Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent

John 11:45-56

Many of the Jews who had come to Mary
and seen what Jesus had done began to believe in him.
But some of them went to the Pharisees
and told them what Jesus had done. 
So the chief priests and the Pharisees
convened the Sanhedrin and said,
“What are we going to do? 
This man is performing many signs.
If we leave him alone, all will believe in him,
and the Romans will come
and take away both our land and our nation.”
But one of them, Caiaphas,
who was high priest that year, said to them,
“You know nothing,
nor do you consider that it is better for you
that one man should die instead of the people,
so that the whole nation may not perish.”
He did not say this on his own,
but since he was high priest for that year,
he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,
and not only for the nation,
but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God.
So from that day on they planned to kill him.

So Jesus no longer walked about in public among the Jews,
but he left for the region near the desert,
to a town called Ephraim,
and there he remained with his disciples.

Now the Passover of the Jews was near,
and many went up from the country to Jerusalem
before Passover to purify themselves.
They looked for Jesus and said to one another
as they were in the temple area, “What do you think?
That he will not come to the feast?”

Reflection

Today’s Gospel is after the raising of Lazarus, the seventh sign. But I fear that the world has become dead, sleeping without consciousness to the Spirit of Christ. I see this in the violence, the death of so many whether by guns or bombs, the fear that the dead are simply without hope which has driven people to extremes of violence in their religion and in their belief systems. It is those who have taken it upon themselves to impose what they call the “Will of God,” no matter the cost and no matter the consequences upon the innocents.

This may be a paradigm shift and we may yet spring forward, and the start is with the belief in one human godhead, Jesus Christ, that he will truly rise, and will come again but until then we pray our Lenten prayers to have the strength and courage to believe in the words of the Gospel.  

As we begin the transcendence into Holy week, I pray the Spirit of Christ awakens in you and fills you with God’s love so that you are the beacon of light, you are the one who gives hope and joy that those you meet.

I pray that the Triduum transforms the world into a world where love knows no bounds, where the disenfranchised are celebrated in the community, and where the act of love so powerful it raised Lazarus from the dead permeates your whole being.

May the love of God through the touch of the Son and the words of she who is the Holy Spirit lead you to experience the epiphany of the seventh sign both in it and in the act of love which happens through our Easter celebration! 

St. Mary’s will pray for you at Mass, but most especially during Holy Week. May God Bless each of you!

Action

As we enter Holy Week, let us reflect upon this great act of love that God has shown us through the cross. How should we show our deep gratitude to God?

Fr. Michael Lalone

Pastor at St. Marys American National Catholic Church