INTRODUCTION
Today’s readings are meant to turn our attention on the approaching death of Jesus which Paul considers as a priestly sacrifice and John as an “exaltation” and “glorification.” The readings offer us 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, if we truly desire to make it into Heaven, must die to self by loving obedience, and by spending our lives in self-giving and sacrificial service to our brothers and sisters especially the most abandoned.
FIRST READING: JEREMIAH 31:31-34
Jeremiah is known as one of the major prophets. lived from about 7th century (probably around a period between 650-580 B.C). His ministry took place mostly in Jerusalem, within the dramatic historical period of the ruin of the kingdom of Judah. Around the year 597 BC Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon captured Jerusalem and deported part of its population to Babylon. Subsequently, around the year 587 BC, the chaldean army invaded Jerusalem for the second time. They set the Temple on fire and deported the Judeans into Babylon.
Jeremiah lived through these catastrophic moments as God’s messenger, preaching, prophesying disaster, and vainly reminding the people that their suffering is as a result of their infidelity to Yahweh their God. He was often persecuted yet was never defeated. He kept lamenting incessantly against the sins of the people especially corruption and injustice among the leading class.
Today the prophet announces God’s desire to restructure the relationship with His people through the sealing of a New Covenant with them. Why?
It was because the people, priests and kings had broken the original one. How would the New Covenant be different from the old? This time, it would be written on the hearts of the people and no longer on a tablet so that such that it could not be erased again. 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 page of the 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. Priests of the Sinai covenant were charged with: (1) interpreting the will of God for the people; (2) giving guidance as regards the law; (3) offering sacrifice on behalf of the community. Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man, fulfilled all these functions by authoritatively teaching his contemporaries to know God’s will and to live according to the fullness of His Law and Covenant which had been lost over the centuries. In his own death, Jesus functioned as both priest and victim to offer the one perfect sacrifice to God for the deliverance of sinful humankind. 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. That Jesus’ prayer has been heard will be demonstrated on the third day with His Resurrection. Since Jesus knows our human condition and is touched by our anguish and distress, he pleads with God the Father on our behalf.
GOSPEL: John 12:20-33
This Chapter 12 of Johnopened with the story of Mary anointing Jesus at Lazarus’ home, an anointing which Jesus said was “for the day of my burial” (vv. 1-8). Meanwhile, the chief priests had been plotting to kill Lazarus as well as Jesus, because “it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus” (vv. 9-11).
It was this feeling of powerlessness in the face of a charismatic, potentially dangerous, figure that impelled the Pharisees to seek Jesus’ death. Ironically, the raising of Lazarus from the dead will eventually lead to the death of Jesus.
“Behold, the world has gone after him!” (v. 19) leads directly into the next verse, where some Greeks come to see Jesus.
These Greek pilgrims in search of Jesus were either new converts to Judaism or mere ‘truth-seekers’ were greatly impressed by the royal reception given to Jesus on Palm Sunday and Jesus’ heroic act of cleansing of the Temple. Hence, they approached the apostle Philip and requested for a private interview with the Master. Jesus uses the occasion to declare that He is the “Son of Man” (an expression that was typical of the Daniel), and that his time of glorification is at hand. This He said in order to quickly correct the then-current and widely accepted, false notion of a political messiah by insisting 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 all people will be drawn 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 the crosses our loving Heavenly Father permits to enter our lives. Jesus’ hour can be described in three ways:
(1)As a death that gives Life: Jesus’ death will yield a Life which nourishes and sustains others.
(2)As a crisis situation: Jesus’ hour will occasion for believers a crisis (v. 31) which will free them from “the ruler of this world” (Satan), and the power of evil.
(3)As an access to Heaven: Jesus’ hour provides for all of us, available access to eternal life if we choose to have it. By being “lifted up” in his finest hour, Jesus will draw everyone to himself (v. 32) who chooses to be so drawn. We are invited to unite our personal struggles and their scars with those of Jesus and to follow him confidently to the glory that awaits.
THE TERM “SON OF MAN ” (translated as “a son of man” by the RSV), is taken from Dn 7:13. The seventh chapter begins with the description of a frightening vision of Daniel in which he sees the cruel, savage world powers — the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Medes and the Persians — as wild beasts: 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 Daniel’s “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) Today’s Gospel teaches us that new life and eternal life are possible only by the death of the self through obedience, suffering and service. Salt delivers its taste by dissolving in water; a candle gives light by having its wick burned and its wax melted. 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. It is a practical way of identifying with Christ who gave Himself whole and entire for us even as we did not merit it.
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 5 rupees (17 cents) in her pocket, began her challenging life for the “poorest of the poor” in the crowded slums of Calcutta. Thus, she became, in the words of the Secretary General of the U.N. Perez de Cuellar, “the most powerful woman in the world.” And in the same vain, Alan Sears, President and CEO of ADF International described her as, “a true advocate of love, peace and human dignity – the great vision upon which the United Nations was founded. Every life was valuable to her. That is why we hope this exhibit inspires the restoration and continual refreshing of that vision here at the UN”.
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 has given 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, while so many 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. The ingredient of a good Christian life is a life spent for the good of the other. For every single act of service rendered to a brother or sister in need will never go without reward. (Fr. Anthony Kadavil).
PRAYER
By your help, we beseech you, Lord our God, may we walk eagerly in that same charity with which, out of love for the world, your Son handed himself over to death. Through Him and with Him and in Him you reign with the Holy Spirit, One God, perfect communion, forever and ever. Amen.
PAX VOBIS!
