Mar 15, 2024

5th Sunday of Lent: "When I am lifted up from the earth . . . "

 

The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified

John 12: 20-33

The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031724-YearB.cfm


To begin with a “Happy St. Patrick’s Day” to all readers.  This ever-popular memory of the Apostle of Ireland, St. Patrick, happens to fall on a Sunday in Lent this year.  So, being Sunday, enjoy the celebration no matter how you may be planning it.  Let us pray indeed for the nation of Ireland that has experienced some very painful times recently and for a renewal of the Catholic faith that has so enriched the Irish people these many decades.

Despite that celebrated Saint, we still find ourselves in the journey towards Holy Week and Easter, so let’s turn to the Scriptures for this Sunday.

We are a country of laws.  We speak about a land of “law and order.”  There are laws about everything, they govern our lives, direct our actions, and are intended to maintain the boundaries in which citizens behave which hopefully creates a land of peace and harmony, which is right now being tested in our country.

We also speak of the natural law - the force that keeps planets apart from each other in defined orbits, the law of gravity keeps everything fixed on earth lest we go flying off into space. Our bodies are governed by certain biological consistencies as well. We have laws that guide our traffic, our tax system, our use of land, our homes, etc.  Without certain established constraints we simply become governed by nothing other than our base instincts.

In the Church we have Canon Law which governs our lives as Catholics.  It helps us to understand the deeper meaning of God’s superior Law and how we can live out what he asks of us. Church laws govern the sacraments, our parishes, the formation of priests, the governing of a Diocese by the Bishop, etc.  Yet the final goal and purpose is the salvation of souls. Our readings today speak about another source from where law has come. A law or relationship; a covenant between us and God.

On this final Sunday of Lent before Holy Week we hear the voice of Jeremiah the prophet speaking of God’s desire to “Make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.” Then in a divine longing for relationship with us, God speaks through Jeremiah: “I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God and they will be my people.”

What do you see in these words?  I imagine a kind of sculptor at work on a piece of marble.  He chisels away an indelible image of beauty.  He breathes upon the work and forms it according to his personal imagination.  Certainly, the name of the Renaissance inspired genius Michelangelo comes to mind, his famed statue of David, carved from one piece of marble and that of the Pieta, depicting the crucified body of Jesus in the arms of his mother. Such it is with the law of God on our hearts that Jeremiah speaks of in our first reading.

The law of the “new covenant” is not a restriction or a punishment.  God in this passage desires an intense relationship with humanity.  He has tried to reach out to us over and over again only to be ultimately met with rejection. So now he enters our hearts and imbeds his genius on us. He wants to reform a people and build a deeper bond of communion with them.  Yet, human hearts are not made of stone so our Creator desires to live in the hearts of all.

Jeremiah’s words imply that God will implant a natural longing for union with God; an innate sense of right and wrong, a conscience that speaks from within us. The Jews have returned from exile in Babylon with a new and renewed faith. That law is alive, and they will know that God is God for them, and they are particularly chosen for him. It is about a law of love and relationship between God and humanity. In other words, God wishes to redeem humanity. Yet, our nature is flawed by sin and we are in constant need of conversion. 

In the Gospel passage from John we hear from Jesus what the sign of this redemption will be: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” The cross of Christ, that grain of wheat which dies to produce much fruit as we hear today, is the sign of the covenant God has made with humanity.  This is the “hour” which Jesus speaks of in the Gospel; when he will be “glorified.” That in death there is life and resurrection; there is hope and promise.  In giving one’s life away we produce the fruits of virtue and holiness: unselfishness, compassion, humility, true sacrificial love. His reference to being "lifted up," certainly is shown not only in his being raised on the cross but also in the resurrection and Jesus' ascension into  heaven - the whole of the paschal mystery and God's saving action in Christ.  

So, at the Last Supper he was about to finally set things right for there he took the bread and wine, established the Holy Eucharist in the new covenant of “my blood.” He has given himself to us in the new and final for all time in the sign of his love and through his Church as he poured out his life for us on the cross. The Holy Eucharist is Christ in our midst intimately connected with us and there he calls us to “lawful” thankfulness.

The sacred law, and all that Christ has done for us, is to keep our hearts open and receptive to God. To embrace the sign, the cross, as an integral part of our Christian lives as we too die and rise with Christ through the grace of our Baptism and the measure by which we live our faith. If we follow our own "law," always by our own ego centered lives, we're on our own.  If we follow in his Way, a life focused on God as the center, we will bear much and more effective fruit.

As we approach Holy Week, beginning with Passion (Palm) Sunday, we see reflected the whole meaning of that week and our lives in the world of today that has seemingly detached itself from God.  We see the results of an ego-driven society and our gift is to aid in putting things back on track.  Jesus came to rescue us to save us from pride, greed, selfishness, revenge, and any other dark ego centered emotions you can imagine. He willingly, offered his own life as a ransom for the many.  As our Gospel closes this Sunday, we hear a most moving image from the words of Christ:

+ And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself. +