THE CONCLUSION
The readings for today permeate the truth about life and death. In Ezekiel’s vision which is from today's 1st reading, he saw the release of the Jews from their captivity which is likened to rising from the dead. It is a promise that they will experience new life that springs from God's own spirit. The same is true for us, when our battle on earth is over, then we, too can settle upon the land and kingdom that God has prepared for us. We may all be going through some kind of difficulty in our lives and things look like they will not get any better. When we come to this point and feel like the world is crumbling right before our eyes then we can always remember these powerful words in today's 1st reading. Ezekiel prophesied to the dry bones and saw before his very eyes the rattling bones that came together. Bone joining bone, sinews and the flesh came upon them, the skin covered them, the spirit came into them; they came alive and stood upright, a vast army. These may all sound too impossible and hard to imagine but we must always be reminded of how great and awesome is God. It is also our hope that someday we will all rise up in God's power and glory. With God all things are possible. Amen. Hallelujah!
Ezekiel 37:12-14
12 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
Justification actually means being "made righteous" i.e. it entails the sanctification of his whole being (CCC 1989, 1990, &1995) We are justified not by faith alone nor by works alone. Justification has its stages i.e. initial and progressive. Initial justification takes place at our baptism. We still have a tendency to backslide and during the hour of death is the period of intense spiritual battle over our soul. That is why we need to mature in our faith.
Certainty of Salvation "Once saved, always saved?" If we believe in this it tends to put off our guard. (1 Jn 5:13-14)
Epistles against works? I guess there have been some misunderstanding here of the following bible verses: Rom. 3:28 (Obedience of faith) We should be aware of the truth that we know we are saved, still being saved and will continue to be saved as stated by Paul in 1 Cor. 4:3-5, 9:27. In Phil 2:12 Paul also encouraged us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. For the enemy is waging war on us and we need to be very aware of this and claim God's protection over us at all times. (Eph.6:11-12)
Martin Luther based his belief on faith alone on this specific verse he failed to see that Paul in addition to what I've mentioned earlier was attacking the Jews with regards to their ceremonial laws and that it is not enough to just hear the law but to observe it. (Rom 4:5 Total adherence) An example he gave was attending the mass not just as an obligation but with the heart. Consider it a privilege and do it for the love of God. He said we are saved by grace not by works but we obtain the grace of God by good works and the motive is mercy (Eph. 2:8-9 and Titus 3:5) as in today's psalm. We all have our faults, failures and shortcomings. No one can deny the fact that we all have sinned and fallen short of God's standard. It is to our advantage if we take everything that comes to us most especially the trials and difficulties as a form of offering to God for His greater glory. Just like what the song says:
All that I am, all that I have I lay them down before you, oh Lord
All my regrets, all my acclaims the joy and the pain, I'm making them yours
[Chorus:]
Lord, I offer my life to you. Everything I've been through. Use it for your glory
Lord I offer my days to you. Lifting my praise to you as a pleasing sacrifice
Lord I offer you my life
[Verse 2:]
Things in the past, things yet unseen, wishes and dreams that are yet to come true
All of my heart, all of my praise, my heart and my hands are lifted to you
We sing this song with all our heart with a hope in joyful waiting for His redemption. There is no use in denying, covering up, pretending or doing whatever other defense mechanisms we have before the Lord. We can not hide anything from the Lord. Sometimes we miss the point when we do things so that we look pleasing before the eyes of others, but what about in the eyes of the Lord? We don't have to bother about hiding because the Lord is able to find us. We might as well get our acts together so that when He finds us He'll like what He'll see. We continue to believe that God is merciful despite the many sins we have committed. Though hard, there is a need to turn away from our wicked ways by always keeping the word of God before us and conducting ourselves in accordance to it. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalms 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
R: With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; Lord, hear my voice! 2 Let your ears be attentive to my voice in supplication. (R) 3 If you, O LORD, mark iniquities, LORD, who can stand? 4 But with you is forgiveness, that you may be revered. (R) 5 I trust in the LORD; my soul trusts in his word. 6 More than sentinels wait for the dawn. More than sentinels wait for the dawn, let Israel wait for the LORD. (R) 7 For with the LORD is kindness and with him is plenteous redemption; 8 and he will redeem Israel from all their iniquities.
