Lazarus – deacon rudy's notes

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First Reading: Ezekiel 37:12-14
Responsorial: Psalm 130:1-8
Second Reading: Romans 8:8-11
Gospel: John 11:1-45

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/032920.cfm
https://www.deaconrudysnotes.org/

Hello, my brothers and sisters! I hope this reflection finds you in good health and good spirits as you, indeed as we all cope with shelter-in-place and social distancing requirements. Today’s readings are filled with so much Good News that it’s hard to know where to begin. Let’s start with today’s Gospel account from John.

Jesus learns that his dear friend Lazarus has died. One line from this long passage that always gets me is, “And Jesus wept,” (John 11:35). Whoa! My brothers and sisters, we are not alone. That’s a powerful message to hear in these strange times. You see, the devil’s only real power is to spread fear and doubt. Many of us feel isolated, so we are particularly vulnerable to giving into fear and doubt. If you find yourself watching or listening to the news 24/7, then you are especially vulnerable to giving into fear and doubt. But the Good News from today’s Gospel is that we are not alone. Our God loves us and just as Jesus wept for Lazarus, Jesus is here for us.

We are Christians. Death has no power over us. There is nothing to fear, because our God is waiting for us with open arms. We hear from our first reading from Ezekiel that God promises to open our graves and have us rise from them (EZ 37:12, 14). Paul tells us in Romans that same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is with us and gives us life, (Romans 8:11).

In today’s Gospel, we can learn from Jesus how best to pray. He turns to God and He says, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me…” (John 11:41-42). How often do we turn to God in prayer and immediately dive in and list all the things we need from God – especially right now?

How should we pray? We begin from a position of faith, not fear. We are Christian and no bug should scare us. If you believe, I mean if you really believe, then how can be we be afraid? We turn to God with belief that no matter what happens, we are united with God and with the entire community of believers – those who came before, those with us now and those yet to be born.

You see, Jesus’ prayer before Lazarus’ tomb rooted in His faith in the Father shines a light into the darkness that shrouds our world. <1> Jesus’ prayer reminds us that God and faith in God are more precious than any gift or any answer to our prayers. <2> God’s presence in our lives means we are not alone. So, no matter what the devil threatens to throw at us (uncertainty, fear, doubt), with faith we can proclaim from our windows and our balconies, this too shall pass.

Homework! Nourished by the Word of God proclaimed and by Spiritual Communion, I ask you to reflect on the following two questions this week.

We heard in the Gospel that when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. Where do I meet Jesus? How can I make spending time with the Lord a priority?
We also heard in the Gospel that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. How can I be more open to God’s will in my life?

I think doing our homework this week will help prepare us for Holy Week. Do you got it? Do you get it? Now go make disciples! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! +Amen!

Citations:
<1> Fr. John Eckert, “5th Sunday of Lent – March 29, 2020,” Homiletic & Pastoral Review, February 26, 2020, Accessed March 29, 2020, https://www.hprweb.com/2020/02/homilies-for-march-2020/.
<2> Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2604.

References:

Eckert, John. “5th Sunday of Lent – March 29, 2020.” Homiletic & Pastoral Review, February 26, 2020. Accessed March 29, 2020, https://www.hprweb.com/2020/02/homilies-for-march-2020/.
Lectio Divina Of The Gospels. Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2019.
Martin, Francis and William M. Wright IV. The Gospel of John. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2015.
The Bible: A Study Bible freshly translated by Nicholas King. Buxhall, Suffolk UK: Kevin Mayhew, 2013.
Hahn, Scott W. and Curtis Mitch. Romans. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2017.

Catechism References: Easily search the Catechism at http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm

Christ’s human knowledge, 471-74
Jesus’ heart, 478
Signs of the kingdom, 547-50
Raisings a messianic sign prefiguring Christ’s resurrection, 549, 640, 646
Christ’s risen humanity, 645-46
Christ’s resurrection and ours, 658, 995
Names of the Spirit, 693
Law of the Spirit, 972
General resurrection, 988-91, 1002-4
The resurrection, 992-1004
Dying in Christ, 1005-14
The Eucharist and the Resurrection, 1402-5, 1524
Christ the physician, 1503-5
Jesus’ prayer, 2599-2606

Fifth Sunday of Lent
Lectionary: 34
Mass Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/032920.cfm

First Reading
Ezekiel 37:12-14
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.

Responsorial
Psalm 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8.
R. (7) With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;
LORD, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to my voice in supplication.
R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
If you, O LORD, mark iniquities,
LORD, who can stand?
But with you is forgiveness,
that you may be revered.
R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
I trust in the LORD;
my soul trusts in his word.
More than sentinels wait for the dawn,
let Israel wait for the LORD.
R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
For with the LORD is kindness
and with him is plenteous redemption;
And he will redeem Israel
from all their iniquities.
R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.

