5th Sunday of Lent /St Patricks Day
This Sunday here in Ireland we are celebrating the feast of our national patron Saint Patrick. The readings are for the 5th Sunday of Lent, but the Mass prayers are for the feast. This weekend with all the Irish all over the world we celebrate the feast of Saint Patrick who was credited with bringing the faith to the Irish. I often wonder what St. Patrick who drove the snakes out of Ireland would do about the modern snakes that we have in Ireland today. I imagine he would look at what was going on around him and roll up his sleeves and get on with the job of proclaiming the Gospel. Today we wish all those who might read this who are from Ireland or claim Irish ancestors a very happy St. Patricks Day.
We are now at the fifth Sunday of Lent; and soon we will be celebrating Palm Sunday and Holy Week. The readings for the 5th Sunday of Lent focus on God’s covenant with us, even though we are often unfaithful God is faithful to us . The first reading speaks of a new covenant. God promises a new covenant with Israel and Judah, different from the old. He will write His laws in their hearts, he will be their God, and they, will be His people. All will know Him and be forgiven.What a resounding response to this first reading is the verses of psalm 51. It is a song of hope, a firm purpose of amendment, and a petition for inserting the Law of Love in our hearts despite the resistance of the way of the world. “Create a clean heart in me, O God!” If we include in the equation the short quote from the Letter to the Hebrews, we’ll have beautiful preparation for the monologue of Jesus predicting his suffering and death and resurrection. “Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” The Latin for obey carries the meaning of listening, active listening by way of the heart. The second reading speaks of the obedience of Jesus Christ that brought about our salvation. Jesus, during His time on earth, prayed earnestly to the Father, and the father heard him. Through suffering, He learned obedience, becoming the source of eternal salvation for all His followers including all of us. In the Gospel for this weekend Jesus foretells his death and explains that those who follow him will find eternal life. Some Greeks ask to see Jesus. Jesus responds by saying that anyone who loves his life will lose it; to gain your life, you must be like a grain of wheat which brings forth much fruit only by falling into the earth and dying. The seed which must die to produce a harvest is a powerful image of Jesus death. The Greeks must have been baffled.
They were baffled in much the same way that we are when we listen to the stories scripture about Jesus and all the things that he had done. The gospel goes on to tell us that a voice is heard from the cloud, and it speaks of the ‘glory’ that will come to Jesus for giving up his life. It is through his death and resurrection that he draws all people to himself, both Jew and Greek. Many Learned men and women have tried to put their interpretation on the Scriptures but if we listen with open hearts and minds, we will hear what the word of God is saying to us and what it means for our lives and the way we live them. As we come to the last few days of Lent let us prepare with great intensity for Palm Sunday and the Easter Triduum and then we will really be able to enjoy the Easter feast on Easter Sunday and don’t forget the Easter celebration lasts until Pentecost Sunday!!!
Fullerton T 