Pope: Like Lazarus, may we hear the Lord's call to new life

Vatican News

Greeting the visitors and pilgrims in Saint Peter's Square for the midday Angelus on the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Pope Leo spoke about Lord's raising of Lazarus, "a sign that speaks of Christ’s victory over death and of the gift of eternal life, which we receive through Baptism."

In his reflections, the Pope said Jesus tells us today, just as he did to Lazarus' sister Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life.  Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die”.

Preparing for Holy Week

Today's Gospel reading comes just before Holy Week when we relive the events of the Lord’s Passion — his entry into Jerusalem, the Last Supper, the trial, the crucifixion, the burial - the Pope recalled. In this way we can prepare ourselves and better appreciate their significance, meaning and be open to the gift of grace they offer.

Grace illuminating the world

God's grace illumines the world, the Pople reminded us, while we often get lost looking for things that can never give us lasting happiness, such as the constant search for novelty that consumes time, energy, values and sensitivity we have for others, "as if fame, material goods, entertainment and fleeting relationships could fill our hearts or make us immortal."

We all carry "longing for the infinite" within us, he concluded, "a need that cannot be satisfied by passing things." And as Saint Augustine wrote, "we are made for God, and we find no peace until we rest in him." 

Pushing aside the boulders

In conclusion, the Pope encouraged us to see how the account of the resurrection of Lazarus invites us then, with the help and power of the Holy Spirit, to "free our hearts from habits, conditioning and ways of thinking which, like boulders, shut us away in the tomb of selfishness, materialism, violence and superficiality." 

Before leading the recitation of the Angelus prayer, the Pope said may we seek the help of the Virgin Mary "to live these holy days with her faith, her trust and her fidelity, so that the glorious experience of encountering her risen Son may be renewed in us each day."