Jesus Christ Restores US
This weekend is the 5th Sunday of the Lent and the Holy Church reminds us death with hope in resurrection, challenging us to be alive and not spiritually.
As we all know we are living in a challenging time which none of us have experienced before. It is very difficult for us to accept that church is closed especially on this Holy time. But we should remember that church is not closed only the church building is closed. We are the church which built together, Christ as the corner stone. So as we are the church we are connected together in spirit and faith. I am doing mass for you all everyday keeping you in my mind heart. So please be connected together in spirit which strengthens us by our prayer and sacrifices at this challenging time. Please be connected to each other through phone calls, enquiring about each other, especially those who need support, connecting through social media. You can be connected to parish through website, face book page and phone calls. Let us always remember that we, the parish and community, are one in spirit and overcome this situation joining our hands together with prayer, keeping the regulation and supporting each other.
The gospel of this Sunday presents us with Jesus’ demonstration of power. By raising Lazarus for death, Christ proved that he is really, the resurrection and life. He could not have achieved this without the power of the Holy Spirit. Regeneration, resurrection and restoration are all possible through the power of the Holy Spirit. All we need to do is, humble ourselves, and allow him to use us.
One lesson we must learn from today’s gospel that Jesus is ever willing to help us no matter what it will cost him. It does not matter how long we have been spiritually dead or exiled. He knows us, loves, and calls us by our names as he called Lazarus: “Come out!” If we hear and obey his voice, then he will restore life to our weak and mortal bodies through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Fr. Joseph Kanatt MCBS
Gospel: (John 11:1-45)
There was a man named Lazarus who lived in the village of Bethany with two sisters, Mary and Martha, and he was ill. It was the same Mary, the sister of the sick man Lazarus, who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair. The sisters sent this message to Jesus, ‘Lord, the man you love is ill.’ On receiving the message, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will end not in death but in God’s glory, and through it the Son of God will be glorified.’
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, yet when he heard that Lazarus was ill he stayed where he was for two more days before saying to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judaea.’
On arriving, Jesus found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days already. When Martha heard that Jesus had come she went to meet him. Mary remained sitting in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.’ ‘Your brother’ said Jesus to her ‘will rise again.’ Martha said, ‘I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said:
‘I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even thou he dies he will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?
‘Yes, Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’
Jesus said in great distress, with a sigh that came straight from the heart, ‘Where have you put him?’ They said, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus wept; and the Jews said, ‘See how much he loved him!’ But there were some who remarked, ‘He opened the eyes of the blind man, could he not have prevented this man’s death?’ Still sighing, Jesus reached the tomb: it was a cave with a stone to close the opening. Jesus said, ‘Take the stone away.’ Martha said to him ‘Lord, by now he will smell; this is the fourth day.’ Jesus replied ‘Have I not told you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes and said:
‘Father, I thank you for hearing my prayer. I knew indeed that you always hear me. But I speak for the sake of all these who stand round me, so that they may believe it was you who sent me.’
When he had said this, he cried in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus here! Come out!’ The dead man came out, his feet and hands bound with bands of stuff and a cloth round his face, Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, let him go free.’
Many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what he did believed in him.
This weekend is the 5th Sunday of the Lent and the Holy Church reminds us death with hope in resurrection, challenging us to be alive and not spiritually.
As we all know we are living in a challenging time which none of us have experienced before. It is very difficult for us to accept that church is closed especially on this Holy time. But we should remember that church is not closed only the church building is closed. We are the church which built together, Christ as the corner stone. So as we are the church we are connected together in spirit and faith. I am doing mass for you all everyday keeping you in my mind heart. So please be connected together in spirit which strengthens us by our prayer and sacrifices at this challenging time. Please be connected to each other through phone calls, enquiring about each other, especially those who need support, connecting through social media. You can be connected to parish through website, face book page and phone calls. Let us always remember that we, the parish and community, are one in spirit and overcome this situation joining our hands together with prayer, keeping the regulation and supporting each other.
The gospel of this Sunday presents us with Jesus’ demonstration of power. By raising Lazarus for death, Christ proved that he is really, the resurrection and life. He could not have achieved this without the power of the Holy Spirit. Regeneration, resurrection and restoration are all possible through the power of the Holy Spirit. All we need to do is, humble ourselves, and allow him to use us.
One lesson we must learn from today’s gospel that Jesus is ever willing to help us no matter what it will cost him. It does not matter how long we have been spiritually dead or exiled. He knows us, loves, and calls us by our names as he called Lazarus: “Come out!” If we hear and obey his voice, then he will restore life to our weak and mortal bodies through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Fr. Joseph Kanatt MCBS
Gospel: (John 11:1-45)
There was a man named Lazarus who lived in the village of Bethany with two sisters, Mary and Martha, and he was ill. It was the same Mary, the sister of the sick man Lazarus, who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair. The sisters sent this message to Jesus, ‘Lord, the man you love is ill.’ On receiving the message, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will end not in death but in God’s glory, and through it the Son of God will be glorified.’
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, yet when he heard that Lazarus was ill he stayed where he was for two more days before saying to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judaea.’
On arriving, Jesus found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days already. When Martha heard that Jesus had come she went to meet him. Mary remained sitting in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.’ ‘Your brother’ said Jesus to her ‘will rise again.’ Martha said, ‘I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said:
‘I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even thou he dies he will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?
‘Yes, Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’
Jesus said in great distress, with a sigh that came straight from the heart, ‘Where have you put him?’ They said, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus wept; and the Jews said, ‘See how much he loved him!’ But there were some who remarked, ‘He opened the eyes of the blind man, could he not have prevented this man’s death?’ Still sighing, Jesus reached the tomb: it was a cave with a stone to close the opening. Jesus said, ‘Take the stone away.’ Martha said to him ‘Lord, by now he will smell; this is the fourth day.’ Jesus replied ‘Have I not told you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes and said:
‘Father, I thank you for hearing my prayer. I knew indeed that you always hear me. But I speak for the sake of all these who stand round me, so that they may believe it was you who sent me.’
When he had said this, he cried in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus here! Come out!’ The dead man came out, his feet and hands bound with bands of stuff and a cloth round his face, Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, let him go free.’
Many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what he did believed in him.