Life Lesson -Missionary Commentary for Sunday, March 17

Readings for the Fifth Sunday of Lent

Jeremiah 31:31-34 
Psalm 51:3-4, 12-15
Hebrews 5:7-9 
John 12:20-33
USCCB link to the Readings

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Life Lesson

In Chile, during the Pinochet dictatorship, every person had to decide: Do I oppose the human rights abuses, or ignore them? Will I do what I can to help the victims, or just mind my own business?

When we discover, as we grow up, that a life lived for the sake of others is more satisfying than only doing “what I want to do,” we begin to understand the reference Jesus makes to the grain of wheat that only lives and grows when it dies, after being planted in the ground of service, and love.

That is certainly what Jesus did, for the benefit of everyone. Instead of settling down somewhere to read the scrolls in the synagogue and to discuss the Holy Books “seven hours every day” (Thanks, Tevye¹), living at ease, retiring from his professional life as a carpenter, Jesus accepted the mission God gave him, and announced the Good News of God’s Reign on the earth. Reaching out to the poor and the leper, the sick and all the people pushed to the edge of society, he taught us by example and by words how to live for others, and become an instrument of God in the coming of a New Creation.

For this he was arrested and executed. His love for life did not deter him from the Cross. Rather, his death opened the door to the fullness of life for us, his followers, raised up into the new life of God’s reign by entering into the mystery of the grain of wheat that our Creator plants into a rich field of compassion, solidarity and sustainability. In Chile’s case, the dictatorship ended, democracy returned, and tears of joy ensued. In our case, a New Person waits to burst forth, blossom and bear fruit.

¹from Fiddler on the Roof, “If I Were a Rich Man” (listen via YouTube)

 
Notes on the Sunday Readings

First Reading
Jeremiah lives in a time of social and political disaster, as Judah tries to resist the approach of conquering armies (700+ years before the Christian Era), instead of faithfully living the covenant of Moses. But the prophet here encourages his people with a comforting message from God, of a promised future, when God’s laws will be written on our hearts, and not only on stone tablets.

Psalm
With both a new heart and a new spirit, the joy that pushes us to share the teachings of the new covenant with others will flourish in our mission activity.

Second Reading
The long homily of the Hebrews “letter”, perhaps written by Apollos (Paul’s fellow missioner), movingly portrays the humanity of Jesus Christ (“with loud cries and tears,” verse 7) and, thus, his suitability for the role of a priest, compassionately representing us in God’s presence.

Gospel
Most Christians at the time John’s Gospel was written (around 90 to 100 C.E.) were probably “Greeks,” or Gentiles, and would have pricked up their ears at the mention of some Greeks wishing to meet Jesus, especially at this crucial moment, when “the hour has come” (v. 23). Jesus makes a series of important statements on the meaning of his death and on discipleship here.

Notes and commentary by Fr. Bob Mosher, 
a member of the Missionary Society of Saint Columban.

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