Homily Fifth Sunday of Lent Year B Glorifying the Father
Homily Fifth
Sunday of Lent Year B
Reading 1:
The theme of covenant continues in the first reading as it has for each of the
previous Sunday in Lent. On the first Sunday, we heard about the covenant God
made with Noah. The sign was the rainbow. On the second Sunday, we read about
God’s covenant with Abraham. Circumcision was the sign of the covenant. On the
third Sunday, the focus was God’s covenant with Moses. The sign was obedience
to the Ten Commandments. Last Sunday, we heard about the consequences that the
Chosen People experienced because they broke their covenant with God. They were exiled from the Promised Land for
seventy years until Cyrus, a pagan king, was chosen by God to restore His
people back in the land flowing with milk and honey.
Today,
Jeremiah tells the people that God will make a new covenant, a covenant of the
heart, a covenant of love with the people. The expected response would be love
not obligation, but a love that is not external but lived out in a right
relationship of intimacy and union with God. And God promises that he will
forgive their sins and remember them no more.
At Mass
today, let this promise of forgiveness come back to mind when the chalice of
wine is consecrated and the words are said: “the blood of the new and eternal covenant,
which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sin.” We are the beneficiaries of this new and
eternal covenant.
Reading 2:
In the past four Sundays, the focus has been on the death and resurrection of
Jesus. First Sunday: as a result of his death and resurrection we have been
saved in the waters of baptism. Second Sunday: even though God spared Abraham’s
son, he did not spare his Son, Jesus, but handed him over to death because of
his great love for us. Third Sunday: his death and resurrection seems like
foolishness to the Jews and weakness to the Greeks, but in truth it manifests
the strength and power of God. Fourth Sunday: God, rich in mercy, saved us
through the death of Jesus. We did not earn this pure gift, but we are called
to respond to it by a life of love.
Today,
Jesus, out of love for us and the Father, gave his life for ours. In his
humanity, he cried to the Father to spare him but at the same time Jesus
embraced the wood of the cross in obedience to be an example for us. In our
trials and sufferings, we too cry out to the Lord. But in obedience we are called to embrace them
so that through them we can be perfected and brought into the full life of God.
Gospel:
Again looking at the past Sundays’ Gospel readings, we heard about Jesus’
temptations in the desert, about his Transfiguration, about the cleansing of
the Temple and as Moses lifted up the sign of their sins in the desert, the
serpent, so too the Son of Man will draw all to himself through the cross.
Today, as he
draws closer to his death, Jesus is aware that his obedience to the Father
through the cross will glorify the Father. As a seed is buried in the ground
bears much fruit, so his death and resurrection will bear much fruit. For it is
losing our life of sin and living in relationship with Jesus that we will
experience the same life and death process.
This is the
third time the Father is recorded as speaking to or about Jesus: at Jesus’
Baptism, at the Transfiguration and now.
The Father responds to Jesus each time. The reality of the impending
suffering overwhelms Jesus. He cries out: “Father, glorify your name. I have
glorified it and I will glorify it again.” He glorified the Father by saying
yes at his Baptism. He glorified the Father by proclaiming the word of the
Father, confirming it by signs and wonders. Now, he will be glorifying the
Father by his obedient death on the cross.
In this cry he is anticipating his agony in the Garden.
All during
Lent we have been reminded of the various covenants God has made. This Easter
we are going to make present and re-enter into that final covenant sealed for
us through the blood of Jesus on the cross. We will personally, communally and
publicly renew this covenant of our heart through the renewal of our baptismal
promises.
To do that
effectively and not just externally or perfunctory, we have been called to turn
away from sin and believe in the Gospel. Like Abraham we are called to trust
and obey God, to embrace the trials of our life, trusting the Father will be
glorified through them. As Jesus said: “The one who serves him will follow him;
unless you take up your cross, you cannot be my disciple.” Through responding
to the Lord, we will experience the fruits of his death and resurrection.
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