened by concupiscence even after Baptism, which places him under the Law of the Spirit. “We need to submit to the spirit, to wholeheartedly commit ourselves and strive to keep the flesh in its place. By so doing our flesh will become spiritual again. Otherwise, if we give in to the easy life, this will lower our soul to the level of the flesh and make it carnal again” (St John Chrysostom, “Hom. on Rom”, 13).

Life in the Spirit
-----------------------
*8] and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

[9] "But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God really dwells in you. Any one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. [10] But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness. “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you. [11] If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you.”*

**10-11. **Once he is justified the Christian lives in the grace of God and confidently hopes in his future resurrection; Christ himself lives in him (cf. Gal 2:20; 1 Cor 15:20-23). However, he is not spared the experience of death, a consequence of original sin (cf. Rom 5:12; 6:23). Along with suffering, concupiscence and other limitations, death is still a facto after baptism; it is something which motivates us to struggle and makes us to be like Christ. Almost all commentators interpret the expression “your bodies are dead because of sin” as referring to the fact that, due to sin, the human body is destined to die. So sure is this prospect of death that the Apostle sees the body as “already dead”.

St. John Chrysostom makes an acute observation: if Christ is living in the Christian, then the divine Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, is also present in him. If this divine Spirit is absent, then indeed death reigns supreme, and with it the wrath of God, rejection of his laws, separation from Christ, and expulsion of our Guest. And he adds: “But when one has the Spirit within, what can be lacking? With the Spirit one belongs to Christ, one possesses him, one vies for honor with the angels. With the Spirit, the flesh is crucified, one tastes the delight of an immortal life, one has a pledge of future resurrection and advances rapidly on the path of virtue. This is what Paul calls putting the flesh to death” (“Hom. on Rom.”, 13).

 

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From the 1859 Haydock Commentary with Douay-Rheims text.

***There is no condemnation to them, who being justified by Christ, walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. ***

8 And they who are in the flesh, cannot please God.

9 But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

10 And if Christ be in you, the body, indeed, is dead, because of sin, but the spirit liveth, because of justification.

11 *And if the Spirit of him, who raised up Jesus from the dead, dwell in you: he that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead, shall quicken also your mortal bodies, because of his spirit that dwelleth in you.
**
Ver. 5. &c. **For they who are according to the flesh. That is, who live according to the false, vain, and deceitful maxims and customs of carnal men, which he also calls the prudence of the flesh: and this prudence he calls death, as leading men to eternal death. Such carnal men relish nothing else but such pleasures. But they who are and live according to the spirit, mind the things which are of the spirit, fix their hearts on the things that belong to God, and his service; and this wisdom of the spirit, in which they experience much greater pleasure, leads them to eternal life, and to eternal *peace *in the enjoyment of God. The false wisdom of the flesh is an enemy of God, cannot be subject to the law of God, because the maxims of the flesh, and of the world, are so opposite to those of the gospel, and to the doctrine of Christ. (Witham) — They who are subject to the flesh, by having their affections fixed on the things of the flesh, that is, carnal men, whilst they are such, cannot please God: for this prudence of the flesh makes them the enemies of God. (Estius) — If Christ, or the spirit of Christ, which he also (ver. 9.) calls the spirit of God, as being one and the same, dwell in you, and direct you, the body indeed is dead because of sin; that is, is mortal, and liable to death, the consequence of Adam’s sin; but *the spirit *and the soul liveth by the life of grace, by reason of justification: that is, because she hath been justified and sanctified by the merits of Christ. And *the spirit *of God, who raised *Jesus *to life, will also raise all who remain sanctified by the grace of Christ to a happy resurrection. (Witham)

 

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Other thoughts and commentary on the 2nd Reading:

**8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God: St. Paul nearly always uses the word “flesh” for those tendencies in man which incline him to sin and to the things of this earth in opposition to things spiritual. The man who follows these inclinations (who lives according to the flesh) cannot please God, but rather offends him.
**
9 But you are not in the flesh: He is addressing Christians who have died (to all their evil inclinations) with Christ in baptism. “Do you not know,” Paul says (in Rom. 6:3-4), “that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death…”

Paul chooses a neutral way of expressing the goal of human life: to please God. It is a goal aimed at by both Jew and Christian, yet it cannot be attained by one who is dominated by self (in the flesh); one must be “in the Spirit” i.e., live according to the Spirit.
*
“The apostle does not reject the substance of flesh but shows that the Spirit must be infused into it.” *[Saint Irenaeus (A.D. 180-199), *Against Heresies

