From the Deacon's Desk

Readings: Ezekiel 37:12-14 / Romans 8:8-11 / John 11:1-45

I am not preaching today, but if interested, the following is a homily I delivered BACK IN 2024 on the same readings we have today:

When I preach, I want my homilies to do three things: inspire, motivate, and instruct.

As for inspire, I attempt to paint a picture for us. I want us to ponder the word of God, call to mind the beauty of our world and the boundless love God has for us.

Rarely do I preach to only inspire. Pondering is wonderful, but I want to call us to action. I want to make the scripture readings relevant to everyday life and motivate us to live out the message we heard in some practical way.

On occasion, I attempt to instruct. Most often, instruction is in small doses: defining a word or giving its Greek or Latin meaning, offering context to a reading by sharing what would have been going on at that time in history, or quoting the Catechism of the Catholic Church to clarify a Church teaching.

I believe the vast majority of my preaching is a combination of inspire and motivate, with small doses of instruction sprinkled in.

Today is an exception. I will be focusing almost exclusively on instruction – and it’s your fault.

Over the last several weeks, I have gotten the same question at least a dozen times: “Why are we reading the Gospel of John this weekend? I thought we were reading Mark this year.”

I know that a number of you bring your missal with you to follow along with the Mass, and I’ve watched you flip around in your book with confused faces.

I answer this question by saying, “We read the Gospel of John when we celebrate the Scrutinies.”

That answer usually gets either a blank stare or a follow-up question, “What are the Scrutinies?”

So, here we go…

As you are likely aware, each year St. Pius offers a program through which men and women prepare to enter the Catholic Church, called the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults or RCIA. They participant in the program as either catechumens or candidates. Catechumens are individuals who are not baptized and who are probably learning for the first time many of the elements of the faith. Candidates, on the other hand, are those who are already Christians by baptism and are seeking to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church.Once catechumens and candidates have committed to the process, and entered their names in the official book of the diocese, they are often referred to as the elect. The elect will enter the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday.

Part of the RCIA process is the celebration of the Scrutiny Rites, included in one of the Masses on the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent. The Scrutiny Rites include prayers on behalf of the elect, asking for protection from temptation and strength in Christ. The Scrutiny Rites are intended to deepen the elect’s desire for Christ and to carry out their decision to love God above all. 

Two weeks ago, on the Third Sunday of Lent, the Scrutiny Rite took place at 5:00pm Saturday Mass; last week at the 11:00am Mass, and this week at the 9:30am Mass.

So, what do the Scrutiny Rites have to do with reading the Gospel of John?

There are three specific gospels from the Gospel of John that go hand-in-hand with each of the three Scrutiny Rites: for the first scrutiny, we read the gospel of the Samaritan woman at the well; for the second, the gospel of the man born blind; and for the third, the gospel of Lazarus being raised from the dead, as we heard today.

By the ninth century for sure, and possibly as early as the late seventh century, we have evidence that these three Gospel readings were moved to specific Sundays of Lent in the Church.

The readings, proclaimed in this sequence, reflect the very purpose of the Scrutiny Rites. They cause us to reflect upon questions foundational to our faith.

In the story of the woman at the well, the Samaritan woman spoke to Jesus and was drawn to him; she heard Jesus. Was this not the starting point for each of the elect? They heard a call, a call they discovered over time to be from Christ. They believed because they heard Christ’s voice for themselves.

In the story of the man born blind, the man grew to see as Christ saw. He regained his sight at the beginning of the story, but only gradually saw who it was that healed him. By the end of the story, he referred to Jesus as “Lord.” For the elect, this progression may sound familiar. Through their experience, they grow in understanding of what they see, who Jesus is and how he longs to be in relationship with them.

Today, as we read the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, we are nearing the day the elect will enter the Church; they will profess their faith.

Remember the words we heard in today’s gospel: Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Martha responded, “I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God…” Martha professed her faith. Despite the apparent death of her brother, Lazarus, she knew who Jesus was and put her faith in him.

The Scrutinies call the elect to scrutinize, or examine closely and thoroughly, three foundational questions:

• Do I believe Jesus is the Messiah? This is the question the Samaritan woman at the well needed to scrutinize after hearing Jesus speak with authority.
• Do I believe in Jesus’ ability to heal? This is the question the man blind from birth needed to scrutinize when he saw the first time.
• Do I believe Jesus is the resurrection and the life? This is what Martha professed, even before Jesus had raised her brother from the dead.

Your final question might be, “If the readings from the Gospel of John are intended to be read in connection with the Scrutinies, why aren’t they only read at those Masses, when the elect are present and celebrating the Scrutiny Rites?”  

That is certainly an option. However, it is the pastor’s prerogative to have these gospels proclaimed at all of the Masses on those weekends.

Fr. Francis believes, as do I, that the foundational questions are important for all of us to ask ourselves, not only the elect.

So, I will leave you with those three questions: Do you believe Jesus is the Messiah? Do you believe in Jesus’ ability to heal? Do you believe Jesus is the resurrection and the life?

Even if you answered, “Yes!” to all three questions, it has been a healthy exercise to reflect upon them.

And if you answered, “No” or “I’m not sure” to any or all of them, it is time to scrutinize – to examine closely and thoroughly – why that is the case. Regardless of how long we have been active members of the Church, if we can not answer, “Yes!” to these questions, we are called to conversion along with the elect.