Fifth Sunday of Lent Year A

Out of the depth I cry to you O Lord. Lord, hear my voice.

As we now approach the Easter Festivities, the readings, as it were, point to what really happened in Christ’s, passion, death and resurrection by which he reached the depth of all depths to raise us from our graves so that we may live. Hence, the first reading from Ezekiel 37:12-14 described the situation of God’s people with the image of those in the graves. But then the Lord promise to open the grave and to raise them so they may live. And in the Gospel from John 11:1-45 Jesus raised Lazarus who had died and was buried.

Both of these readings show that, no matter the depth of the human situation, no matter how forgotten our situation might have felt and seemed, God can always reach to our depth and raise us up. No depth is beyond the reach of God. But even more importantly, this sign of raising Lazarus from the grave points beyond Lazarus, it points to the redemption that awaits us who believe in Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life.

So, we join our voices with the psalmist in psalm 130 to pray, “Out of the depth I cry to you O Lord. Lord, hear my voice”. Find out more as you listen.