, 5,10,2]

**on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you: **The Spirit, as the new principle of Christian vitality, is derived from God, the same source as all other manifestations of salvation. The baptized Christian is not only “in the Spirit”, but the Spirit is now said to dwell in him or her. The Holy Spirit has been given to the baptized. Through their union with Christ the Spirit is within believers, transforming their rational faculties; they live a new life.
**
Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him: **Note how Paul interchanges the “Spirit of God”, the “Spirit of Christ”, and “Christ” as he tries to express the multi-faceted reality of the Christian experience of participation in divine life. Attachment to Christ is only possible by the “spiritualization” of human beings. This is no mere external identification with the cause of Christ, or even a grateful recognition of what He once did for humanity. Rather, the Christian who belongs to Christ is the one empowered to “live for God” through the vitalizing influence of His Spirit. The man who has not this indwelling Spirit does not belong to Christ. He is not a Christian.

**10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness: **Here, Paul equates Christ and Spirit and plays on the meanings of the Greek word *pneuma which means “breath” and “spirit”. Without the Spirit, the source of Christian vitality, the human body is like a corpse because of the influence of sin, but in union with Christ the human spirit lives, for the Spirit resuscitates the dead human being through the gift of uprightness. As a result of the sin of Adam death entered the world and is the earthly legacy of us all. In union with Christ our spirit lives beyond this earthly legacy and enters into eternal life. Because the Christian has Christ dwelling in him (even though the Christian lives in a body which can be called “dead” because of its inclination to sin), he is alive with a true spiritual life because of the uprightness and divine grace which Christ brings to him.
*
“Paul is not saying here that the Spirit is Christ but is showing rather that anyone who has the Spirit has Christ as well. For where the Spirit is, there Christ is also. Wherever one person of the Trinity is present, the whole Trinity is present too. For the Trinity is undivided and has a perfect unity in itself.” [Saint John Chrysostom (A.D. 391), *Homilies on the Epistle to the Romans, 13]

**11 If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you: The power of animating the Christian is thus traced to its ultimate source, for the Spirit is the manifestation of the Father’s presence and power in the world since the resurrection of Christ and through it.
**
the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also: The future tense refers to the role of the Spirit in the end times resurrection of Christians. It was God the Father who raised Jesus from the dead. The Christian who has the Spirit of God dwelling in him will be raised from the dead by the same Spirit. His body doomed to die will be given a new mode of life—the risen Christian, like the risen Christ, will be given a new mode of existence, an unending life.
**
through his Spirit that dwells in you: **At His resurrection Christ became, through the Father’s glory, the principle of the raising of Christians. It is the Spirit as related to the risen Christ that is the life giving principle. Because of the gift of the Spirit the Christian is a child of God, adopted and destined for the glory of God’s intimate presence.

 

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Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraphs referencing Romans 8:8-11 include the following:

**Christ Descended into Hell

632 **The frequent New Testament affirmations that Jesus was “raised from the dead” presuppose that the crucified one sojourned in the realm of the dead prior to his resurrection.478 This was the first meaning given in the apostolic preaching to Christ’s descent into hell: that Jesus, like all men, experienced death and in his soul joined the others in the realm of the dead. But he descended there as Savior, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there.479

478. Acts 3:15; Rom 8:11; 1 Cor 15:20; cf. Heb 13:20.

479. Cf. 1 Pet 3:18-19.

**693 **Besides the proper name of “Holy Spirit,” which is most frequently used in the Acts of the Apostles and in the Epistles, we also find in St. Paul the titles: the Spirit of the promise,21 the Spirit of adoption,22 the Spirit of Christ,23 the Spirit of the Lord,24 and the Spirit of God25 - and, in St. Peter, the Spirit of glory.26

21. Cf. Gal 3:14; Eph 1:13.

22. Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6.

23. Rom 8:9.

24. 2 Cor 3:17.

25. Rom 8:9, 14; 15:19; 1 Cor 6:11; 7:40.

26. 1 Pet 4:14.

