Jesus visits Mary and Martha, four days after their brother Lazarus has died. He says, ‘I am the resurrection and the life’, and tells them Lazarus will rise again. Jesus weeps for Lazarus; then he calls him from the tomb, restored to life.

Amid the solemnity of Lent and with the cross not far away, this week’s readings are full of hope and the promise of new life. But the Gospel reading encourages us not to rush to the place of joy without dwelling first in the place of grief. We are urged to wake up, but first we must enter the darkness.