Second Reading
Romans 8:8-11
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.

Verse Before The Gospel
John 11:25A, 26
I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;
whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will never die.

Gospel
John 11:1-45
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.”
When 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.”

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?”

“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.

Or
John 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-45

The sisters of Lazarus sent word to Jesus, saying,
“Master, the one you love is ill.”
When 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.”

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus
had already been in the tomb for four days.
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,
“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.”

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.

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The Sin of Pride

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Mass Readings

First Reading: Amos 6:1A, 4-7
Responsorial: Psalm 146:7-10
Second Reading: 1 Timothy 6:11-16
Gospel: Luke 16:19-31

In today’s Gospel, we hear the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Very often we look at this parable only from the perspective of renouncing greed and treating the poor with justice. Indeed, in our first reading from Amos, we hear a curse against the wealthy who are complacent and stuff themselves while starving spiritually (Amos 6:19-26). Just to be clear, this is not a parable against wealth. St. Thomas Aquinas says that we have the right to ownership, through our hard work or through inheritance. But he goes on to say that we must always be concerned for the common good before our ourselves. So, while this is an important dimension of the today’s readings, there’s something more going on here.

Before we get to that, let’s review. This parable and the parables we’ve heard over the past weeks have been taking place on Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem. Some of the lessons were put to the disciples; others to the crowds following Jesus; and still others for Pharisees and other religious leaders. Now between last week’s readings and this week is bridge, Luke 16:14-18. Unfortunately, we don’t hear that proclaimed. The Gospel says, “The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and sneered at him. And he said to them, ‘You justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts; for what is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God.’”

Then, Jesus tells the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. This image would not have been unknown to the crowd. Lazarus who was lying at the rich man’s door because he was lamed or crippled and covered in sores is reminiscent of Deuteronomy 28:35. The dogs that licked Lazarus’ wounds, which added insult to injury, is similar to we find in 1 Kings 21:19 and 23; and Psalm 22:17.

When death comes, there is a reversal in situations. Lazarus was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man was sent to the netherworld which is interpreted as Hades or Sheol. Now this is a complete rejection of the prosperity Gospel. There are some who falsely preach that wealth and success are signs of God’s blessings. This suggests that poverty is a sign of God’s disfavor. Yet, in today’s Gospel it is the poor man who is rewarded in the afterlife and not the rich man.

The rich man calls out to “Father Abraham,” but remember that John the Baptist has already warned that it was not sufficient to say, “We have Abraham as our father,” (Luke 3:8), since you also had to “produce good fruits as evidence of … repentance.” So, having missed the opportunity to repent, the rich man is being tormented.

He begs that he be allowed to warn his five brothers, but Abraham says that they have Moses and the prophets, if they would just listen. Jesus, for example, has repeatedly emphasized the importance of listening to the Word of God, for example Luke 8:21; and Luke 11:28.

He makes one last plea asking that Lazarus be raised from the dead and sent to warn his brothers in person. Abraham again denies his request. If they aren’t convinced by Moses or the prophets, then they won’t be convinced by someone coming back from the dead.

Of course, the idea is that if the Pharisees who know and understand the Law, who understand the tradition from Abraham to their time, who don’t live the spirt of the Law, who don’t understand that they need repentance, then clearly, they will be blind to the Messiah in their midst – even at his resurrection. Why is that? This is the point I alluded to earlier. The Pharisees are blinded by their pride which gives them an inflated sense of their worth even over and against their claims of faith in God!

In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis writes, “Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.”

Today’s parable about the rich man and Lazarus is meant to reach out the Pharisees then and today – those who are so consumed by their position in life – like their status and their wealth – that they can’t recognize God in their presence. Where do we find God today? Jesus tells us whatever you do to the least of these, you do unto me. Pride blinds us to God’s spark in everyone – what we refer to as human dignity rooted in being created in the image and likeness of God. Jesus challenges us to snap out of it! And that leads us to our homework today.

Homework! After being nourished by the Word of God proclaimed and by the Eucharist, I encourage you to consider one thing this week:

Reflecting on today’s Gospel, if you were the rich person who ended up below, and God gave you the chance to write a letter to your family and friends so they wouldn’t end up like you, what would you write? What would you tell them? Maybe it would be helpful to actually write out a letter.

I think by doing our homework this week, we might recognize the sin of pride which often goes unrecognized in our own lives – recognize it, go to confession, and deal with it. Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. +Amen!

Notes:
<1> The Gospel of Luke by Pablo T. Gadenz, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, Baker Academic (2018).
<2> C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.