First reading from the Book of Ezekiel EZ 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.
Second reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans ROM 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.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY From the Gospel according to John Jn 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.
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER Our resurrection begins here: when we decide to obey Jesus’ command by coming out into the light, into life; when the mask falls from our face — we are frequently masked by sin, the mask must fall off! — and we find again the courage of our original face, created in the image and likeness of God. (Angelus, 6 april 2014)
Jesuits - Jesus came precisely to reveal the Father to us, to reveal our identity and our identity is our salvation. The resuscitation of the corpse of Lazarus is a sign of the resurrection that takes place in Martha and Mary: they believe that the final word is not for death, but for the loving God who gives life. Whoever knows this love, already now lives eternal life. This is not interrupted by biological death, but is accomplished in the daily love that knows how to give life to the end. And God is love, bottomless bottom, beginning of everything and end without end. The faith in the resurrection in Israel was born from the experience of friendship with God. To say to one: "I love you" means "You will not die" and this, to tell us, is God, so it does not come from philosophical deductions, but is the strongest experience of belonging to the God of life who is faithful, Who is always faithful and can never cease His faithfulness. This is beautiful, because the Resurrection is this experience. And we will see it in this story of the resurrection, a story that for itself does not speak to us of the resurrection of Lazarus, even that, but as a "sign" of something else, of that eternal life that we already live now, that death does not interrupt, that eternal life that is friendship with God that makes you live a life free from the mortgage of death, because you already live this relationship with Him and with your brothers, a life that already goes beyond death: it is a relationship of love. The last work of Jesus, we had seen, was to open our eyes to reality - the enlightenment of the blind -; then He made us see the new man, the free man to the image of God. Now He wants to open our eyes to that extreme reality before which we all close our eyes; that reality which mortgages our lives and which we all know. And until we look into the eyes that reality that we know that awaits us, we do not know why we live. And all life, after all, is a defense against going there. To save ourselves from death is our deepest desire: we have the desire for full life, for immortality. And yet we know that it is not possible to save ourselves. And we will see that Jesus does not save us "from" death, even Lazarus is left to die; He saves us "in" death; and what will happen to Lazarus. The resurrection is not the true miracle, it is the sign. So the true miracle is not the blind man who sees, it is the sign. The miracle is that we are able to be free and to see what meaning our life has. So the real miracle does not happen in Lazarus coming out of the tomb; it happens in Martha and Mary who have faith and believe in the Lord and are in communion with the Lord who is the Resurrection and Life. So what does the Lord want to give us? Not a cheap recipe to avoid death - we are limited, otherwise we would not exist - He wants to give us instead a new way of living our limits, including the ultimate limit. The limit is not the negation of me; the limit is the place where I can enter into relationship with others and with the Other with a capital "A". Therefore Jesus teaches us to live the limit as a place of Communion and the ultimate limit as the ultimate place of definitive communion with the Lord. If life were not like this, truly God would be the most hated person in the world.If He would implacably destine to death a man who has conscience, intelligence, desire for life and love, He would be a sadist. Until we open our eyes to death, we do not understand the meaning of life. Because life now either you live it to remove or postpone death ,knowing that you are losing, or you live it instead as a place of communion already now with the Father and with your brothers and sisters and then it already becomes eternal life, you change the quality of life. That is, the great deception is how we perceive death. That is why there was before the illumination of the blind man who becomes free in front of reality because he sees it and, therefore, knows how to move.
->Let us ask the Lord to open our eyes before this reality that touches us all, for which everything is done to forget why we have it always present. Instead, we must know that this is not the mortgage of our existence, but something divine, even the place where the Glory is manifested; it is the end point of existence, not the destruction of existence. The Resurrection is a sign of something deeper: that death does not have the last word, that there is the Lord of life who loves you and is your friend and who wants to live in communion with you now and always, and this is His Glory, His love for us. Jesus instead will go and give His life to Lazarus and He will give His life for Lazarus. So Jesus will live what He says: there is a life that knows how to give life, that knows how to love the friend, to the point of giving His own life as the Son of God, and this will be our eternal life: to experience that God loves us in this way.
First reading from the Book of Ezekiel
RispondiEliminaEZ 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.
