Il-Ħames Ħadd tar-Randan
Messalin A pp 157
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
L-Ewwel Lezzjoni
Qari mill-Ktieb tal-Profeta Eżekjel 37, 12-14
Hekk qal Sidi
l-Mulej: "Ara, jiena niftaħ l-oqbra
tagħkom, poplu tiegħi, u nġibkom lura 'art Iżrael. Imbagħad tkunu tafu li jiena
l-Mulej, meta niftaħ l-oqrba tagħkom u
ntelagħkom m ill-oqrba tagħkom, poplu tiegħi. U jiena nqiegħed ruħi fikom, u
terġgħu tieħdu l-ħajja. Inqegħedkom f'artkom u tkunu tafu li jiena l-Mulej.
Hekk għedt, u hekk nagħmel." Oraklu
tal-Mulej. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Responsorial Psalm
Out
of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;
LORD, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to my voice in supplication.
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.
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,
letIsrael
my soul trusts in his word.
More than sentinels wait for the dawn,
let
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 redeemIsrael
from all their iniquities.
and with him is plenteous redemption;
And he will redeem
from all their iniquities.
R/ With
the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
Salm Responsorjali
Salm 29(30)
isma', Sidi, il-leħen tiegħi!
Ħa jkunu widnejk miftuħa,
jiena u nitolbok bil-ħniena.
R/ Għand il-Mulej hemm it-tjieba.
Jekk
tal-ħtijiet int tagħti kas, Mulej,
Sidi,
min jista' jżomm sħiħ?
Imma
għandek hemm il-maħfra,
biex
hekk inqimuk fil-biża tiegħek.
R/ Għand il-Mulej hemm it-tjieba.
Jien lill-Mulej nistenna,
ruħi
f'kelmtu tittama.
Tistenna
ruħi lil Sidi,
aktar milli l-għassiesa s-sebħ.
R/ Għand il-Mulej hemm it-tjieba.
Jistenna Iżrael lill-Mulej!
Għax għand il-Mulej hemm it-tjieba,
u l-fidwa għandu bil-kotra.
Hu li jifdi lil Iżrael
minn ħtijietu kollha.
R/ Għand il-Mulej hemm it-tjieba.
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. This is the Word of The Lord.
It-Tieni Lezzjoni
Qari
mill-Ittra ta' San Pawl Appostlu lir-Rumani
8, 8-11
Ħuti, dawk li jgħixu
skond il-ġisem ma jistgħux jogħġbu lil Alla. Issa intom ma intomx taħt il-ħakma tal-ġisem, imma ta'
l-Ispirtu, ladarba hemm l-Ispirtu ta' Alla jgħammar fikom. Jekk xi ħadd ma għandux
fih l-Ispirtu ta' Kristu, dan m'huwiex tiegħu. Jekk Kristu jgħammar fikom, għalkemm
il-ġisem hu mejjet minħabba d-dnub, imma l-Ispirtu hu ħajjitkom minħabba l-ġustizzja. Jekk l-Ispirtu ta' dak li qajjem lil Ġesu' mill-imwiet jgħammar
fikom, Alla stess li qajjem lil Kristu mill-imwiet iqajjem għall-ħajja wkoll
il-ġisem mejjet tagħkom,bis-saħħa ta' l-Ispirtu li jgħammar fikom. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Gospel
Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany , the village
of Mary 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
Evanġelju
Qari mill-Evanġelju skond San Ġwann 11,
1-45
Ff'dak
iż-żmien, kien hemm wieħed marid, Lazzru minn
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“I will open your graves and have you rise from them”
Ezekiel’s dramatic vision and ours
The historical background of Sunday’s first
reading from Ezekiel 37:12-14 is the great vision of the valley of the dry
bones, one of the most spectacular panoramas in the whole of biblical
literature. It dates back to the early sixth century BC when the hand of God
came upon Ezekiel while the Jews were in captivity in Babylon
The reluctant prophet Ezekiel was commanded by
God to prophesy to these bones, to revive them. With the help of a massive
earthquake, the bones rushed together with an eerie clamour. Sinews knitted
them together, flesh and then skin clothed the corpses. The breath, “ruah,” Spirit of God came from the four
extremities of the earth, as the limp bodies came “to life again and stood up
on their feet, a great and immense army” (Ezekiel 37:10). Whereas we now
understand this incident as a pre-figuration of the resurrection of the dead,
the Jews of Ezekiel’s time did not believe in such a conception of the afterlife.