**989 **We firmly believe, and hence we hope that, just as Christ is truly risen from the dead and lives for ever, so after death the righteous will live for ever with the risen Christ and he will raise them up on the last day.534 Our resurrection, like his own, will be the work of the Most Holy Trinity:

    *If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you.*535

534. Cf. Jn 6:39-40.

535. Rom 8:11; cf. 1 Thes 4:14; 1 Cor 6:14; 2 Cor 4:14; Phil 3:10-11.

990 The term “flesh” refers to man in his state of weakness and mortality.536 The “resurrection of the flesh” (the literal formulation of the Apostles’ Creed) means not only that the immortal soul will live on after death, but that even our “mortal body” will come to life again.537

536. Cf. Gen 6:3; Ps 56:5; Isa 40:6.

537. Rom 8:11.

 

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A meditation on the 2nd Reading for practical application from Catholic Matters:

**APPLICATION: **The three readings for today, the Fifth Sunday of Lent, have a common theme—resurrection. In Ezekiel the release of the Jews from the captivity and slavery of Babylon is described as a rising from their graves to return to a new life in their own homeland. This is a metaphor, a type of the true resurrection which will come later. In the third reading—the gospel—we have the story of the raising of Lazarus from the tomb, which proves the power Jesus had of raising the dead.

In this second reading, in St. Paul’s instruction to the Roman Christians, we have a direct reference to the future resurrection to a life of unending glory for all those who during their time on earth, were loyal to God and Christ. This resurrection in a new body, which will never again be subject to death or pain or suffering, has been won for us by Christ who, having died for our sins, was raised by the Father on Easter morning.

Only the kindness of an infinitely loving God could plan and provide such a marvelous future for us. “What is man that you are mindful of him?”, the Psalmist says to God. What are we indeed—mere creatures, finite, limited beings, in comparison with the infinite Godhead! Yet, when creating us he gave us the spiritual faculties which enable us to appreciate the good, the beautiful and the perfect. He knew that in this life these powers could never be satisfied, and so he ordained that after “working our passage” through this valley of tears, a new life would await us, an unending life in which, in company with the Blessed Trinity, our blessed Mother and the millions of fellow-saints, we would have eternal contentment and happiness.

The thought of this glorious future should never be far from our minds. It was this thought that enabled the martyrs to face their executioners with joy in their hearts. It was this thought that made the saints rejoice in their bodily sufferings and mortifications. It was this hope of eternal happiness which spurred on the millions of ordinary men and women like ourselves, whose life on earth was a monotonous sequence of one drudgery after another, one misfortune following on the heels of the previous one.

It is by imitating these people that we too will join them when our call will come. It is by bearing the burdens of each day, by welcoming, and seeing God’s will in all the ups and downs of our very ordinary lives, that we can join them. Listen again to these solemn words of St. Paul: “Anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” You have the Spirit of Christ in you, if you are striving to live a Christian life. This means taking each day as it comes, offering to God its joys and its sorrows, its honest pleasures and its pains, its sunshine and its showers. All this means: living in peace with God and with your neighbor. This may sound easy but it is not so; it will mean much self-denial, but then think of what awaits us at the end of our road—a resurrection to a new life, an unending life of happiness. God grant that we may all have this happy ending to our earthly journey.

 

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Gospel Reading: John 11:1-45

* In John’s gospel, there are traditionally seven great signs performed by Jesus that point to his divinity, beginning with his turning water into wine at the wedding of Cana (John 2:11). This Sunday’s gospel relates the raising of Lazarus, the last and greatest sign, and the one that leads directly to the Jewish leaders’ decision to kill Jesus—and Lazarus too, for that matter (John 11:46-54, 12:9-11).

* Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary were close friends of Jesus (Luke 10:38-42) and Jesus apparently stayed at their home in Bethany when visiting Jerusalem (Bethany, on the other side of the Mount of Olives, was about 2 miles to the east). From the Scriptures, it is clear that Jesus loved them very much (verses 3,5,11,35,36).

* When Martha and Mary send word to Jesus of Lazarus’ illness and he delays, both sisters evidence great faith, though they don’t understand Jesus’ actions.

* By this miracle, Jesus is proved to be the Son of God, increasing the faith of his disciples (verse 15), Martha and Mary (verses 26-40), and the rest of the people (verses 36,45).

As for the last two weeks, there is a long and a short form of this Sunday’s Gospel. Here is the long version:

Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany,
the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
Mary was the one who had 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 him saying,
“Master, the one you love is ill.”
hen 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 be saved.”
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,
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.”

