"Create a clean heart in me, O God."
Jer 31:31-34
Heb 5:7-9
Jn 12:26
Jer 31:31-34
Heb 5:7-9
Jn 12:26
Jn 12:20-33
We are drawing near to the most central mystery of our salvation ---- the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. To celebrate Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week. Today the Lord does not speak in detail about the suffering he is about to undergo, but he does speak about the whole paschal mystery, using the image of a grain of wheat. He introduces this mysterious process in response to the request of some Greeks who are searching to deepen their spiritual life. When they ask Philip if they can see Jesus, they are not simply being curious. They want to meet him, know him, and follow him. They are expressing a longing that is deep in the heart of each of us ---- we all want to see the face of God and know him. We want to know the way to the fullness of life.
Jesus has come to show us the way. He himself is the way. But salvation is not cheap ---- the way is costly. This clear from the analogy of the grain of wheat. At first Jesus is talking about himself ---- he is the "grain of wheat" who will fall to the ground, die and bear much fruit. Then he reveals that the way of dying for new life applies not only to himself, but to every Christian. This is the way of every follower of Jesus Christ. Summing up his teaching, Jesus continues with the paradoxical statement : "The man who loves his life loses it, while the man who hates his life in this world preserves it to life eternal." The idea of "hating our life" may sound strange and unnatural, but Jesus here is not talking about what he dislike about life. He is pointing out the central decision of a disciple : to choose life in Christ above everything else. The "much fruit" that this decision produces is eternal life!
Planting is an act of faith and hope. When we plant, it takes time for the seed to germinate and grow. When we choose to follow Jesus, we do not go from seed to fruit right away. It happens in God's time. Jesus often speaks of his "hour." He means the time appointed for the fulfillment of God's plan. The Father is the one in charge. If we want to be followers of the Lord, we have to accept his timing. This demands patience from us. With God, there is a time for rejoicing ---- a time for Lent and a time for Easter. When we rush his plan and take things into our own hands, we ruin it.
In our nature we would like to eliminate the dying part altogether. We recoil from sacrifice. There is a certain modern mindset that proposes that we can go through life without thinking about unpleasant things, and invites us to distract ourselves from them in myriad ways. There are some Christians who seem to think the same ---- they preach a "prosperity gospel," telling us that we can enjoy life on earth and that we do not have to suffer. However, the gospel of Jesus Christ tells us that to follow him means not simply rising but both dying and rising it. If we do not die to our selfish ways, we will not grow. This is fundamental to Christian life. We cannot avoid the paschal mystery, and there is no shortcut.
We can gain deeper appreciation for the way of the paschal mystery in light of the reading and the promise of a new covenant. When a law is seen as something imposed from outside, even if it is a law of love, we experience it as a burden ---- we want to avoid it. But the promise of the Lord is that the new covenant will not be like that. It is no longer a law etched in stone or written in sand or on parchment. It is placed within us, written in our hearts. We choose the way of the paschal mystery, not simply because we have to, or because we have some peculiar love of dying. The Lord has given us a new heart. Now we are moved by love to join him in the authentic way of love ---- the way of the cross and resurrection.♥
P.S.
Do you accept that you must die to rise? What are the fears which prevent you from believing in Christ's victory over death? As you ponder both God's word and your life, what do you need to "die to" in your life? Under what circumstances you are tempted to say, . . . . "This is too much," and walk away?♥
O Mary, My Queen of Hearts, My beautiful way to her loving Son, guide us through our fears of self denial.♥
We are drawing near to the most central mystery of our salvation ---- the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. To celebrate Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week. Today the Lord does not speak in detail about the suffering he is about to undergo, but he does speak about the whole paschal mystery, using the image of a grain of wheat. He introduces this mysterious process in response to the request of some Greeks who are searching to deepen their spiritual life. When they ask Philip if they can see Jesus, they are not simply being curious. They want to meet him, know him, and follow him. They are expressing a longing that is deep in the heart of each of us ---- we all want to see the face of God and know him. We want to know the way to the fullness of life.
Jesus has come to show us the way. He himself is the way. But salvation is not cheap ---- the way is costly. This clear from the analogy of the grain of wheat. At first Jesus is talking about himself ---- he is the "grain of wheat" who will fall to the ground, die and bear much fruit. Then he reveals that the way of dying for new life applies not only to himself, but to every Christian. This is the way of every follower of Jesus Christ. Summing up his teaching, Jesus continues with the paradoxical statement : "The man who loves his life loses it, while the man who hates his life in this world preserves it to life eternal." The idea of "hating our life" may sound strange and unnatural, but Jesus here is not talking about what he dislike about life. He is pointing out the central decision of a disciple : to choose life in Christ above everything else. The "much fruit" that this decision produces is eternal life!
Planting is an act of faith and hope. When we plant, it takes time for the seed to germinate and grow. When we choose to follow Jesus, we do not go from seed to fruit right away. It happens in God's time. Jesus often speaks of his "hour." He means the time appointed for the fulfillment of God's plan. The Father is the one in charge. If we want to be followers of the Lord, we have to accept his timing. This demands patience from us. With God, there is a time for rejoicing ---- a time for Lent and a time for Easter. When we rush his plan and take things into our own hands, we ruin it.
In our nature we would like to eliminate the dying part altogether. We recoil from sacrifice. There is a certain modern mindset that proposes that we can go through life without thinking about unpleasant things, and invites us to distract ourselves from them in myriad ways. There are some Christians who seem to think the same ---- they preach a "prosperity gospel," telling us that we can enjoy life on earth and that we do not have to suffer. However, the gospel of Jesus Christ tells us that to follow him means not simply rising but both dying and rising it. If we do not die to our selfish ways, we will not grow. This is fundamental to Christian life. We cannot avoid the paschal mystery, and there is no shortcut.
We can gain deeper appreciation for the way of the paschal mystery in light of the reading and the promise of a new covenant. When a law is seen as something imposed from outside, even if it is a law of love, we experience it as a burden ---- we want to avoid it. But the promise of the Lord is that the new covenant will not be like that. It is no longer a law etched in stone or written in sand or on parchment. It is placed within us, written in our hearts. We choose the way of the paschal mystery, not simply because we have to, or because we have some peculiar love of dying. The Lord has given us a new heart. Now we are moved by love to join him in the authentic way of love ---- the way of the cross and resurrection.♥
P.S.
Do you accept that you must die to rise? What are the fears which prevent you from believing in Christ's victory over death? As you ponder both God's word and your life, what do you need to "die to" in your life? Under what circumstances you are tempted to say, . . . . "This is too much," and walk away?♥
O Mary, My Queen of Hearts, My beautiful way to her loving Son, guide us through our fears of self denial.♥
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