The disciples encounter the empty tomb and realize that Christ has been raised from the dead, inviting us to embrace the overwhelming joy of the Good News by offering our lives for the glory of God.
Here are some of the themes that emerge in the Mass readings for the 5th Sunday of Lent.
1st Reading – Jeremiah 31:31-34
The Lord will make a new covenant with the house of Israel.
The covenant will be written on their hearts, and God will forgive their sins.
Psalm – 51:3-4,12-15
“Create a clean heart in me, O God.”
The Lord mercifully renews our spirit, gives us joy, and leads us back to God.
2nd Reading – Hebrews 5:7-9
During his earthly life, Jesus offered prayers and supplications to God.
Christ learned obedience through his suffering and became the source of our eternal salvation.
Gospel – John 12:20-33
Like the grain of wheat that falls to the ground and dies in order to bear much fruit, so also a disciple of Christ must lose his life in this world in order to preserve it for eternal life.
When the Lord was lifted up from the earth, he drew all people to himself…indicating his death on the Cross.
The glory of the Transfiguration of Jesus gives hope and consolation to Peter, James and John as Jesus speaks about his upcoming Passion and death on the Cross.
Jesus raises a dead man to life and restores him to his mother. May our faith in the Lord sustain us in our moments of grief as we prepare for the day when we walk through the doorway of death, that we might hear the Lord say, “I tell you, arise!”
Responding to the Sadducees, Jesus offers insight into the reality of the resurrection, inspiring us to consider how we might live today in preparation for the eternal life to come.
St. Paul concludes his preaching in the synagogue with the resurrection of Christ. This crucial component of the faith inspires us to follow the Risen Lord with hope and joy, leading others to Jesus.
There is an intensity in Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John as they run to discover what happened in the early morning hours of the resurrection. As events unfold they will rejoice with exultant faith that Jesus Christ is the Risen Lord!
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