We associate a lot of things to places where we live. How about associating things to ourselves by examining closely who lives in us. We are without a trace of any doubt as proclaimed in today's 2nd reading a dwelling place of God. Just like any other places where we can live, if the conditions are no longer favorable, or we are forced to relocate due to work reasons, buy a new house and move to a place where we can call our own and other reasons we can all think about when transferring to a new place to live. Sometimes we can use this analogy to ourselves as God's dwelling place. Are we trying our best to make feel God at home in our lives or are we driving Him away from us? For God is always the perfect gentleman and would never force Himself if we do not welcome Him the way we should. Let us be careful just as what sometimes happen when we may not be aware of it but we are already kicking Jesus out of our lives. He patiently waits for us to open the doors of our hearts. We prevent God's miracles in our lives when we suppress it by our wrongdoings. Why not allow the Spirit of the Lord that dwells in us triumph, unchain the spirit and unleash its power to work in us. The 2nd reading assures the Christian community of a future of unending glory for all who have been loyal to God. The assurance of resurrection is nothing less than the spirit dwelling in us. We are released from the graves that we create for ourselves. The resurrection is the ground of our faith and basis for our hope. Let us be conscious and truly nurture God's spirit in us.
Amen. Hallelujah!
Romans 8:8-11
"...For those who live according to the flesh are concerned with the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit with the things of the spirit. The concern of the flesh is death, but the concern of the spirit is life and peace. For the concern of the flesh is hostility toward God; it does not submit to the law of God, nor can it; and 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 that dwells in you.
The climax is found in today’s gospel which is the rising from the dead of Lazarus. It gives us hope in our own rising just as Ezekiel and Paul tells his community. It confirms our faith in Jesus who is for us our resurrection and life. St. John’s gospel begins with a wedding and closes with a funeral. Today’s gospel is the account of the funeral at Bethany . There are 4 characters, Jesus, Martha, Mary and Lazarus. John tells us that He loved them. The funeral ritual in Jesus' time is very different in ours. The body is wrapped, covered and placed in a cave. Jesus waited 2 days before he went to Lazarus despite the urgency of the call. It was for the will of God to be demonstrated by this miracle. At that time the Jewish authorities are ready to do away with Him. The miracle of Lazarus is a last ditch attempt to win the Jewish authorities over. We also see this statement of Jesus in the gospel that we continue to hear at every funeral mass, “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?” The chief priest and Jewish officials failed to make the connection that Martha was able to make. In fact Martha is considered a woman of great faith for she is the only one aside from Peter who had professed that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah. She is a hardworking prayer intercessor who never stops in her labor for the service of God. Just like St. Martha we should all be firm believers that God answers all our prayers no matter how impossible it may be. Although the qualities of St. Martha depicted in a certain bible passage where she complained to the Lord that she is the one doing all the work does not speak very well of her we could still learn something from it. We should look at the example of the industrious and service oriented attitude of St. Martha especially when our lazy and careless sides get the better of us. It happens to the best of us when we sometimes run away from work and hesitate to be involved. As we make ourselves available for God's work we too like St. Martha in today's gospel can eventually transcend from that worried and anxious woman to a person of faith. When we are totally surrendered to the will of God nothing or no one should drive us to fear not even death itself. This is because we are confident of the saving power of God. He will never lead us to where His love can not reach us. We can always be assured of the loving arms of our Savior. We can also see that Jesus wept. He is the Son of God but also the vulnerable Son of Man. He is the most sensitive of human beings. Jesus’ love for Lazarus and his sisters is very obvious. We should believe that His love for us is no less than them. We can contemplate on the rolling away of the stone, unbinding Lazarus and letting him go. How often do we bind ourselves with metaphorical strings like addiction, gossip, prejudices, sexual deviations and anger. We hide it to ourselves but we can’t hide from God. We should seek help to unbind ourselves. Is there an area in our life where hope is gone? Let us pray to bring the light of his love to liberate us. Hand them over to Jesus to be healed, raised up and set free. Jesus calls us by name to come out of our graves. There is a deeper and darker truth in this world where we are. Sometimes we meet death of our own making. We see how people kill each other in acts of murder like abortion, euthanasia, overworking, stress, bad eating habits, physical neglect as we also watch others die through destruction of our environment. Death is certainly all around us, not just as a result of old age but of our own making. We need to alleviate it for ourselves and others too. The vital question is, "Am I ready to face my own death, we don’t know the day nor the hour." Now is the time to make preparation and to take responsibility not just for ourselves. We, not just Lazarus and his sisters are loved by Jesus. We are all called to unbind and be free. It is not through our own merits that we receive miracles and blessings from God. In everything, let us bring back the glory to God. We should make it an ongoing Christian responsibility throughout our life. Indeed, if we do so, the resurrection is the conclusion of our lives. Amen. Hallelujah!
John 11:1-45
1 Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany , the village of Mary Judea .”...“Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him.” 12 So the disciples said to him, “Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved.” 13 But Jesus was talking about his death, while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep. 14 So then Jesus said to them clearly, “Lazarus has died. 15 And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him.”...Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” ...When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled, 34 and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Sir, come and see.” 35 And Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him.”...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.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. 42 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.” 43 And when he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 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.” 45 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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