Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Reading I: Ezekiel 37:21–28
Psalm: Jeremiah 31:10, 11–12abcd, 13
Gospel: John 11:45–56

Jesus has just raised Lazarus from the dead, hundreds are beginning to believe in Him, and for His enemies, it is the final straw.
As the Sanhedrin Council of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and chief priests is convened to address these events, Caiaphas the high priest unwittingly delivers a prophecy: “[I]t is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish” (John 11:50).
From a historical perspective, there is an inherent irony in the text, given the happenings of the First Jewish–Roman War, which took place a mere thirty years after the events of today’s Gospel. During this war, the Jewish rebellion was utterly extinguished. In the summer of AD 70, the city of Jerusalem was obliterated, the Temple destroyed, and the Jewish people dispersed. Thus the very fate which the Sanhedrin sought to avoid ended up being realized a few short decades later.
For John the Evangelist, however, there is something deeper going on here. From the eyes of faith, he is aware of the unintended truth of Caiaphas’s words, namely that because of Jesus’s sacrificial offering on the Cross, the spiritual salvation of the Jewish nation will be brought about. Even more than that, however, John tells us that Christ’s death would serve “to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad” (John 11:52).

In this way, the Old Testament reading from Ezekiel finds its fulfillment. Whereas Ezekiel speaks of the one kingdom of Israel being united in right worship, John looks forward to the universal kingdom of the children of God which will be instituted by Christ at Calvary. That kingdom is the Church, and we are its inheritors.

Am I conscious of the reality of the communion of saints in my day-to-day life?

How might I grow in my devotion to the saints in heaven?

How can I get better at turning to them in times of difficulty?

Reference:

Journey Through Lent: Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings by Clement Harrold