With hope in our Resurrection, we as Catholic Christians are challenged to strive to be alive and not spiritually dead because of mortal sin.

As I always say during a funeral Mass, we are to live in loving relationship with God through Jesus every day, so that He may raise us up at our death to inherit eternal life with Him.

We have it in the Gospels, the “sixth of seven Signs” (RSV 2 Catholic) that Jesus will work to demonstrate that He is the promised Messianic Deliverer, is a symbolic narrative of His Final Victory over death at the cost of His human life, and a sign anticipating His Resurrection.

We were given an example when Jesus raised Lazarus to life, sacred Scripture scholars described this great miracle, and the Church assures us that we, too, will be raised into eternal life after our battle with sin and death in this world.

Thus, Resurrection Hope is the central theme of the Scripture readings for the Fifth Sunday of Lent. The readings assure us that our Faith in Jesus, who is “the Resurrection and the Life,” promises our participation in His Resurrection and new life.

We have to let go of those bandages of addiction to alcohol, sexual deviation, slander, gossip, envy, prejudice, hatred, and uncontrollable anger. We bury ourselves in the tombs of despair. Sometimes we are in the tomb of selfishness, filled with negative feelings, like worry, fear, resentment, hatred and guilt.

If we want Jesus to visit our dark dungeons of sin, despair and unhappiness, we need to ask Him during this season of Lent to bring the light and the power of the Holy Spirit into our private lives and liberate us from our tombs.

We kill ourselves indirectly through suicide, alcohol abuse, smoking, overwork, stress, bad eating habits, and physical neglect. The most important question now is: “Am I ready to face my death NOW?” All of us know that we will surely die, but each of us foolishly thinks that he or she will not die any time in the near future. Let us be wise, well-prepared, and ever ready to meet our Lord with a clear conscience when the time comes, and to give Him a clean account of our lives.

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Greetings to Ms. Jessieca N. Fuentes, Civilian Human Resource, RESCOM, PA, for being recognized as the Philippine Army Model Employee for 2025 during the 129th Philippine Army Anniversary held on 19 March.

The Reserve Command, Philippine Army (RESCOM, PA) is proud of Ms. Fuentes, who is currently assigned to the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Education and Training, G8, RESCOM, PA, where she serves as a Psychometrician for the upcoming Philippine Army Advance ROTC Qualifying Examination.