Sunday Gospel Reflection, March 22, 2026: Whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live

Whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live…
Can we find new life in Christ? 

   De Profundis, as Psalm 130 is more commonly known, speaks to the experience of an individual who has found himself in dire need of God’s mercy: Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord, the psalmist sings, Lord, hear my voice! It is a psalm that would perhaps have brought comfort to the people of Israel exiled to Babylon: For with the Lord is kindness and plenteous redemption; and he will redeem Israel from all their iniquities. In the midst of this difficult exile, the people of Israel hear words of restoration from the prophet Ezekiel, words of hope and promise that only God can provide: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel. Their identity will come not only from the land that will be restored to them, but from God’s spirit implanted in them: I will put my spirit in you that you may live, God promises. To be in relationship with the God who loves them is to have the life God promises. 

   Jesus’ friend Lazarus has not fallen out of right relationship with the Lord as the people of Israel had. But in John’s Gospel, Jesus uses his good friend’s illness as a means through which he can reveal the Father’s work through him and with him, that all might come to believe. When, even in the midst of her grief, Martha expresses her continued trust in Jesus’ plan, Jesus reassures her definitively: whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live. If Lazarus can be raised, set free from death itself, then all have the opportunity to be freed from their fear of death, and live. We can live, as Paul tells the Romans, in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in us. Physical death, even a body dead because of sin, is as nothing so long as the spirit is alive because of righteousness, for the one who raised Christ from the dead gives life to our mortal bodies also. If Jesus dwells in us, if we allow him entry, then we can be alive in Christ, finding new life in him and giving resounding witness to the glory of God! 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com

Sunday Gospel Reflection, April 2, 2017: Whoever believes in me, even though he die, will live...

 Whoever believes in me, even though he die, will live… 

Do you believe God can lift you to life? 

   When we’re broken, it’s sometimes hard to imagine that God can make us whole again.  Yet, as Psalm 130 reminds us, God’s sole focus is on forgiveness and redemption, on healing that which is broken – and our faith stories tell us that God is not interested in breaking anything further.  The prophet Ezekiel is chosen by God to call the people of Israel – languishing in exile – back to life as they once had known it:  I will open your graves and have you rise from them… I will put my spirit in you that you may live, God says. It is a promise to lift the people from the death-like state of exile through the bond of covenant, a bond that will tie them once again to their God, making them whole, restoring them to life.

   When Jesus sets Lazarus free from the bonds of death in John’s Gospel, he simultaneously urges all those who are watching to loose the knots in their own hearts that have consigned Lazarus to that death:  Untie him, and let him go, Jesus says  For they too must move with Jesus through death to life.  Likewise, it is Jesus’ death and resurrection that make it possible for him to lift us from the depths of sin and despair to life in the Spirit.  But we must, like Martha, profess our belief in Jesus’ power to do so:  everyone who lives and believes in me will never die, Jesus tells her. 

   Our lives are a constant journey with Jesus, moving through his Passion, from death to life, drawing ever closer to our own life in him.  If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, Paul tells the Roman community, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit dwelling in you.  Do we believe God is able to lift us to life?  If we are open to the power of the Spirit of God in our lives, we should have no doubts:  Jesus is the resurrection and the life – the God who lifts us from our brokenness, making us whole, lifting us to life in Christ.

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source:  Wordle