Fifth Sunday of Lent

Jesus wept.

It's the shortest verse in the Bible and one of the most important. Standing outside the tomb of his friend Lazarus, knowing full well he's about to raise him from the dead, Jesus cries. He doesn't weep because he's lost hope. He weeps because death grieves him. Because watching the people he loves suffer grieves him. Because even though he's about to fix it, the brokenness of the world is real and it hurts.

Martha meets Jesus on the road and says what every grieving person has said: Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. It's half accusation, half prayer. Where were you? Why weren't you here when it mattered?

Jesus says: I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live. Then he asks the most important question of Lent: do you believe this?

Martha says yes. And then Jesus goes to the tomb, tells them to remove the stone - over Martha's practical objection that the body will stink after four days - and cries out in a loud voice: Lazarus, come out!

The dead man walks out, still wrapped in burial bands.

For families, this Gospel is about the things in your life that have died and started to stink. The marriage that feels dead. The relationship with a child that's been buried for years. The faith that went cold. The hope you stopped hoping. You've accepted it. You've grieved it. You've moved on.

Jesus stands at the mouth of that tomb and says: come out. He doesn't ask if it's been too long. He doesn't check if the smell is too bad. He calls the dead thing by name and commands it to live.

Ezekiel says the same: I will open your graves and have you rise. I will put my spirit in you that you may live. Paul adds: if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he will give life to your mortal bodies also.

The Psalm is the De Profundis - out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. If you mark iniquities, who can stand? But with you is forgiveness. More than sentinels wait for the dawn, let us wait for the Lord.

We are one week from Palm Sunday. Two weeks from Easter. The tomb is about to become the most important place in the world.

As a family, pray together:

• For the Church, and especially the elect who undergo the Third Scrutiny today - that God would open every grave in their lives and call them out by name into the light of Easter. Lord, hear our prayer.

• For families where something has died - a marriage, a relationship, a hope: that Jesus who wept at the tomb of his friend would stand at their grave and command life. Lord, hear our prayer.

• For our family - where we have accepted death as final and stopped hoping for resurrection: Lord, call us out. Untie us. Let us go. Lord, hear our prayer.

• For the faithful departed - that the God who opened Lazarus' tomb would open theirs, and that they would hear the voice of the Son and live. Lord, hear our prayer.

Today after Mass, ask each family member: what's one thing in your life that feels dead? Name it. Then pray together: Lord, call it out. We believe you are the resurrection and the life.