The Loving Mercy Of Our God Is Upon Us

FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT

Jeremiah 31:31-34
Hebrews 5:7-9
Gospel: John 12: 20-33

Today, on the fifth Sunday of Lent, the shadow of the Passion is already looming. The Cross is coming into view. Today’s readings are a reminder of the fruits of the Cross, God’s mercy and salvation in Christ. The gospel reading for today’s Mass has an air of expectancy about it.

Something is about to happen, events are moving towards a certain kind of conclusion. Like a rumble of thunder heralding a great storm-indeed some of the bystanders thought it was thunderclap. Once again God’s voice is being heard. The pace of salvation is accelerating towards it’s final end in Christ.

At the beginning of today’s gospel passage, we hear that some Greeks came to speak to Jesus. These gentiles, come saying, “we would like to see Jesus” -a hint we might say that confirms Christ’s spreading message of salvation and the nearness of the passion and resurrection of Christ.

Jesus uses the image of the seed appearing to die in the ground before it springs to new life as a miniature parable of his forthcoming saving work on the cross and his rising o new life from the grave. Jesus says when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all men to myself.” The death of the Son of Man will change God’s relationship not only with the ancient people of Israel, but with the whole world. Today we hear the Father’s reply to Jesus’ prayer.

The Father’s voice was heard at the Baptism of the Lord and also at the Mount of Transfiguration. Our Lord hints that the Son of Man’s suffering and death will give glory to God, and prays “Father, glorify your name!” The Father’s voice resounds in response, “ I have glorified it and I will glorify it again.”

Jeremiah the prophet already spoke six hundred years earlier about a new world order, based in a change in the potential of human beings to do right. We heard last week about the Exile, the removal of the Jews to Babylon.

Jeremiah had warned that this disaster was coming. He had called leaders and people alike to repentance, paying special attention to the rules of Israel. For his pains he was vilified and imprisoned. The hearts of his hearers were hardened against the words of Jeremiah.

Worse still, they were hardened against God. After all the blessings of the deliverance from slavery in Egypt, the giving of the Ten Commandments, the entry into the promised land and the fruits of the promiseland still there was no heartfelt response of thanks, praise, or loyalty and obedience.

The Old Covenant, rooted in the Law, offered the opportunity to serve Gos in peace and love to those who would make it part of their life. But it proved insufficient to inspire and direct the majority of God’s people.

So Jeremiah envisages a new era. He speaks of God planting the law directly into the heart, so that it is not diluted by the workings of the mind. ‘Deep within them I will plant my Law, writing it on their hearts.” God loves in his people and wants them to respond.

With the knowledge of God written in the hearts access to God will no longer be limited to formal approaches, but will be one-to-one. The letter to the Hebrews says that Jesus became for all who obey God the source of eternal salvation.”

We need to be grateful to God always for the gift of Christ is Son who died on the Cross of Calvary. He achieved the new and everlasting covenant, sealing it in his blood. In a week’s time we begin to re-enact and meditate on the events of the last week of Our Lord’s life. He shows his unique kingship on Palm Sunday. He leaves us the Mass on Holy Thursday.

He died for the salvation of all mankind on Good Friday. He bursts forth from the tomb on Easter Sunday. All this is not merely to inspire good feelings in our hearts, but also to write the new covenant on our hearts. There are revelations for the growth of our faith in God. It has changed the world, and us with it.

As Holy Week comes into view, the Redeemer is calling us ever more insistently to follow him to Calvary, to bring our sins to him there, to hear him say again those blessed words of absolution: “Neither do I condemn you; go, and sin no more,” LET US FOLLOW CHRIST’S FOOTSTEPS We are therefore called to follow a compassionate leader, one who saw behaviour that needed to be challenged from time to time, but who did not condemn the person. Let us do otherwise.

Let us fly to the feet of Our Saviour, and implore His mercy. At the foot of His Cross, we shall draw water with joy, from the wells of salvation.
Happy Sunday and God bless.

PRAYER

May Christ who offered prayers to the Father embrace those who suffer, encourage those who serve in joy, and bring the Church, living and departed to the heavenly goal desired for all mankind. Amen.

Fr Joseph Osho