✦ Lenten Meditation and Prayer – Week 5 ✦
Hope
Reading Reference: John 11:1–45
Meditation
By the time Jesus arrives, Lazarus has been dead four days. Hope seems late. Grief
has settled in. Even Martha and Mary—strong, faithful women—can only speak in past
tense: “If you had been here …”
Jesus does not rush the moment. He weeps. He stands with them in their sorrow. And
then he speaks words that change everything: “I am the resurrection and the life.”
Hope, in this story, is not denial of loss. It is presence within it. Jesus does not erase
grief; he enters it. And from that place, he calls forth life.
As Lent nears its end, we are invited to carry this kind of hope—not shallow optimism,
but a hope rooted in God’s power to bring life where we least expect it. In a world
marked by death, division, and despair, this hope insists that the final word belongs to
God.
Even now, even here, resurrection is possible.
Lent has taught us again how God meets us—in turning, in truth, in trust, in renewal,
and in hope. Holy Week now invites us to dwell in that meeting place, where love is
poured out fully and nothing is held back.
Questions for Reflection
Where does hope feel delayed or fragile in my life?
What losses or disappointments do I bring with me toward Holy Week?
How might I trust God to speak life again?
Prayer
God of Resurrection,
Meet us in our grief and waiting.
When hope feels distant, remain near.
Call us out of what binds us, and lead us toward the life you promise—
stronger than death, deeper than fear, and held forever in your love.
Amen.
~Father Ron Keel
