Scripture:
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Hebrews 5:7-9
John 12:20-33
Reflection:
Life comes through death. That’s the unsettling, though absolutely unmistakable, message of the gospel for this Fifth Sunday of Lent. Jesus announces, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified,” but proceeds to reveal that his unsurpassable glory will come in a way that not only confounds our ordinary understanding of glory but calls it completely into question. For Jesus, the path to glory is through suffering and death—through the scandal of the Cross. Indeed, it is precisely when Jesus seems absolutely powerless, broken and defeated, that his glory will be most resplendent. This means, shockingly, that God is most clearly revealed in the crucified Christ, in the scourged, wounded, and bloodied body of Jesus. Think back to the request with which today’s gospel begins: “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” To see Jesus is the deepest desire of our lives—it’s what we want more than anything else—but this passage from John’s gospel insists that we cannot truly see Jesus without looking at the Cross; indeed, any attempt to see Jesus apart from the Cross is not to see him at all.
But if life comes through death for Jesus, life also comes through death for us. This is why in today’s gospel Jesus says: “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.” If we cling tightly to our lives; if we never grow beyond ourselves; if we never bother to love; if we constantly take more than we give, valuing ourselves over others, making ourselves the center of our own puny universe, we will not have life at all. But if we “die to self” through acts of generosity; through practicing justice and embodying compassion; through heartfelt forgiveness and an endless supply of mercy; and especially if we commit to a love that never gives up, we will know fullness of life.
Life comes through death. It’s the paschal mystery, the heart of our faith and the source of our hope. And it’s a truth worth pondering in these last weeks of Lent.
Paul J. Wadell is Professor Emeritus of Theology and Religious Studies at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, and a member of the Passionist Family of Holy Cross Province.