Book of Isaiah 49:8-15.
Thus says the LORD: In a time of favor I answer you, on the day of salvation I help you; and I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people, To restore the land and allot the desolate heritages,
Saying to the prisoners: Come out! To those in darkness: Show yourselves! Along the ways they shall find pasture, on every bare height shall their pastures be.
They shall not hunger or thirst, nor shall the scorching wind or the sun strike them; For he who pities them leads them and guides them beside springs of water.
I will cut a road through all my mountains, and make my highways level.
See, some shall come from afar, others from the north and the west, and some from the land of Syene.
Sing out, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth, break forth into song, you mountains. For the LORD comforts his people and shows mercy to his afflicted.
But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me."
Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.
Psalms 145(144):8-9.13cd-14.17-18.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
The LORD is faithful in all his words
and holy in all his works.
The LORD lifts up all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 5:17-30.
Jesus answered the Jews: "My Father is at work until now, so I am at work."
For this reason the Jews tried all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God.
Jesus answered and said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, a son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees his father doing; for what he does, his son will do also.
For the Father loves his Son and shows him everything that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these, so that you may be amazed.
For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes.
Nor does the Father judge anyone, but he has given all judgment to his Son,
so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life.
Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he gave to his Son the possession of life in himself.
And he gave him power to exercise judgment, because he is the Son of Man.
Do not be amazed at this, because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice
and will come out, those who have done good deeds to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of condemnation.
I cannot do anything on my own; I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me."
Jesus called loudly, "Lazarus, come out!" (Jn 11,43)
Among all the miracles wrought by our Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrection of Lazarus holds a foremost place in preaching. But if we consider attentively who it was who did it, our duty is to rejoice rather than to wonder. A man was raised up by him who made man: for he is the only-begotten of the Father, by whom, as you know, all things were made. And if all things were made by him, what wonder is it that someone was raised up by him when so many are daily brought into the world by his power?...
You have just heard that the Lord Jesus raised a dead man to life; and that is sufficient to let you know that, were he so pleased, he might raise all the dead to life. And, indeed, this is the very work he has kept in his own hands untll the end of the world. For while you have heard that by a great miracle he raised someone from the tomb who had been dead four days, "the hour is coming," as he himself says, "when all who are in the grave shall hear his voice and come forth." He raised up a body that was putrid, and yet in that putrid carcase there was still the form of human limbs. But at the last day he will reconstitute ashes into human flesh with a word . At that time, however, there was only a need to do a few such deeds so that we, receiving them as tokens of his power, might put our trust in him and prepare for that resurrection which is to be to life and not to judgment. So, indeed, he says: "The hour is coming when all that are in the grave shall hear his voice and shall come forth; those who have done good to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil to the resurrection of damnation."...
If we turn our thoughts to the still more wonderful works of Christ, every one who believes rises again. If we all consider and understand that more horrifying kind of death, every one who sins dies. But everyone is afraid of the death of the flesh; few of the death of the soul. With regard to the death of the flesh, which must certainly come sometime, all are on their guard against its approach: this is the origin of all their labor. Man, destined to die, labors to avert his dying; and yet man, destined to live for ever, labors not to cease from sinning. And when he labors to avoid dying, he labors to no purpose, for its only result will be to put off death for a while, not to escape it; but, if he refrains from sinning, his toil will cease and he shall live for ever. Oh that we could rouse people - and ourselves be aroused along with them - to be as great lovers of the life that abides as people are of that which passes away!
You have just heard that the Lord Jesus raised a dead man to life; and that is sufficient to let you know that, were he so pleased, he might raise all the dead to life. And, indeed, this is the very work he has kept in his own hands untll the end of the world. For while you have heard that by a great miracle he raised someone from the tomb who had been dead four days, "the hour is coming," as he himself says, "when all who are in the grave shall hear his voice and come forth." He raised up a body that was putrid, and yet in that putrid carcase there was still the form of human limbs. But at the last day he will reconstitute ashes into human flesh with a word . At that time, however, there was only a need to do a few such deeds so that we, receiving them as tokens of his power, might put our trust in him and prepare for that resurrection which is to be to life and not to judgment. So, indeed, he says: "The hour is coming when all that are in the grave shall hear his voice and shall come forth; those who have done good to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil to the resurrection of damnation."...
If we turn our thoughts to the still more wonderful works of Christ, every one who believes rises again. If we all consider and understand that more horrifying kind of death, every one who sins dies. But everyone is afraid of the death of the flesh; few of the death of the soul. With regard to the death of the flesh, which must certainly come sometime, all are on their guard against its approach: this is the origin of all their labor. Man, destined to die, labors to avert his dying; and yet man, destined to live for ever, labors not to cease from sinning. And when he labors to avoid dying, he labors to no purpose, for its only result will be to put off death for a while, not to escape it; but, if he refrains from sinning, his toil will cease and he shall live for ever. Oh that we could rouse people - and ourselves be aroused along with them - to be as great lovers of the life that abides as people are of that which passes away!
Good read
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