2015-03-18 19:27:00

5th Sunday of Lent – March 22, 2015


There was once a woman who wanted peace in the world and peace in her heart.  But she was very frustrated-- the world seemed to be falling apart.  She would read the papers and get depressed.  One day she decided to go shopping, and picked a store at random.  She walked into the store and was surprised to see Jesus behind the counter.  She knew it was Jesus, because he looked just like the pictures she’d seen on holy cards and in devotional paintings.  At last she got up her nerve and asked, “Excuse me, are you Jesus?” “I am.”  “Do you work here?” “No,” Jesus said, “I own the store.”  "What do you sell?”  “Oh, just about anything!  Feel free to walk up and down the aisles, make a list of things you want, and when you come back and I will see what I can do for you.”  The lady walked up and down the aisles and saw all sorts of things she wanted:  peace on earth, no more war, no hunger or poverty, peace in families, no more drugs, clean air, and careful use of resources.  She made a list of the things she wanted.  By the time she got back to the counter, Jesus read through the list, looked at her and smiled.  “No problem,” he said.  Then he bent down behind the counter and picked up a number of small packets.  “What are these?” she asked.  “Seed packets," Jesus replied.  "This is a catalogue store.”  In surprise, she said: “You mean I don’t get the finished product?”  “No," he answered.  "This is a place of dreams.  When you choose what you want, I give you the seeds.  You plant the seeds and watch them grow.  There is one catch, however:   you will not receive the benefit of your good work -- others will.”  “Oh,” she said with disappointment.  "Then I'm not interested."  And she left the store without buying anything.  Today’s Gospel instructs us to bury ourselves in the soil of life by selflessly and sacrificially spending our lives for the temporal and spiritual welfare of others just as Jesus did. 

Introduction: Lent's fifth Sunday’s readings present us with a challenge: Just as Jesus became the “Promised Messiah of Glory” and the ”Conquering Son of Man” by offering his life for others, we, too, must possess Heaven by dying to self and spending our lives in self-giving, sacrificial service.  Today’s readings focus on the upcoming death of Jesus, which is interpreted not only as a priestly sacrifice (Heb 5) but also as the moment of his "exaltation" and "glorification" (Jn 12).  The first reading, taken  from the book of the Prophet Jeremiah, explains how God will replace the Old Covenant of Judgment with a New Covenant of Forgiveness of sins.  This New or Renewed Covenant prophesied by Jeremiah has been fulfilled, at least in part, through Jesus’ life, death and Resurrection.  In the second reading, St. Paul tells the Hebrews that it is by His suffering and death, in obedience to His Father’s will, that Jesus established the New Covenant.  Quoting the full text of Jeremiah 31:31-34, St Paul explains that the new and better covenant was inaugurated through the High Priest Jesus’ offering of himself as the one perfect sacrifice for sins.  We cannot appreciate adequately the “Blood of the New and everlasting Covenant” which we share in the Eucharist without recognizing the joys and sufferings, triumphs and setbacks that marked the history of God’s Covenant relationship with His people.  Using metaphors of the “sown wheat grain” and the “spent life” in today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches the same lesson. The Gospel hints at Jesus’ inner struggle in accepting the cup of suffering to inaugurate the New and everlasting Covenant.  However, Jesus accepts the cross as his “hour,” meaning the stepping stone to his passion, death, Resurrection and exaltation.  He further considers his “hour” as the way of glorifying his Heavenly Father and of being glorified by his Father.  It is also the way by which he draws all people into the saving action of God.  Finally, the “lifting up” of Jesus is the assurance of our own exaltation and glorification, provided we accept our crosses.

First reading, Jeremiah 31:31-34: Jeremiah lived from about 650 B.C. to perhaps 580 B.C.  Most of his work was in Judah's capital, Jerusalem.  Called by God as a young man, Jeremiah lived through the tragic years preceding and succeeding the ruin of the kingdom of Judah.  In 597 Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and deported part of its population to Babylon (Iraq).  A second Judean revolt brought back the Chaldean armies once again, and in 587 B.C. Jerusalem was captured, its Temple burnt and more of its inhabitants deported.  When Jerusalem fell, Jeremiah remained in Palestine with his friend Gedaliah whom the Chaldeans had appointed governor.  When Gedaliah was assassinated, a party of Jews, fearing reprisals, fled to Egypt, taking Jeremiah with them.  It is probable that he died there.

Jeremiah lived through these catastrophic events as God’s messenger, preaching, prophesying disaster  and vainly admonishing the incompetent Davidic kings.  He tried to keep the people, the priests and the kings faithful to God amidst an atmosphere of political intrigue.  He was blunt in his words, and, though some passages in today's reading seem gentle, in his confrontations with erring people, priests and kings, Jeremiah was always firm and strong.  He asked questions and supplied answers: Why was there a need for God to make a New Covenant?  It was because the people, priests and kings had broken the original one.  How would the New Covenant be different from the old?  It would be written on the hearts of the people and hence could not be erased by cowardly leaders.  Why would there be no need for teachers under  the New Covenant?  Because the present teachers -- the priests and kings -- had failed miserably, and God chose to take other measures.  The passage reads as follows: "I will place My Law within them and write it upon their hearts.”  This New Covenant does not abolish the earlier Covenants with Noah, Abraham and Moses, for these earlier covenants are really the progressive stages of the history of the one Great Covenant between the one God and His people.  Jeremiah’s prophecy of a New or Renewed Covenant has been fulfilled, at least in part, through Jesus’ life, death and Resurrection.

