Unless a Grain of Wheat.... (John 12:24) (2024-03-17 - 5th Sunday Lent)

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●●   Homily, 5^th Sunday Lent (year B)  ●●  2024 March 17  ●● Jeremiah 31:31-34 ● ● Psalm 51 ● ●Hebrews 5:7-9 ● ●  + John 12:20-33 ● ●

Bibliography:

·        Thomas Merton, No Man Is An Island, “The Word of the Cross”, pp. 77-78.

·       The Necessity of Confession and Its Seal, Homiletic and Pastoral Review, November 30, 2018, John M. McDermott, S.J. (https://www.hprweb.com/2018/11/the-necessity-of-confession-and-its-seal/)

·        https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/how-irish-changed-penance

[__01__]   A few years ago, as my car was on its quote unquote “last legs”, I remained determined to keep fixing it, repairing it, rather than trading it in or buying a different car.

          I was spending money year after year for the health and wellness of my vehicle.

          Should I move on …?

          My mechanic seemed to indicate this one day when I showed for another repair that I wanted to make but also did not to spend too much on. He stood over the car as though he was the priest at a burial at the cemetery and made the sign of the cross over the car.

          While he was not doing a religious ritual, he was reflecting something about what sign of the the cross, the carrying of the cross, the stations of the cross mean, whether in Lent, on Good Friday or beyond.

 [__02__]  What does the cross or the sign of the cross mean to you and me?

          Jesuit Father John McDermott wrote that the CROSS and the way of the cross is call for you and me to be converted, to be raised up.

          In other words, the In reflecting on the sign of the cross, embodies more than just closure or the END… but even the sign of the cross at the end of Mass is not about finishing up what we have prayed here…but starting over with a new beginning.

          In other words, while Jesus death on the cross calls us to dying and rising to new life.

          This does not simply mean a “trade in” of old ways for new ways to God as the dealer who does all the work for us. There is work for you and me in taking up the cross each day. In other words, the Cross is not just about Jesus evening up the good vs. evil competition because Jesus accepts a penalty on himself “takes one for the team”  so you / I don’t have to get punished

 

[__04__]  Father John McDermott was questioning a viewpoint that you or I might have that “The cross is cannot be explained simply as God’s way to show His love to basically good people. The Cross would be a most repulsive way of expressing love”

          The Cross is “repulsive” – even offensive – because it involves the willful surrender of Jesus – as the innocent victim -- to those who are not innocent, in fact to those who do not even know entirely what their actions mean: Jesus from Calvary: “Forgive them, Father, they know not what they do.”  (Bibl Referenc___)

          In taking up his cross, Jesus is showing his concern and compassion.

          I.e., that Jesus Christ as the “true lover must first sacrifice himself for his beloved.”

          Or, as John the Evanglist writes in the Gospel today:

          “Unless the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24)

          We can bear fruit and flourish by our sacrifices in love of God and neighbor.

 

[__05__]  In this season of mid-March, we recall the lives and feast days of 2 saints whom the Church remembers for their self-sacrifice.

          On March 19, the final evening of our St. Joseph Novena which is really our parish’s Lenten retreat – which you can also watch on our Parish YouTube channel – we recall St. Joseph as patron saint of the church.

          From Joseph, Nazareth and beyond, we learn the virtue of self sacrifice, and truly resting in God’s presence.

          From St. Joseph, we learn the virtue of self-sacrifice and resting in the presence of God. Joseph, through his dreams and actions, exemplifies both surrender and productivity under divine influence. Similarly, our understanding of productivity and rest is reshaped by the Christian concept of Sunday as the first day of the week—a day of rest followed by work, mirroring Joseph's pattern of listening and resting.

          Joseph gives us a model of self sacrifice:

          “Unless the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24)

          Joseph is also a model of true productivity and possibility in light of God’s influence.  For my part, I also enjoy being productive and proving myself accordingly, and perhaps realizing I have earned – merited – a rest at the end of my labors.

