5th Sunday of Lent, Year A

On this Fifth Sunday of Lent, traditionally known as Passion Sunday, the Church raises the veil on the most profound of Our Lord’s miracles: the raising of Lazarus. This event serves as the ultimate “sign,” pointing directly to Christ’s own Resurrection and His absolute sovereignty over life and death.

The scene at Bethany is one of deep human emotion and divine authority. Jesus, seeing the grief of Martha and Mary, is “troubled in spirit” and weeps. These tears confirm His perfect Sacred Humanity, yet His command to “roll away the stone” signals His Divine Power. When He cries out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”, He demonstrates that the Word of God is not bound by the corruption of the grave.

Saint Augustine notes that Lazarus, bound in burial cloths, represents the soul bound by the habit of sin. Though Christ calls the soul to life through grace, he tells the onlookers to “untie him and let him go.” This beautifully illustrates the role of the Church and the Priesthood; while God alone infuses the life of grace, He has entrusted the “unbinding” of the penitent to the Sacrament of Penance.

As we enter these final weeks of Lent, the raising of Lazarus is a call to hope. No matter how deep the “stench” of our sins or how heavy the “stone” of our despair, the voice of Christ is capable of calling us back to life. As the statues in our churches are veiled in purple, we are invited to die to our old selves, trusting that the One who wept at the tomb of His friend is the same One who will lead us out of the darkness of the tomb into the eternal light of Easter.