Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent

During the Fifth Week of Lent (especially in cycles B and C when the Gospel of Lazarus is not read on the Fifth Sunday of Lent) optional Mass Texts are offered.
 

”Christ and Caiaphas”
by Giovanni Battista Caracciolo, 1611-20

Readings for Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary:[3]
 
Reading 1: Ezekiel 37:21-28
 
Thus says the Lord GOD:
I will take the children of Israel from among the nations
to which they have come,
and gather them from all sides to bring them back to their land.
I will make them one nation upon the land,
in the mountains of Israel,
and there shall be one prince for them all.
Never again shall they be two nations,
and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms.
 
No longer shall they defile themselves with their idols,
their abominations, and all their transgressions.
I will deliver them from all their sins of apostasy,
and cleanse them so that they may be my people
and I may be their God.
My servant David shall be prince over them,
and there shall be one shepherd for them all;
they shall live by my statutes and carefully observe my decrees.
They shall live on the land that I gave to my servant Jacob,
the land where their fathers lived;
they shall live on it forever,
they, and their children, and their children's children,
with my servant David their prince forever.
I will make with them a covenant of peace;
it shall be an everlasting covenant with them,
and I will multiply them, and put my sanctuary among them forever.
My dwelling shall be with them;
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Thus the nations shall know that it is I, the LORD,
who make Israel holy,
when my sanctuary shall be set up among them forever.
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Commentary on Ez 37:21-28
 
The Prophet Ezekiel was probably not aware that this oracle would have great meaning beyond what even he foresaw. He predicts the return of the Hebrew people from their exile in Babylon, and the restoration of Israel under a king from David’s line. In this return, the prophet sees a conversion of the people (“I will deliver them from all their sins of apostasy, and cleanse them so that they may be my people”), a return also to the law of the Lord which they abandoned during the exile, and a return to God’s covenant.
 
For us, looking back at his words we can see Ezekiel predict the coming of the Messiah, Jesus the Christ, and how he will be the one prince over the entire world. It will be Jesus that establishes the covenant of peace and reveals God’s love.
 
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Responsorial Psalm: Jeremiah 31:10, 11-12abcd, 13
 
R. (see 10d) The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.
 
Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
proclaim it on distant isles, and say:
He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together,
he guards them as a shepherd his flock.
R. The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.
 
The LORD shall ransom Jacob,
he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror.
Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion,
they shall come streaming to the LORD's blessings:
The grain, the wine, and the oil,
the sheep and the oxen.
R. The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.
 
Then the virgins shall make merry and dance,
and young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.
R. The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.
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Commentary on Jer 31:10, 11-12abcd, 13
 
The song from Jeremiah recalls the Diaspora, the exile of the Hebrews. In these strophes, the prophet sees the salvific work of God who shepherds his people as they return from exile in the “New Exodus,” and the reunification of the people. He prophesies their return to the land from which they had been driven, giving praise to God for his mercy.
 
CCC: Jer 31 1611
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Gospel: John 11:45-56
 
Many of the Jews who had come to Mary
and seen what Jesus had done began to believe in him.
But some of them went to the Pharisees
and told them what Jesus had done.
So the chief priests and the Pharisees
convened the Sanhedrin and said,
"What are we going to do?
This man is performing many signs.
If we leave him alone, all will believe in him,
and the Romans will come
and take away both our land and our nation."
But one of them, Caiaphas,
who was high priest that year, said to them,
"You know nothing,
nor do you consider that it is better for you
that one man should die instead of the people,
so that the whole nation may not perish."
He did not say this on his own,
but since he was high priest for that year,
he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,
and not only for the nation,
but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God.
So from that day on they planned to kill him.
 
So Jesus no longer walked about in public among the Jews,
but he left for the region near the desert,
to a town called Ephraim,
and there he remained with his disciples.
 
Now the Passover of the Jews was near,
and many went up from the country to Jerusalem
before Passover to purify themselves.
They looked for Jesus and said to one another
as they were in the temple area, "What do you think?
That he will not come to the feast?"
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Commentary on Jn 11:45-56
In the first section of this Gospel reading, we can see the dilemma facing the Sanhedrin. The Messiah that God has sent is not the “Royal Messiah” coming to destroy the Roman domination, but a humble servant. If the people of Israel follow him, Rome will continue its domination and occupation of Israel.
 
Caiaphas is introduced as the architect of the ultimate plot to kill Jesus. He unwittingly predicts that Jesus will die to save the whole nation. He does so unwittingly because he does not understand that Jesus is God’s Son. He considers Jesus only as a political threat. It is ironic that, in making this suggestion, Caiaphas has prophetically identified Jesus as the Christ, who offers God's salvation to all peoples of all nations.
 
This ends the period when Jesus was teaching openly in the temple area. He now leaves Jerusalem for a time. The plotting, however, continues as the scribes and Pharisees plan to seize him during the Passover.
 
CCC: Jn 11:47-48 548; Jn 11:48 596; Jn 11:49-50 596; Jn 11:52 58, 60, 706, 2793
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Reflection:
 
If we were making a movie of salvation history, or perhaps one of those epic mini-series, we would use a cinematic device of overlays when we get to the part about Caiaphas speaking to the Sanhedrin.  As he was speaking we would see overlaid a flash back to the ancient prophecy of Jeremiah, and then perhaps Ezekiel speaking about the reunification of Israel.  We would understand what motivated the Jews, who, in their utter confusion about the nature of the Messiah, find Jesus to be a political threat.  The background music would grow ominous, and we would feel the whole weight of the Law and the Prophets rushing down to crush this young man from Galilee. 
 
The stage is set for the climax of Jesus' ministry on earth.  He has bearded the lion in its den, and challenged the long held traditions of the scribes and Pharisees.  He has frightened the most powerful people in his region of the world at a time when Roman dominance and decadence had made human life cheap.  We all know what happens when those who love power are frightened: they lash out without compassion or mercy to utterly destroy the threat to their power.  That is the storm we see gathering in scripture.  And Jesus, the consummate reader of human souls, knows it.
 
But to bring God’s entire plan to fulfillment, his part must be played.  God’s own feast of deliverance is at hand, the Feast of Passover, celebrating the deliverance of the Hebrews from cruel bondage in Egypt.  The great and near-great of the land are gathering at the temple in Jerusalem for this high feast, and the Lord senses the time has come.  He is well known, a prophet, miracle worker, a rebellious rabbi.  To his closest friends he is strongly suspected of being the Messiah, the Incarnate Son of God. 
 
For us, the roller coaster of our spiritual emotions begins with the climb that will take us to the pinnacle of holy week, to the Feast of the Lord’s Supper.  Then we take that long plunge into Good Friday and all of our Lenten journey will be recalled as we wait with the world for what must come.
 
Today we recall how the dreams of the great and powerful are so easily used by the Evil One, and the mysterious interplay between the forces of good and evil that must come soon to its glorious end.
 
Pax
 
Stations of the Cross

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[1]The picture used is ”Christ and Caiaphas” by Giovanni Battista Caracciolo, 1611-20.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.