The Gospel of John, Chapter 11, verses 1-45 tells the story of the raising of Lazarus. Ten years ago, after my conversion, this Gospel was the most important to me. Of all the biblical characters, Lazarus was the one that I most related to for a number of years. Part of the reason is because I ended up “playing” him on four different occasions. 

     On two different Fifth Sundays of Lent , at St. Joseph’s Parish in Miami Beach, FL, they dressed me up like him, one year wrapped in toilet paper, the other year shrouded by a huge white sheet. I would “come out” in front of the catechumens at the moment when the teacher read the climactic part of the Gospel to the group. From the stricken looks on their faces I must have looked more disturbing than funny in that get-up. Death is serious business. I was so touched that I could not stop crying.    

 Two years later at the Holy Week Retreat in Bishop Molloy Retreat House in Jamaica,NY, a group of us helped out by playing different characters from the Gospels before the large group of retreatants. We were “remembering” Jesus on Holy Saturday, after He had been buried. I played risen Lazarus and improvised on my imagined memories of his childhood , playing among the olives above Bethany, with Mary and Martha, his little sisters, and of course Jesus, who was already special. I “recalled” His visits, His preaching, our belief in Him. I described how:   “I got so sick and eventually lost all consciousness. Suddenly in the darkness, I heard His powerful voice saying, ‘Lazarus, come out!.’ Somehow I found myself blinking in the dazzling light before Him. It turned out the Lord had brought me back to life! But then, a few days later, here He was dead and buried like I had been. I was so grief stricken, dazed and confused, but there was this strange hope in my heart.’   

 The fourth time I felt possessed by Lazarus was when I was crawling out of this dark, ancient tomb, way under ground, in Al-Azariah, Palestine, on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives. Al-Azariah means in Arabic: “the town of Lazarus”. Not far up the street from the Church of Lazarus, Mary and Martha, the Arab owner of Avery old private house, charges to let pilgrims wind down a steep staircase to the “grave”. It is a dreary place, specially after one crawls, one at a time, into the claustrophobic “cave”. As I was crawling back out, Fr. Vasko, our guide, took a picture of me.  

   I did not look very happy. Why? I had just been meditating on my sinful God-less life, the darkness where my soul languished on life-support. My Lord had the stone that covered my grave be taken away. He brought me back to life. He removed so many things that had bound me. He freed me in so many ways. I thank and love Him so much for that. So why that unhappy look? Perhaps because there were so many souls still stuck behind me in that hole. In a way our whole world seems to our earthly eyes to be still inside that hole. The mystery of suffering was weighing upon my mind on that day. Like Mary and Martha, I felt like complaining to the One Who saves me: “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” Why all this suffering dear Lord?  

   It has taken me a few years to come to terms with this mystery. Surrender to the will of God in prayer helps a lot. We get some inner peace. And yet I must admit, I am still trying to cope with the mystery of suffering every day, when my Lord faces me like He did Martha and challenges me: “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?”   

 Humankind has come down with a serious illness, like Lazarus. All of us friends of Jesus, cry out to Him: “Master, the one you love is ill.” Please bring a miracle. Deliver us from this disease. So many of us are suffering and dying. You, my Lord, can stop this pandemic.   

 He told us to “Ask and you shall receive.” No matter how desperate, I feel it’s my duty to ask God for the welfare of everyone on this Earth. I am doing this with all hope and faith. Yet I realize, that in another way I must be part of the answer to that prayer for someone else, just letting them know in their enclosed isolation and fear the I am there for them, even if just to listen, to pray together, because most importantly, our God is there with us. I truly believe that in God’s own time our Lord will again cry, “Come out!” And we will be able to emerge from the confining insides of our houses, from the hospitals, and we will praise our loving God. Sadly for us, some will open their eyes to be before Him, like Lazarus, but now in the delight of Eternal Life. We will mourn them, but pray for God’s grace so that we will be able to cry out to Him with tears similar to the ones He shed at Bethany: 
                                                          “Yes Lord we believe. We believe that You are the Resurrection and the Life!”
Orlando Hernández

The story of the man born blind (John 9) is an important story in John’s gospel– as you can guess from its length. It’s a sign summarizing Jesus’ teaching in the temple during the Feast of Tabernacles, our gospel readings for most of this week.

