Monsignor Enrique Díaz Díaz shares with Exaudi readers his reflection on the  Gospel of this Sunday, March 22, 2026,   entitled:  “I will put my spirit into them and they will live . ”

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Ezekiel 37:12-14:  “I will put my Spirit on them and they will live.”

Psalm 129:  “Forgive us, Lord, and we will live”

Romans 8:8-11:  “The Spirit of him who rose from the dead dwells in you.”

What a sad state we have reached! Life is worthless. It is destroyed, lied about, deceived, corrupted. As someone said, “It stinks!” Yet this fifth Sunday of Lent places us in a hopeful struggle for life and in a faith capable of awaiting the resurrection of one who has been dead for three days. Martha’s complaints to Jesus could be the complaints that many now intend to hurl at heaven because they cannot understand a chain of evils before God’s indifferent gaze. The degradation we are suffering can only be understood in the absence of God, many have expressed. But we cannot complain about the absence of a God whom we have expelled from our families, our streets, our businesses, and whom we have tried to keep confined to sacristies, social events, and two or three folk festivals that serve as pretexts for excess rather than a true manifestation of our personal relationship with God. Our first action this Sunday should be to realize that our nation is truly sick. And we can insist to Jesus:  “Lord, the friend you love so much is sick.”  But at the same time that we are urged to accept and make known the illness, we must also be willing to accept the healing and the prescriptions that can lead us to salvation.

Much has been said about the daily death toll from drug trafficking and the innocent people who have perished as collateral damage; about the countless extortions, kidnappings, and drugs that are rampant everywhere. But less attention has been paid to the corruption that pervades every aspect of our lives, that has infiltrated families, institutions, and the very structures that govern our nation. It is a pervasive corruption and stench to which we seem to have grown accustomed and of which we are only aware on rare occasions. We have distanced ourselves from God and opted for other values: pleasure, money, ambition, power. But when we discover that these values ​​have entered our bodies like a serious illness, we are frightened and want to turn back, yet we remain trapped in corruption. Like someone who seeks healing through painkillers, without accepting true healing, a radical change of life, and a purification of their entire being. Mary’s weeping and despair could well represent the weeping of so many mothers and sisters who mourn for their murdered or disappeared loved ones, for their sons or daughters trapped in drug addiction, for those who have lost their way. But that same weeping could also offer us a glimpse of hope: Jesus walks beside us, in the same struggle, with far greater love and power. For Him, Lazarus is the friend He loves so much; for Him, all who suffer and are tormented are also His “beloved friend.”

Jesus’ great love for his friend leads him to appear in the most difficult and complicated situations. Death and corruption cannot keep him away, and his presence fills us with healthy hope. Now, just as in those times, he commands us to remove the stone that covers life and confines it to darkness. Now he also commands us to believe and commit ourselves to him, who is life. Despite all the obstacles, Jesus’ invitation to believe, Jesus’ invitation to true life, remains. Perhaps we too are tempted to express our pessimism because we feel that nothing can be done, that we can find no way out. That our country smells of corruption, fear, terrorism, and drugs; that our families do not perceive the aroma of harmony and affection; that everything, everything smells bad. But when everything smells bad, Jesus is there, close to the one he loves so much. He doesn’t care about their smells; for Jesus, they remain the friend:  “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”  From faith, he propels us to action; But it requires true faith, the same faith that Martha needed. Not just believing theoretically in the resurrection, but vividly experiencing that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. And Jesus doesn’t speak of a resurrection far away, at the end, but reveals to us his commitment to life now, here, in the midst of everything. For this, faith is required, but also placing Jesus at the source of our life, our activities, and our inner being.

When the people of Israel believed that all was irretrievably lost, the word of God through Ezekiel spoke to them of hope and assured them that the tombs would be opened so they could emerge and be led to a new land. Now Jesus also makes those words a reality. He only awaits our trusting confession:  “Yes, Lord. I firmly believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who was to come into the world.”  A confession that allows him to act in our lives. Today we too can hear the words of Jesus, which, full of love but also full of authority, resonate with hope. He also says to us:  “Come out .” We can emerge from death and corruption not based on our own strength, but based on his love. Trusting in his word, we commit ourselves to unbinding, to removing stones, to increasing faith.  “Unbind him, so that he may walk.”  It is the immense task that we must all undertake. Faith is the driving force that will move us to commit ourselves, from our faith, to creating a better country. We need to break so many chains of injustice, we need to remove so many oppressive burdens, but above all we need to experience a living faith in Christ who is “the resurrection and the life”.

What corruptions do we discover among ourselves? Have we adopted a passive and conformist attitude? Do we truly believe that Jesus is the resurrection and that he can give us new life? How do we demonstrate this?

Lord Jesus, the one you love is sick, has lost hope, and is already suffering. Trusting in your word, we ask you to come to our aid so that we may commit ourselves to the pursuit of a full life. Amen.