Newsletter Fifth Sunday of Lent (Year A) 22nd March, 2026
- glendalough5
- 1 day ago
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GOSPEL REFLECTION:
Lazarus is risen from the dead.
There are two other occasions, in the Bible, when Jesus raises a person from the dead.
The daughter of Jairus and the son of the widow of the town of Nain.
By raising people from the dead Jesus proves that He is Divine. Finally, Jesus raises Himself from the dead which causes St Thomas to say to Him: “My Lord and My God.”
There have been many examples of the dead being raised to life through prayer for example, in the 15th Century Our Lord used St Vincent Ferrer, a Dominican Priest, to raise perhaps a dozen people from the dead. St Vincent’s Feast Day is April 5th.
Recently, in New Zealand, a priest prayed for a dead man – aged about 50 to rise from the dead. He prayed to Jesus, “This man is too young to die and his family are too young to lose him, please bring him back to life” and nothing appeared to happen at that time.
The man’s dead body was taken to the morgue (mortuary). There, a nurse witnessed the body move and sit up.
Also, this man had an after-life experience. He had a glimpse of paradise and was heading there. He never felt so much joy.
But then, he found himself again in his mortal body.
He is alive today. Whenever he sees that Priest he jokes with him, telling the Priest he will never forgive him for saying that prayer.
Jesus, in today’s Gospel says to Martha: “I Am the Resurrection and the Life.” Jesus is saying that He is the Resurrection. In other words, Jesus has the power to raise us from physical and spiritual death.
If Jesus can raise someone who was dead for 4 days when decomposition would have already set in, then Jesus has the power to set people free from any sin, hardship, and addiction.
Jesus in today’s Gospel says to Martha and to us: “Whoever believes in Me, even if he dies will live and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.”
And then Jesus says to Martha: “Do you believe this?” (Jn 11:25-26).
Even if you are dead spiritually because of sin or dead emotionally because of life’s problems, Jesus wants to give you the gift of His Resurrection so that your sin or vice changes to extreme virtue and all your grief or despair changes to extreme peace and joy.
Do you believe this?
God’s plan is that we be a Resurrected person in this life and through us, all creation will be Resurrected.
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