Second Reading, Hebrews 5:7-9: This passage from Paul’s letter to the Hebrews is chosen because it fits with today’s Gospel which contains an ominous prediction of Jesus’ passion, and some details of Jesus’ prayer to his Father.  The verses preceding these describe the priests of ancient Judaism, and then describe Jesus as the Priest of the New Covenant.  Today's verses expand on that theme of Jesus as God's Son and at the same time emphasize his human nature (learning obedience through suffering, thus made perfect).  They also indicate Jesus’ superiority to the priests of his day in that he "became the source of eternal Salvation" to others.  Since Jesus suffered and prayed with tears to be saved from death, he can sympathize with our sufferings.  Since Jesus knows our human condition and is touched by our anguish and distress, he pleads with God the Father on our behalf.

Exegesis: The Context: Some Greek pilgrims who were either new converts to Judaism or mere ‘truth-seekers’ were greatly impressed by the royal reception given to Jesus on Palm Sunday and by the subsequent cleansing of the Temple by Jesus.  Hence, they approached the apostle Philip who had a Greek name and requested a private interview with the Master.  Jesus uses the occasion to declare that he is the “Son of Man” prophesied by Daniel, and that his time of glorification is at hand.  He immediately corrects the false notion of a political messiah by stating that he will be glorified by his suffering, death and Resurrection.

The hour of glorification for the “Son of Man”: The “hour” Jesus refers to is his time for glorifying his Heavenly Father and of being glorified by his Father.  It is also the way by which he draws all people into the saving action of God.  Jesus’ being “lifted up” on the cross to glorify his Father reminds us that we too can glorify God by wholeheartedly accepting our crosses from our loving Heavenly Father.

The term “Son of Man” (translated as “a son of man” by the RSV), is taken from Daniel 7:13.  The seventh chapter begins with the description of a frightening vision of Daniel in which  he sees the cruel and savage world powers of the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Medes and the Persians as wild beasts like a winged lion, a bear with three tusks, a  four-headed leopard and a terrible, ten-horned wild beast.  At last, Daniel sees a gentle, humane and gracious ruler in the form of a man.  The Jews, under repeated foreign rules and bondages, dreamed of such a God-sent ruler and preferred to call this “promised Messiah” by the name “Son of Man.” In the apocryphal Book of Enoch, this Jewish dream of a world conqueror is clearly stated.  It was but natural that the apostles shared this view and consequently saw the “Son of Man” in Jesus.  Jesus promptly corrected them, however, replacing their dream of conquest and political power with a vision of His cross and suffering.

 The metaphors of the “dying grain of wheat” and of the “surrendered life”: Jesus explains to his apostles that it is by his suffering and death that he is bringing life and liberation to the sinful world, just as a grain of wheat sown in the field ceases to remain itself alone, “just a seed,” by germinating and then growing into a plant which produces many new  grains of wheat.  In the same way, it is by the self-sacrificial lives of holy men and women that life and salvation come to mankind.  In other words, when we "die" to our selfishness, we "rise" to new life in Jesus Christ.  To be “buried in the earth” means avoiding sin, accepting suffering and living for others.

Life messages:  1) New life and eternal life are possible only by the death of the self through suffering and service.  Salt delivers its taste by dissolving in water; a candle gives light by burning its wick and melting its wax.  The oyster produces a priceless pearl by a long and painful process.  Loving parents sacrifice themselves so that their children can enjoy a better life than they themselves have had.  Let us pray for this self-sacrificial spirit, especially during Lent.

2) Only a life spent for others will be glorified here in this world and in Heaven. We know that the world owes everything to people who have spent their time and talents for God and for their fellow human beings.  Mother Teresa, for instance, gave up her comfortable teaching career and, with just 17 cents in her pocket, began her challenging life for the “poorest of the poor” in the crowded streets of Calcutta.  Thus, she became, in the words of the Secretary General of the U.N., “the most powerful woman in the world.”  We see similar cases in the history of great saints, scientists and benefactors of mankind in all walks of life.

3) It is better to burn out than rust out.  This is one of the repeated pieces of advice Jesus gave us (Mark 8:35; Matthew 16:25; 10:39; Luke 9:24; 17:33). Bernard Shaw in his play, Joan of Arc, shows the saint as praying: “Lord I shall last a year; use me as you can.”  Many charitable foundations and research institutions are financed by generous millionaires who understood this great principle of life (e.g. The Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill Gates Foundation for AIDS Research), while so may others selfishly keep their God-given wealth and talents for themselves.  Let us learn to live this Lenten period “burning out,” spending our time and talents for others around us by humble, selfless and self-giving service.  “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can” (John Wesley). 

There is a time-honored story about an old farmer who was persuaded by his nephew to visit the big city. The young man proudly took the farmer on a tour of the large metropolis. At one point as they walked down the street the old man suddenly stopped and asked, “Did you hear that?” The young man looked at the milling pedestrians and the traffic and replied, “Hear what?” “A cricket,” the old man said as he walked toward a little tuft of grass growing out of a crack next to a tall building. Sure enough, there tucked in the crack was a cricket. The young man was amazed. “How could you pick up the sound of a cricket in all this noise?” he asked. The old farmer didn’t say a word and just reached into his pocket, pulled out a couple of coins and dropped them on the sidewalk. Immediately a number of people began to reach for their pockets or look down at the sidewalk. The old man observed, “We hear what our ears are trained to hear.” Psychologist Ellen Langer says that many people are so preoccupied with their daily tasks that they rarely listen to those around them. Today’s Gospel presented a few Greek visitors who came eager to meet and listen to Jesus.

(Source: Homilies of Fr. Anthony Kadavil) 








All the contents on this site are copyrighted ©.