For them the immense resurrected army represented all the Jewish people, those
from the northern kingdom who had previously fled to Assyria; those at home and
those in exile in Babylon
Through the centuries, Christians have
proclaimed this text during the liturgy of Easter night as we welcome new
members into the Church. Ezekiel’s powerful words offer a stirring image of the
God of Israel’s regenerative, restorative, renewing power for this life and for
all eternity. Through the centuries, believers in the God and father of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jesus have taken heart in Ezekiel’s vision, because we
believe it to be our story as well. We believe in the power of God’s
forgiveness, the capacity of Christ, and the Catholic tradition to revive us
and bring us to life even when all around us seems to announce night, darkness,
death, dissolution, and despair.
Christian life is a constant challenge
Through St. Paul’s writing to the community in Rome
Jesus’ gift of life leads to his own death
Sunday’s pathos-filled Gospel story – the
raising of Lazarus – is the longest continuous narrative in John’s Gospel
(11:1-44) outside of the passion account and the climax of the signs of Jesus.
The story is situated shortly before Jesus is captured, tried, and crucified.
It is the event that most directly results in his condemnation by those seeking
to kill him. Johannine irony is found in the fact that Jesus’ gift of life
leads to his own death. Jesus was aware of the illness of his friend Lazarus
and yet did not go to work a healing. In fact, he delayed for several days
after Lazarus’ death, meanwhile giving his disciples lessons along the way
about the light – lessons incomprehensible in the face of grave illness and
death but understandable in the light shed by Lazarus’ and Christ’s
resurrections.
Jesus declared to Martha: “I am the resurrection
and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, he will live; whoever
lives and believes in me, will never die” (11:25-26). Then he adds: “Do you
believe this?” (11:26) The Lord urges us to respond just as Martha did, “Yes,
Lord! We too believe, despite our doubts and our darkness; we believe in you,
because you have the words of eternal life; we want to believe in you, who
gives us a trustworthy hope of life beyond life, of authentic and full life in
your kingdom of light and peace.”
Lord, if only you had been here…
How often have we, like Martha and Mary, blurted
out those same words of pain and despair: “Lord, if only you had been here, my
brother (or sister or mother or father or friend) would not have died” (11:32).
And yet today’s emotionally-charged story from John’s Gospel tells us what kind
of God we have: a God who “groaned in spirit and was troubled” (11:33). The
Greek word used here to describe Jesus’ gut sentiment tells us that he became
perturbed. It is a startling Greek phrase that literally means: “He snorted in
spirit,” perhaps in anger at the presence of evil (death). We witness the Lord
weeping at the tomb of his friend Lazarus; a Saviour deeply moved at the
commotion and grief of so many friends of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. The
shortest line in the whole bible is found in this Gospel story: “Jesus wept”
(11:35).
Jesus reveals to us God who is one with us in
suffering, grief and death: a God who weeps with us. God doesn’t intervene to
prevent the tragedies and sufferings of life. If we had a god who simply
swooped down as some “deus ex machina” to prevent human tragedy and sinfulness,
then religion and faith would simply be reduced to some form of magic or fate,
and we would be helpless pawns on the chessboard of some whimsical deity. Where
is God in the midst of human tragedies? God is there in the midst of it all,
weeping. This is our God who stands in deep, human solidarity with us, and
through the glory of the Incarnation, embraces fully our human condition.
Death of the heart and spirit
The story of the raising of Lazarus also speaks
to us about another kind of death. We can be dead, even before we die, while we
are still in this life. This is not only the death of the soul caused by sin
but rather a death that manifests itself through the absence of energy, hope,
and a desire to fight and to continue to life. We often refer to this reality
as death of the heart or spiritual death. There are many people who are
enchained in this kind of death every day because of the sad and tragic circumstances
of their lives. Who can possibly reverse this situation and revive us, stir us
back to life, free us from the tombs that enchain us? Who can perform the
spiritual cardio-pulmonary resuscitation that will reverse such desperate
situations?
For certain afflictions, there exists no human
remedy. Words of encouragement often fail to effect any change. Many times
people in these situations are not able to do anything, not even pray. They are
like Lazarus in the tomb. They need others to do something for them. Jesus once
spoke these words to his disciples: “Heal the sick, raise the dead” (Matthew
10:8). Among the corporal works of mercy – feeding the hungry, giving drink to
the thirsty, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick,
visiting prisoners – the last one is burying the dead. Today’s Gospel tells us
that in addition to this corporal work of mercy, we must also “raise the dead.”
Only the One who has entered death’s realm and
engaged death itself in battle can give life to those who have died. John
recounts the raising of Lazarus as a sign that transforms tragedy into hope.
Lazarus’ illness and death are an occasion for the manifestation of God’s
glory. As Christians we do not expect to escape death; but we approach it with
faith in the resurrection.
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