Sunday Readings
March 9, 2008 :: Fifth Sunday of Lent
Scripture
EZEKIEL 37:12 — 14
God will open our tomb and raise us from the dead.
ROMANS 8:8 — 11
God who raised Jesus will raise us also.
JOHN 11:1 — 45
Martha believes Jesus is the Messiah; Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.
THEME
Death is a natural part of life. It can be frightening and painful to think about death. We may be afraid to die. We may fear being left alone when a loved one dies. But there is still good news-we will be raised up. Ezekiel told us that was how we would know God. Jesus raised up Lazarus; Jesus himself was raised up.
FOCUSING OBJECT
A picture of a relative who has died
REFLECTIONS
• Do you have a relative that has died? If so, how did this relative enrich your life? What characteristics of hers or his do you share?
• Our faith comforts us in the face of death, because we believe that we will be raised up, like Jesus. What do you think about that? How does it feel to think about your own death or the death of someone you care about?
CLOSING
We are born asleep and at death we awake.
the Prophet Mohammed, from the Koran
Your visionary son, Mohammed,
reminds me this day, O God,
that I am a sleepwalker
who wanders through life
with eyes closed to the glory of your presence.
Lift my drooping eyelids this day from the slumber of the unawakened,
so that I might see you
in the vastness of the universe.
Oh, that I might be awakened this day
to see how your glory fills all of heaven and earth.
I pray that I need not wait until death
to behold your divine face,
to feel your embrace,
and to live in your blessed presence.
Adapted from Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim, a prayer from the Islamic tradition
For complete Sunday reading go to http://www.usccb.org/nab/
In Touch With the Word: Lectionary-Based Prayer Reflections, by Lisa-Marie Calderone-Stewart (Winona, MN: Saint Mary’s Press, 2004).
Copyright © 2004 by Saint Mary’s Press, www.smp.org.
All rights reserved. Used with permission of the publisher.