First Reading (Ezekiel 37,21-28)
Reading of Ezekiel’s Prophecy.
Thus says the Lord God: “I myself will take the Israelites from among the nations where they have gone, I will gather them from everywhere and bring them back to their land. I will make them a single nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and only one king will reign over them all. They will never again form two nations, nor will they be divided into two kingdoms again. They will no longer stain themselves with their idols and will never again commit vile abominations. I will free them from all and I will purify them. They will be my people, and I will be their God. My servant David will reign over them, and they will live according to my precepts and keep my laws. I will make a covenant of peace with them, it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and multiply them, and I will place my sanctuary among them forever. My address will be with them. I will be their God and they will be my people. So the nations will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel, because my sanctuary is among them forever.”
– Word of the Lord.
– Thank God.
Gospel (John 11,45-56)
Proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John.
— Glory to you, Lord.
At that time, many of the Jews who had gone to Mary’s house and saw what Jesus had done, believed in him. Some, however, went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Then the high priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, “What will we do? This man performs many signs. If we let him continue like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy our Holy Place and our nation.” One of them, named Caiaphas, high priest in office that year, said: “You understand nothing. Don’t you realize that it is better for one person to die for the people than for the entire nation to perish?” Caiaphas did not say this for himself. Being high priest in office that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation. And not only for the nation, but also to gather the scattered children of God. From that day on, the Jewish authorities made the decision to kill Jesus. Therefore, Jesus no longer walked among the Jews in public. He withdrew to a region near the desert, to a city called Ephraim. There he remained with his disciples. The Passover of the Jews was near. Many people from the countryside had gone up to Jerusalem to purify themselves before Easter. They were looking for Jesus and, when they gathered at the Temple, they commented among themselves: “What do you think? Is he not coming to the party?”
— Word of Salvation.
— Glory to you, Lord.
Reflecting the Word of God
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Imagine a vast plain covered in dry bones, remains of what were once people full of life and hope. This is the vision that God shows the prophet Ezekiel before the passage we hear today. And then, a miracle happens: the bones come together, are clothed with flesh, receive the breath of the Spirit, and become a vibrant army of restored lives. This powerful image of resurrection and reunification is the backdrop for our first reading today.
Ezekiel speaks to a divided and exiled people. Israel was fragmented, scattered among the nations, apparently abandoned by God. In this context of despair, Ezekiel’s message shines like a beacon of hope: “I will take the Israelites from among the nations to which they have gone, I will gather them from everywhere and bring them back to their land.”
This is not just a promise of geographic restoration, but of profound spiritual healing. God promises: “I will make them one nation… They will no longer defile themselves with their idols… I will purify them.” The vision is of a unified, purified people, restored in their relationship with God.
And then, God goes further, promising: “I will dwell among them… I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant.” What an extraordinary promise! God himself dwelling among his people, establishing a peace that transcends temporary circumstances, a covenant that cannot be broken.
As we turn our attention to the Gospel of John, we find a narrative that appears, at first glance, to contrast drastically with this vision of hope and unity. Jesus has just performed his most powerful miracle – the resurrection of Lazarus. Instead of universal celebration, we see division and conspiracy. Some believe him, while others rush to report to the Pharisees.
The Sanhedrin meets in an urgent session. Fear permeates the room. “What will we do?” they ask. “This man performs many signs.” Note the irony: they do not deny Jesus’ miracles. They recognize his power, but instead of submitting to him, they plan to destroy him.
His concern is telling: “If we let him continue like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy our Holy Place and our nation.” Their motivations are complex – perhaps genuinely concerned about their nation, perhaps more interested in maintaining their own power and position. In any case, they fail to recognize the true identity and mission of Jesus.
And then Caiaphas, the high priest, makes his fateful statement: “It is better that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation perish.” John reveals to us the dramatic irony: without knowing it, Caiaphas was prophesying. As high priest, he inadvertently proclaims the central truth of the gospel – that Jesus would die not only for the Jewish nation, “but also to gather together the scattered children of God.”
See the connection with Ezekiel? The same promise to reunite the dispersed people, to unify what was divided. What Ezekiel predicted as a future act of God, John sees being fulfilled through the death of Jesus. The Sanhedrin’s conspiratorial plan, designed to eliminate Jesus, becomes, in God’s hands, the means of fulfilling his ancestral promise of restoration and unity.
What do these readings have to tell us today? We live in a deeply fractured and divided world. Families are divided by unresolved conflicts. Communities are segregated by social, economic and racial differences. Nations oppose nations. Even within the Church, we experience painful divisions. Like the exiled Israelites, we may feel scattered and separated, longing for restoration and unity.
More profoundly, many of us experience a form of inner exile. We feel distant from God and from each other. We carry wounds of rejection, betrayal or loss. Like the dry bones in Ezekiel’s vision, parts of us seem dead, unable to regain life.
In the face of these realities, our readings today offer a profoundly hopeful message. The God who promised to gather Israel, the Christ who died to gather God’s scattered children, continues to work to restore and unify what is broken in our world and in our lives.
But – and this is the crucial point – the unity that God desires does not come through political coercion or religious manipulation. It does not come through compromising the truth or ignoring sin. Come through the way of the cross.
When Caiaphas declared that it was better for a man to die for the people, he had no idea of the theological depth of his words. Jesus’ death was not just a political expediency; it was the supreme act of sacrificial love that broke down the barriers between God and humanity, and between different human groups.
Paul writes to the Ephesians that Christ “is our peace; he made one of both peoples, having broken down the wall of separation… to create in himself one new man… reconciling them both to God in one body through the cross.”
True and lasting unity comes only through the cross – through the sacrificial love that is willing to suffer for the sake of another, through the forgiveness that frees both the offender and the offended, through the humility that puts the needs of others above our own.
What would it be like if we took this truth seriously? If, in our families, we chose the path of sacrificial love instead of insisting on our own rights? What if, in our communities, we refused to be defined by social or political dividing lines, and instead embraced our common identity as children of God? If, in our church, we prioritized unity in Christ above personal preferences or factional agendas?
This is the vision that Ezekiel prophesied and that Jesus died to fulfill – a unified people under God, cleansed from sin, living at peace with each other and with God.
But note something important: the unity that God promises is not uniformity. Ezekiel speaks of the “tribes of Israel” – their distinct identities are not erased but harmonized under God’s sovereignty. Likewise, John speaks of the “scattered children of God” – people of all nations and cultures, united not by cultural conformity but by common faith in Christ.
Christian unity celebrates diversity of gifts, experiences, and expressions while affirming our common identity as members of the body of Christ. It is a unity based not on superficial similarity but on deep love – the same love that led Jesus to the cross.
As we approach Holy Week and Easter, we are invited to contemplate the cost and power of true unity. We contemplate the Christ who, on the cross, opened his arms to embrace all humanity. We contemplate the empty tomb that proclaims the victory of life over death, of reconciliation over division.
And we are challenged to participate in this work of reunification. As? Starting in our own hearts, allowing the Spirit of God to heal our internal divisions – reconciling the conflicting aspects of our personalities, integrating our wounds and painful memories into a narrative of redemption. Extending into our relationships, taking courageous initiatives of forgiveness and reconciliation, building bridges where others have built walls.
So, my dear brothers and sisters, as we reflect on these powerful readings, let us make these words of Ezekiel our prayer: “I will dwell among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” May God dwell in our midst, gathering together what is scattered, restoring what is broken, unifying what is divided.
And that through our lives of sacrificial love, others may see the fulfillment of the ancient prophecy: “The nations will know that I am the Lord, who sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in their midst forever.”
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all, uniting us in one body, one faith, one hope. Amen.
