Scripture Reading
John 11:43-44
When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
Reflection
Standing at the tomb, Jesus did not offer sympathy from a distance — he commanded the dead to live. "Unbind him, and let him go." Lent asks where we remain bound, wrapped in the grave-clothes of old habits, sins, and fears that we carry even after God has called us out. The resurrection of Lazarus is a foretaste of our own: Jesus can call life out of whatever has died in us.
Prayer for Today
The following prayers may be recited immediately after death and may be repeated in the hours that follow.
Saints of God, come to his/her aid!
Come to meet him/her, Angels of the Lord!
R/. Receive his/her soul and present him/her to God the Most High.
May Christ, who called you, take you to himself;
may Angels lead you to Abraham's side. R/.
Give him/her eternal rest, O Lord,
and may your light shine on him/her forever. R/.
Let us pray.
All-powerful and merciful God,
we commend to you N., your servant.
In your mercy and love,
blot out the sins he/she has committed
through human weakness.
In this world he/she has died:
let him/her live with you forever.
Through Christ our Lord.
R/. Amen.
Saints of God, come to his/her aid!
Come to meet him/her, Angels of the Lord!
R/. Receive his/her soul and present him/her to God the Most High.
May Christ, who called you, take you to himself;
may Angels lead you to Abraham's side. R/.
Give him/her eternal rest, O Lord,
and may your light shine on him/her forever. R/.
Let us pray.
All-powerful and merciful God,
we commend to you N., your servant.
In your mercy and love,
blot out the sins he/she has committed
through human weakness.
In this world he/she has died:
let him/her live with you forever.
Through Christ our Lord.
R/. Amen.
Amen.