CatholicBoard

The Fifth Sunday of Lent (Year A)

Today’s readings, though given in the midst of Lent, pertain to the theme of resurrection. They were chosen because they pertain especially to those who are preparing to be received into the Church at Easter.

One of the underlying and main themes of the Major and Minor Prophets is that of a future event wherein God will restore Israel under the descendant of David. The prophet Ezekiel depicts this event in terms of the resurrection of the body in the first reading taken from Ezekiel 37:12-14: “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.” Israel will be re-gathered or restored from among the Gentiles, and this great event is foretold by means of the metaphor of a corporate resurrection that involves the giving of God’s Spirit.

The New Testament clearly intends to show how this long-awaited restoration began with the ministry of Jesus and continues through the ministry of the Church – by way of the apostles and their successors.

In the Gospel (John 11:1-45), Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead to fulfill Ezekiel 37. This miracle served as a mouthful of prophetic significance for a Jew living in the 1st century. It is like saying: “Israel is being restored! David’s royal descendant is in our midst!”

Jesus then declares: “I am the resurrection and the life” because Lazarus’ bodily resuscitation points forward to an even greater resurrection: when Jesus will not merely receive a resuscitation but much, much more: a transformed, incorruptible body by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is that resurrection, which will save us from our sins, which will justify us before the Father.

In the second reading (Romans 8:8-11), St. Paul says, “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 indwells you.” The former are what we would call “in a state of sin.” They do not have sanctifying grace; they are dead in their transgressions. The latter group has received the Spirit of God in baptism (see Romans 6:3-4), and they are inwardly members of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ. They have not lost sanctifying grace through mortal sin (See 1 John 5:16-17) or have done so and then re-entered the state of grace through the Sacrament of Reconciliation (See John 20:21-23).

The raising of Lazarus speaks of what will happen to the unbaptized elect and the baptized candidates for full communion this Easter. They will receive new life in the Holy Sacraments. They will be mystically incorporated into the Family of God by means of the Holy Spirit. Their sins will be forgiven, and they will receive new life in Christ Jesus their Lord.