Continued on the next post…

 

[Fidelis]

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 he dies, 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 Christ, 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 when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her
saw Mary get up quickly and go out,
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.”
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,
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.

http://www.hymntime.com/tch/img/r/a/The%20Raising%20of%20Lazarus,%20by%20Carl%20Heinrich%20Bloch%20(1834-1890).jpg

 

[Fidelis]

From the* Navarre Bible* commentary (the RSV-CE text can be found here):

1-45. This chapter deals with one of Jesus’ most outstanding miracles. The Fourth Gospel, by including it, demonstrates Jesus’ power over death, which the Synoptic Gospels showed by reporting the raising of the daughter of Jairus (Mt 9:25 and par.) and of the son of the widow of Nain (Lk 7:12).

The evangelist first sets the scene (vv. 1-16); then he gives Jesus conversation with Lazarus’ sisters (vv. 17-37); finally, he reports the raising of Lazarus four days after his death (vv. 38-45). Bethany was only about three kilometers (two miles) from Jerusalem (v. 18). On the days prior to his passion, Jesus often visited this family, to which he was very attached. St John records Jesus’ affection (vv. 3,5,36) by describing his emotion and sorrow at the death of his friend.

By raising Lazarus our Lord shows his divine power over death and thereby gives proof of his divinity, in order to confirm his disciples’ faith and reveal; himself as the Resurrection and the Life. Most Jews, but not the Sadducees, believed in the resurrection of the body. Martha believed in it (cf. v. 24).

Apart from being a real, historical event, Lazarus’ return to life is a sign our future resurrection: we too will return to life. Christ, by his glorious resurrection through which he is the “first-born from the dead” (1 Cor 15:2; Col 1:18; Rev 1:5), is also the cause and model of our resurrection. In this his resurrection is different from that of Lazarus, for “Christ being raised from the dead will never die again” (Rom 6:9), whereas Lazarus returned to earthly, later to die again.
**
2. **There are a number of women in the Gospels who are called Mary. The Mary here is Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus (v.2), the woman who later anointed our Lord, again in Bethany, at the house of Simon the leper (cf. In 12:1-8; Mk 14:3): the indefinite or aorist “(she) anointed” expresses an action which occurred prior to the time of writing, but the anointing took place after the resurrection of Lazarus.

Were Mary of Bethany, Mary Magdalene and the “sinful” woman who anointed Jesus’ feet in Galilee (cf. Lk 7:36) one, two or three women? Although sometimes it is argued they are one and the same, it seems more likely that they were all different people. Firstly, we must distinguish the Galilee anointing (Lk 7:35) by the “sinner” from the Bethany anointing done by Lazarus’ sister (Jn 12:1): because of the time they took place and particular details reported, they are clearly distinct (cf. note on Jn 12:1). Besides, the Gospels give us no positive indication that Mary of Bethany was the same person as the “sinner” of Galilee. Nor are there strong grounds for identifying Mary Magdalene and the “sinner”, whose name is not given; Mary Magdalene appears among the women who follow Jesus in Galilee as the woman out of whom seven demons were cast (cf. Lk 8:2), and Luke presents her in his account as someone new: no information is given which could link her with either of the two other women.

Nor can Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene be identified, for John differentiates between the two: he never calls Lazarus’ sister Mary Magdalene, nor does he in any way link the latter (who stays beside the Cross–Jn 19:25–and who goes to the tomb and sees the risen Lord) with Mary of Bethany.

The reason why Mary of Bethany has sometimes been confused with Mary Magdalene is due (1) to identification of the latter with the “sinner” of Galilee through connecting Magdalene’s possession by the devil with the sinfulness of the woman who did the anointing in Galilee; and (2) to confusing the two anointings, which would make Lazarus’ sister the “sinner” who does the first anointing. This was how the three women were made out to be one, but there are no grounds for that interpretation. The best-grounded and most common interpretation offered by exegetes is that they are three distinct women.
**
4.** The glory which Christ speaks of here, St Augustine says, “was no gain to Jesus; it was only for our good. Therefore, Jesus says that this illness is not unto death, because the particular death was not for death but rather for a miracle, which being wrought men should believe in Christ and thereby avoid the true death” (“In Ioann. Evang.”, 49, 6).