 Jesus claims that he not just a prophet, or the successor to Abraham. He is God’s only Son. “I Am.” True God from true God.

The story of the blind man reminds us that belief in Jesus Christ is a gift God gives, a gift we only grasp little by little. The story is a good example of biblical catechesis, meant to deepen our faith in the lenten season, and so we’re encouraged to reflect on it these last weeks of Lent.

For this week’s homily please watch the video below.

MARCH 28 Mon Lenten Weekday6 Is 65:17-21/Jn 4:43-54                                         

29 Tue Lenten Weekday Ez 47:1-9, 12/Jn 5:1-16                                               30 Wed Lenten Weekday Is 49:8-15/Jn 5:17-30                                                31 Thu Lenten Weekday Ex 32:7-14/Jn 5:31-47                                       APRIL 1 Fri Lenten Weekday  Wis 2:1a, 12-22/Jn 7:1-2, 10, 25-30                2 Sat Lenten Weekday [St Francis of Paola] Jer 11:18-20/Jn 7:40-53                 3 SUN FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT Is 43:16-21/Phil 3:8-14/Jn 8:1-11 or, for Year A, Ez 37:12-14/Rom 8:8-11/Jn 11:1-45 or 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-45

Our gospel readings for this week and the remainder of lent are mostly from St. John’s gospel. Until now, they were often from the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew’s Gospel – Jesus’ teaching on prayer and mercy and forgiveness of others. Some readings from Luke’s Gospel presented Jesus’ journey through Galilee where he taught and worked wonders, but he was not well received. 

Yet God’s Mercy, made flesh in Jesus Christ, continues a saving journey.

As he reaches Jerusalem, Jesus works wonders, gave sight to the man born blind, raised Lazarus from the dead and taught in the temple, but opposition to him grew stronger, John’s Gospel reports. 

More than the other gospels, John sees Christ on his glorious way to accomplish his mission to bring life to the world, even if that world opposes him or clings to the darkness, like Nicodemus. (John 4:43-54)

John’s Gospel dominates the readings for the next few weeks of Lent.

For this week’s homily, please watch the video below.

Our first reading today from the Book of Kings about Naaman the Syrian is one of the stories that got Jesus into trouble in Nazareth. He compared Naaman’s faith to the faith of the people from Nazareth and they were angered enough to want to throw him off the cliff outside the town. 

Naaman’s story is filled with interesting lessons. A little Jewish slave girl brings a great general with leprosy to Israel. Israel’s king is terrified about the political consequences of the visit. Naaman is angery about being told to wash in the Jordan. A cure comes from the water, which associates it with Christian baptism.  

Our reading today, though,  omitted part of the story I like. Returning to the Prophet Elisha after he’s cured, Naaman wants to shower the prophet with gifts, but he won’t take any. “Naaman said: “If you will not accept, please let me, your servant, have two mule-loads of earth,^* for your servant will no longer make burnt offerings or sacrifices to any other god except the LORD.”

“Two mule-loads of earth.” The Empress Helena brought earth from the site of Calvary to the church of the Holy Cross in Rome in the 4th century when she brought relics of the cross to be honored there. The earth is still there.

We’ve placed rocks from many countries of the world in our Mary Garden at the foot of the statue of Mary and her Child. (Above)

Earth itself is holy. So simple it can be ignored. Yet all life depends on about 6 inches of soil. Of all the memorabilia Naaman could have taken from Israel, he took two mule-loads of earth. He had it right.