 [__06__]  In fulfillment of the Jewish covenant, there is a new twist on it means to work and rest. In the original covenant, the Sabbath is the 7^th day, after the 6 days of work and creation. That’s logical and may reflect our own view of “Sabbath” = “weekend”. But the Sabbath day Sunday is not the end of our week, but the beginning. This is the “end” or purpose of the Sabbath and the sacraments: to begin again.

          But the Christian fulfillment – and Resurrection – makes the Sabbath not the last day of the week, but the first.

          I.e., we rest first, then we work. Joseph did the same in his 4 dreams and resting and listening

 

[__07__]  This 5^th Sunday of Lent also coincides with St. Patrick’s Day on March 17. Notably, the famous NYC Manhattan St. Patrick’s Parade is moved to Saturday when the 17^th is Sunday. The Sabbath takes priority, comes first.

 

[__08__] It’s an important part of Irish Christianity and Catholicism that  teaches us something about examining our lives and beginning again, in gong to confession for our sins.

          The Irish Catholic tradition is important here in Church history.

This is the meaning was given to an ancient practice in the Church, through the monks, brothers and priests of Ireland starting around the year 600.

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes it: “During the seventh century Irish missionaries, inspired by the Eastern monastic tradition, took to continental Europe the ‘private’ practice of penance, which does not require public and prolonged completion of penitential works before reconciliation with the Church. From that time on, the sacrament has been performed in secret between penitent and priest.”

“gradually the practice came to include confessing faults to a highly trusted brother monk, who became known as the anamchara (animae carus), or “soul friend.” (“soul” is not “sole” or “solo” but S-O-U-L, God’s spirit in us). The abbot or fraternal anamchara would pray with the penitent and prescribe actions to help him overcome his failing. Certain monks renowned for their spiritual advice became popular confessors. Eventually, people outside the monasteries began coming to those monks to confess their sins.”

(https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/how-irish-changed-penance)

 

 

[__10__]  There is no greater “soul friend” than JC Himself whose words and life live on in the Catholic priesthood and sacrament of penance and reconciliation.

          As the Church, we have the responsibility not only to DENOUNCE and REJECT sinfulness, but also to RENOUNCE and REFORM ourselves.

          The priest is in the confessional as a soul friend to you. You might resist this idea based on the priest himself being a sinner and a human being.

          Yes, guilty as charged!

But the priest is not there to represent himself but rather Jesus Christ and the Church.

          You have a right to hear from JC and the Church. You are a daughter or son of the Church.

          I’d like to make an analogy.

          You, as a child, of your parents have a right to their love and wisdom. You may not have had perfect parents. You may have had very imperfect – broken – parents.

          But, when we turn to them, we have a right to expect something that will heal us, change us, convert us, because of their love for the family.

          In fact, the “end” or purpose of their lives was to help you begin. The “end” or purpose of all of our lives – towards young people – is to help them begin and begin again.

          Even the “corrections” we make toward them is to help them as a  renewal rather than a rejection.

          If we turn to our parents in a crisis, we expect our sins or difficulty to stay “in house”, not to go out on social media or even to other family members.

          There is a parallel of this family confidentiality to the confidential seal of confession.

          It is the calling and endeavor of the priest to allow you to confess your sins and also to keep it all “in house.” This is the absolutely confidential seal of confession.

          To put it bluntly, what happens in the confessional stays in the confessional.

          But what happens on Calvary, on the Cross, does not stay on Calvary.

          In his more public Passion, Death and Resurrection, Jesus’ mercy goes out to the whole world, to you and me as individuals, to Our Lady of Lourdes parish family (which we give thanks for this weekend,), so that all of us might put on the new man, the woman in Christ to be re-made in holiness and wholeness.

          Jesus’ mercy blooms and flourishes. He is the grain of wheat that falls to the ground and dies.

          Because he dies, he bears much fruit. This fruit, this growth is your life, the forgiveness of your sins, a new beginning. You and I can begin again.

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