8-10. Stoning was the form of capital punishment applying to blasphemy (cf. Lev 24:16). We have seen that people tried to stone Jesus at least twice: first, when he proclaimed that he was the Son of God and that he existed from eternity (by saying that he “was” before Abraham lived)–Jn 8:58-59; second, when he revealed that he and the Father were one (cf. Jn 10:30-3 1).

These attempts by the Jewish authorities failed because Jesus’ ‘hour’ had not yet arrived–that is, the time laid down by his Father for his death and resurrection. When the Crucifixion comes, it will be the hour of his enemies and of “the power of darkness” (Lk 22:53). But until that moment it is daytime, and our Lord can walk without his life being in danger.
**
16. **Thomas’ words remind us of the Apostles saying at the last Supper that they would be ready to die for their Master (cf. Mt 26:31-35). We have seen how the Apostles stayed loyal when many disciples left our Lord after his discourse on the Bread of Life (Jn 6:67-71), and how they remained faithful to him despite their personal weaknesses. But when, after Judas Iscariot’ s betrayal, Jesus lets himself be arrested without offering resistance–in fact, forbidding the use of weapons (cf. Jn 18:11)–they become disconcerted and run away. Only St John will stay faithful in Jesus’ hour of greatest need.

Continued on the next post…

 

[Fidelis]

18. Fifteen stadia, in Greek measurement: three kilometers (two miles).

21-22. According to St. Augustine, Martha’s request is a good example of confident prayer, a prayer of abandonment into the hands of God, who knows better than we what we need. Therefore, “she did not say, But now I ask You to raise my brother to life again. …] All she said was, I know that You can do it; if you will, do it; it is for you to judge whether to do it, not for me to presume” (“In Ioann. Evang.”, 49, 13). The same can be said of Mary’s words, which St. John repeats at verse 32.

24-26. Here we have one of those concise definitions Christ gives of Himself, and which St. John faithfully passes on to us (cf. John 10:9; 14:6; 15:1): Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. He is the Resurrection because by His victory over death He is the cause of the resurrection of all men. The miracle He works in raising Lazarus is a sign of Christ’s power to give life to people. And so, by faith in Jesus Christ, who arose first from among the dead, the Christian is sure that he too will rise one day, like Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:23; Colossians 1;18). Therefore, for the believer death is not the end; it is simply the step to eternal life, a change of dwelling-place, as one of the Roman Missal’s Prefaces of Christian Death puts it: body of our earthly dwelling lies in death, we gain an everlasting dwelling place in Heaven".

By saying that He is Life, Jesus is referring not only to that life which begins beyond the grave, but also to the supernatural life which grace brings to the soul of man when he is still a wayfarer on this earth.

“This life, which the Father has promised and offered to each man in Jesus Christ, His eternal and only Son, who ‘when the time had fully come’ (Galatians 4:4), became incarnate and was born of the Virgin Mary, is the final fulfillment of man’s vocation. It is in a way the fulfillment of the ‘destiny’ that God has prepared for him from eternity. This ‘divine destiny’ is advancing, in spite of all the enigmas, the unsolved riddles, the twists and turns of ‘human destiny’ in the world of time. Indeed, while all this, in spite of all the riches of life in time, necessarily and inevitably leads to the frontiers of death and the goal of the destruction of the human body, beyond that goal we see Christ. ‘I am the resurrection and the life, He who believes in Me…shall never die.’ In Jesus Christ, who was crucified and laid in the tomb and then rose again, ‘our hope of resurrection dawned…the bright promise of immortality’ (“Roman Missal”, Preface of Christian Death, I), on the way to which man, through the death of the body, shares with the whole of visible creation the necessity to which matter is subject” ([Pope] John Paul II, “Redemptor Hominis”, 18).

**33-36. **This passage gives an opportunity to reflect on the depth and tenderness of Jesus’ feelings. If the physical death of His friend can move Him to tears, what will He not feel over the spiritual death of a sinner who has brought about his eternal condemnation? “Christ wept: let man also weep for himself. For why did Christ weep, but to teach men to weep” (St. Augustine, “In Ioann. Evang.”, 49, 19). We also should weep–but for our sins, to help us return to the life of grace through conversion and repentance. We should appreciate our Lord’s tears: He is praying for us, who are sinners: "Jesus is your friend. The Friend. With a human heart, like yours. With loving eyes that wept for Lazarus.

“And He loves you as much as He loved Lazarus” ([St] J. Escriva, “The Way”, 422).