Second reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans
ROM 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.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to John
Jn 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.
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER
Our resurrection begins here: when we decide to obey Jesus’ command by coming out into the light, into life; when the mask falls from our face — we are frequently masked by sin, the mask must fall off! — and we find again the courage of our original face, created in the image and likeness of God. (Angelus, 6 april 2014)
Jesuits - Jesus came precisely to reveal the Father to us, to reveal our identity and our identity is our salvation.
RispondiEliminaThe resuscitation of the corpse of Lazarus is a sign of the resurrection that takes place in Martha and Mary: they believe that the final word is not for death, but for the loving God who gives life. Whoever knows this love, already now lives eternal life. This is not interrupted by biological death, but is accomplished in the daily love that knows how to give life to the end. And God is love, bottomless bottom, beginning of everything and end without end.
The faith in the resurrection in Israel was born from the experience of friendship with God. To say to one: "I love you" means "You will not die" and this, to tell us, is God, so it does not come from philosophical deductions, but is the strongest experience of belonging to the God of life who is faithful, Who is always faithful and can never cease His faithfulness. This is beautiful, because the Resurrection is this experience. And we will see it in this story of the resurrection, a story that for itself does not speak to us of the resurrection of Lazarus, even that, but as a "sign" of something else, of that eternal life that we already live now, that death does not interrupt, that eternal life that is friendship with God that makes you live a life free from the mortgage of death, because you already live this relationship with Him and with your brothers, a life that already goes beyond death: it is a relationship of love.
The last work of Jesus, we had seen, was to open our eyes to reality - the enlightenment of the blind -; then He made us see the new man, the free man to the image of God. Now He wants to open our eyes to that extreme reality before which we all close our eyes; that reality which mortgages our lives and which we all know. And until we look into the eyes that reality that we know that awaits us, we do not know why we live.
And all life, after all, is a defense against going there.
To save ourselves from death is our deepest desire: we have the desire for full life, for immortality.
And yet we know that it is not possible to save ourselves.
And we will see that Jesus does not save us "from" death, even Lazarus is left to die; He saves us "in" death; and what will happen to Lazarus.
The resurrection is not the true miracle, it is the sign.
So the true miracle is not the blind man who sees, it is the sign.
The miracle is that we are able to be free and to see what meaning our life has. So the real miracle does not happen in Lazarus coming out of the tomb; it happens in Martha and Mary who have faith and believe in the Lord and are in communion with the Lord who is the Resurrection and Life.
So what does the Lord want to give us? Not a cheap recipe to avoid death - we are limited, otherwise we would not exist - He wants to give us instead a new way of living our limits, including the ultimate limit.
The limit is not the negation of me; the limit is the place where I can enter into relationship with others and with the Other with a capital "A".
Therefore Jesus teaches us to live the limit as a place of Communion and the ultimate limit as the ultimate place of definitive communion with the Lord. If life were not like this, truly God would be the most hated person in the world.If He would implacably destine to death a man who has conscience, intelligence, desire for life and love, He would be a sadist.
Until we open our eyes to death, we do not understand the meaning of life. Because life now either you live it to remove or postpone death ,knowing that you are losing, or you live it instead as a place of communion already now with the Father and with your brothers and sisters and then it already becomes eternal life, you change the quality of life.
That is, the great deception is how we perceive death.
That is why there was before the illumination of the blind man who becomes free in front of reality because he sees it and, therefore, knows how to move.
->Let us ask the Lord to open our eyes before this reality that touches us all, for which everything is done to forget why we have it always present. Instead, we must know that this is not the mortgage of our existence, but something divine, even the place where the Glory is manifested; it is the end point of existence, not the destruction of existence.
RispondiEliminaThe Resurrection is a sign of something deeper: that death does not have the last word, that there is the Lord of life who loves you and is your friend and who wants to live in communion with you now and always, and this is His Glory, His love for us.
Jesus instead will go and give His life to Lazarus and He will give His life for Lazarus. So Jesus will live what He says: there is a life that knows how to give life, that knows how to love the friend, to the point of giving His own life as the Son of God, and this will be our eternal life: to experience that God loves us in this way.