March 21 Mon Lenten Weekday 2 Kgs 5:1-15b/Lk 4:24-30 

22 Tue Lenten Weekday Dn 3:25, 34-43/Mt 18:21-35 

23 Wed Lenten Weekday Dt 4:1, 5-9/Mt 5:17-19)

24 Thur Lenten Weekday Jer 7:23-28/Lk 11:14-23

25 Fri Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord Is 10:7-14; 8:10; Heb 10:4-10; Lk 1:26-38 

26 Sat Lenten Weekday Hos 6:1-6/Lk 18:9-14 

27 SUN FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT 1 Sm 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a/Eph 5:8-14/Jn 9:1-41 or 9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38 

Last week’s weekday readings ended with the story of the Prodigal Son; this week’s end with the tax collector who prays in the temple and finds mercy. There are also readings from the Book of Hosea this week; he’s the prophet whose unbroken love for his unfaithful wife reminds us of God’s relationship with humanity. God wants us back.

Last Sunday’s readings from cycle A, are basic catechetical teachings. The Book of Exodus and John’s multi-leveled account of the Samaritan woman who meets Jesus at the well prepare us to meet him in sacraments. The story of Naaman the Syrian general (Monday) is also a multi-leveled story. Naaman’s appreciation of the saving water of the Jordan recalls the mystery of baptism, celebrated in the Easter mysteries.

Naaman and the Samaritan woman, both interesting people, remind us that sacraments are meant for real complicated people who are drawn gradually into the mysterious reality of God’s grace.

Sacraments can be easily forgotten or unappreciated, simple signs as they are. They draw on the natural world, which can also be unappreciated, as we are learning today. Can a renewed appreciation of nature lead to a greater understanding of the sacraments? Can figures like the Samaritan woman and Naaman remind us that the sacraments are meant for people immersed in their own time and place?

The Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, is a reminder that Jesus who comes among among us, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. He was truly human as well as divine. The feast is a feast of hope. “The Lord is with you,” the angel says to Mary, “Do not be afraid.” The angel announces to her that a Child will be born to her who will bring God’s kingdom to us. The Lord is with us, do not be afraid.

For this week’s homily please watch the video below.

MARCH 14 Mon Lenten Weekday.  Dn 9:4b-10/Lk 6:36-38 

15 Tue Lenten Weekday  Is 1:10, 16-20/Mt 23:1-12 

16 Wed Lenten Weekday Jer 18:18-20/Mt 20:17-28

17 Thu Lenten Weekday [St. Patrick) Jer 17:5-10/Lk 16:19-31

18 Fri Lenten Weekday (St. Cyril of Jerusalem) Gn 37:3-4, 12-13, 17-28/Mt 21:33-46

19 Sat ST JOSEPH, Solemnity2 Sm 7:4-5, 12-14, 16/Rom 4:13, 16-18, 22/Mt 1:16, 18-24

20 SUN THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT Ex 3:1-8a, 13-15/1 Cor 10:1-6, 10-12/Lk 13:1-9
or, for Year A, Ex 17:3-7/Rom 5:1-2, 5-8/Jn 4:5-42 or 4:5-15, 19b-26, 39a, 40-42

Our readings for this week, beginning with the Old Testament reading from Daniel, proclaim the mercy of God. The New Testament readings on Monday, Thursday and Saturday are from St. Luke– a gospel of mercy. Jesus proclaims God’s mercy, especially extended to the poor. The story of the Prodigal Son, Luke’s great parable of God’s mercy, is usually read on Saturday, but not this year since the readings for the Feast of St. Joseph are read.  

Matthew’s Gospel for Wednesday reminds us that temptations about power, so obvious in the story of Jesus’ temptations, also occur in his disciples, like James and John. Can we see it too in the elder brother from the Parable of the Prodigal Son?

The readings from the Old and New Testaments complement each other during Lent. Celebrations of the saints are fewer, but they can’t be totally omitted because they remind us that the gospel takes form in generations after the time of Jesus. The feast of St. Patrick recalls the coming of the gospel to Ireland. Cyril of Jerusalem is one of the great bishops of that holy city.The Feast of St. Joseph celebrates the spouse of Mary and the foster-father of Jesus.

Readings from cycle A can be substituted for the reading cycle of the year, especially when a community is preparing new members for Baptism. The gospel for the 3rd Sunday of Lent in cycle A is the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman, a key story for Lenten catechesis. Cycle A is also a good source for the catechesis of children.