FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT, B

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UNLESS THE GRAIN DIES



One of the most poignant moments in life is when you consider your death. We are not ready to die because we do not want to enter into the pain of loss, suffering, separation, oblivion which death lay before us.

Yet who can escape death? Everyday we experience a little dying as we exercise patience for a loved one, serve a weak member of the family, make sacrifices for the good of others, lose ourselves in the process of loving, and deal with the surprising turns of life.  We are not ready to die and yet, God makes us prepare for it through the little dying we must do each day.

The question therefore is not to escape the experience of death but how to make our dying meaningful. In the gospel (Jn12: 20-33), Jesus likens himself, and us, to a grain of wheat that has no choice but to fall to the ground and die, in order to bear fruit. In the second reading today (Heb 5: 7-9), Jesus is shown as struggling in the face of death, like most of us, in the face of daily pains we experience.

But the grain, if it allows itself to go through this process of dying will experience a new life as a new shoot, a young plant, and a productive crop. Jesus, once he allowed himself to be like the grain of wheat, grew in obedience and was glorified as truly the Son of the Living God.

The first reading (Jer. 31: 31-34) reminds us what awaits us if we are willing to die to self this Lenten season. God will make a new covennat with us. There will be a new relationship that will take place in the heart.  Let us allow our selves to fall to the ground and die with Jesus so that we may experience the new relationship God has in mind for us.

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