Sunday the 17th of March 2024 - The Fifth Sunday of Lent

Jeremiah 31:31-34/ Psalm 50(51)/ Hebrews 5:7-9/ John 12:20-33

If a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies, it yields a rich harvest. The single grain of wheat scattered on the ground germinates and gives life to a tall strong plant yielding many new grains. The crop that surprises me the most is the maize plant, from one small seed so much plant material grows producing corn cobs bearing hundreds of new seeds. It is the death of the seed that brings forth abundant life, it is the death of Jesus that brings forth eternal life, it is our death to the world that claims the gift of eternal life offered to us by God and won at such a price by Jesus.

The readings today map out the path to glory. God’s plan to redeem humanity from the fall of Adam is eluded to in all three readings. Amid the suffering of the chosen people in exile Jeremiah sows the seed of hope through the promise of a new covenant. Not a covenant written in stone but rather written on the heart. Not a covenant with a particular group of people as a collective, but a covenant with individuals experiencing a relationship with a forgiving God heart to heart. The old gives way to the new, responsibility for sin moves from a collective liability to a personal one. We as individuals become accountable for our sins but also recipients of God’s boundless mercy and forgiveness. This new relationship is a close and personal one leading to our appreciation of the mercy of God and a direct response to him. As the psalm suggests, we receive a clean heart, all our sins are blotted out and with a renewed spirit we are ready to convert others.

The passage from the letter to the Hebrews shows how Jesus is a high priest who, by becoming human, can empathise with our broken humanity. Jesus followed a path to glory along a way of suffering offering anguished prayers ‘aloud and in silent tears.’ This indicates the depth of human suffering that Jesus was prepared to go to in obedience to his father’s will. What was the prayer of Jesus? Was it to be spared from the suffering and death he was to endure? If it was, this prayer was not answered in the way Jesus asked but it was answered in an immeasurably greater way through his resurrection. Jesus was not saved from suffering and death but was brought through it to new life because of his total submission and obedience to his father’s will.

The strange opening lines of the gospel passage referring to the Greeks asking to meet with Jesus may indicate the instigation of the new covenant to all people, Jews and Gentiles alike starting the mission of the Church to all people. John refers to ‘the hour’ in respect of the culmination of the mission of Jesus. This hour is not a period of sixty minutes but the time encompassing the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus, a time in which he would be glorified. It is the time in which a death would lead to abundant life like the seed falling to the ground and germinating. It is a time of crisis, a time of suffering through which glory is achieved. It is a time of judgement brought through the cross leading to eternal life and abolishing Satan’s rule over creation.

In this crucial time, the hour of Jesus, he brought the new covenant into being through his suffering and glorification. The outcome of the promise made in the first reading is certain but is only achieved along the path of suffering and death, a redemption that was won at great cost.

In many of the depictions of the crucifixion a certain serenity can be found, amid the horror of the cross glory radiates from Christ. The cross is the throne from which Jesus rules, the cross is the door leading us into the sanctuary of heaven where Jesus is the eternal High Priest. Through the cross the new covenant promised by Jeremiah becomes a reality to each of us as individuals. We claim this cross and entry to the heavenly sanctuary through our discipleship with Jesus. This discipleship means that we must walk our own path to glory showing our obedience to the will of God. We must die to this life to gain the eternal life won for us by Jesus. For each of us this path will be different. For some the loss of life might be literal and they are called to martyrdom for their faith in Christ. For many of us the loss of life might be less dramatic than being martyred but can none the less be challenging and hard to achieve. We might be called to follow the path of suffering by standing up for the rights of others such as the old, sick, and unborn threatened by death in the name of rights or false mercy. It might be the opposition to the freedoms to live a life of faith. It might be through working for the poor or displaced. It might be through accepting suffering through illness and death with obedience and serenity. We all know people who put others first, always available to help, never counting the cost. There are many paths to glory but by following Christ to the cross the seed must die to bring forth abundant life.

God Bless Brendan.