Concluded on the next post…

 

[Fidelis]

**41-42. **Through His sacred humanity Jesus is expressing Himself as the natural Son of God, that is, He is the metaphysical Son of God, not adopted like the rest of men. This is the source of Jesus’ feelings, which helps us to understand that when He says “Father” He is speaking with a unique and indescribable intensity. When the Gospels let us see Jesus praying, they always show Him beginning with the invocation “Father” (cf. note on Luke 11:1-2), which reflects His singular trust and love (cf. Matthew 11:25 and par.). These sentiments should also in some way find a place in our prayer, for through Baptism we are joined to Christ and in Him we became children of God (cf. John 1:12; Romans 6:1-11; 8:14-17), and so we should always pray in a spirit of sonship and gratitude for the many good things our Father God has given us.

The miracle of the raising of Lazarus, which really is an extraordinary miracle, is a proof that Jesus is the Son of God, sent into the world by His Father. And so it is, that when Lazarus is brought back to life, people’s faith in Jesus is increased–the disciples’ (verse 15), Martha’s and Mary’s (verses 26, 40) and that of the people at large (36, 45).
**
43. **Jesus calls Lazarus by name. Although he is really dead, he has not thereby lost his personal identity: dead people continue to exist, but they have a different mode of existence, because they have changed from mortal life to eternal life. This is why Jesus states that God “is not God of the dead, but of the living”, for to Him all are alive (cf. Matthew 22:32; Luke 20:38).

This passage can be applied to the spiritual resurrection of the soul who has sinned and recovers grace. God wants us to be saved (cf. 1 Timothy 2:4); therefore we should never lose heart; we should always desire and hope to reach this goal: “Never despair. Lazarus was dead and decaying: ’ Iam foetet, quatriduanus enim est”. By now he will smell; this is the fourth day", says Martha to Jesus.

“If you hear God’s inspiration and follow it–‘Lazare, veni foras!: Lazarus, come out!’–and you will return to Life” ([St] J. Escriva, “The Way”, 719).

**44. **The Jews prepared the body for burial by washing it and anointing it with aromatic ointments to delay decomposition and counteract offensive odors; they then wrapped the body in linen cloths and bandages, covering the head with a napkin–a method very like the Egyptians’, but not entirely extending to full embalming, which involved removing certain internal organs.

Lazarus’ tomb would have consisted of a subterranean chamber linked to the surface by steps, with the entrance blocked by a slab. Lazarus was moved out to the entrance by a supernatural force. As happened in the case of the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5;42-43), due to their astonishment no one moved until our Lord’s words broke the atmosphere of silence and terror which had been created.

St. Augustine sees in the raising of Lazarus a symbol of the Sacrament of Penance: in the same way as Lazarus comes out of the tomb, “when you confess, you come forth. For what does ‘come forth’ mean if not emerging from what is hidden, to be made manifest. But for you to confess is God’s doing; He calls you with an urgent voice, by an extraordinary grace. And just as the dead man came out still bound, so you go to Confession still guilty. In order that his sins be loosed, the Lord said this to His ministers: ‘Unbind him and let him go’. What you will lose on earth will be loosed in Heaven” (St. Augustine “In Ioann. Evang.”, 49, 24). Christian art has used this comparison from very early on; in the catacombs we find some one hundred and fifty representations of the raising of Lazarus, symbolizing thereby the gift of the life of grace which comes through the priest, who in effect repeats the words to the sinner: “Lazarus, come out.”

http://collectionsonline.lacma.org/MWEBimages/eps_mm/full/M72_67_2.jpg

 

[Crumpy]

The pictures that are linked in the posts are rather nice. Can these be embedded in the post? I thought I saw photos in a post, and not just linked.

Ezechiel 37:4 includes the words “Hear the word of the LORD.” These are the actual words preceding the first reading and the implied words for the second and third readings.

“hear” is the command of Dt 6:4

[bibledrb]Deuteronomy 6:4 [/bibledrb]

This is the most important prayer of Judaism and underscored by Jesus. “Hear!” All the passages reduce to this important divine command.

 

[Fidelis]

The pictures that are linked in the posts are rather nice. Can these be embedded in the post? I thought I saw photos in a post, and not just linked.

Hmm…On my end, the pictures are showing up embedded within the post. Anyone else not seeing them?