Fifth Sunday of Lent - Year B

Here is the notes I used for my radio program on Southeast Radio on the readings for this Fifth Sunday of Lent (Year B). The readings are New Jerusalem Version, which we use here in Ireland. Enjoy!

In today's readings, God tells us:

Then I shall be their God, and they will be my people,

and through Christ, who became for all who obey him the source of eternal salvation,
I shall draw all people to myself.

First Reading

A reading from the prophet Jeremiah:
'Look, the days are coming, Yahweh declares,
when I shall make a new covenant
with the House of Israel (and the House of Judah),
but not like the covenant I made with their ancestors
the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of Egypt,
a covenant which they broke,
even though I was their Master, Yahweh declares.
No, this is the covenant I shall make
with the House of Israel when those days have come, Yahweh declares.
Within them I shall plant my Law, writing it on their hearts.
Then I shall be their God and they will be my people.
There will be no further need for everyone to teach neighbour or brother, saying,
"Learn to know Yahweh!"
No, they will all know me, from the least to the greatest, Yahweh declares,
since I shall forgive their guilt and never more call their sin to mind.'
Then I shall be their God and they will be my people.
God tells us that He will plant His Law among us, that He will write His Law on our hearts. We have the luxury - a luxury that the Jewish people didn’t have - of knowing the fulfillment of this and of all God’s promise. The Jews heard the prophets’ calls and sermons, but they never quite took the messages to heart. They couldn’t comprehend the layers of truth and warning and anticipation woven into the calls of their prophets. We, the Christian people who know the One who has fulfilled God’s promise, have the reality of Christ. We have the key to the puzzle. We know the story, the salvation-history, the narrative in which God became man and entered into our history in the most amazing way. We know that Christ lived, died, and rose again so that we might live and die and rise again in Him and know the forgiveness and salvation that He won for us.
The idea of a “people” in the Old Testament is ubiquitous, as much of the story revolves around the Israelites. The Jewish people come from the covenant God made with Abraham, promising him a vast amount of descendants, a promise that proceeded from Abraham's grandson, Jacob, who God re-named Israel and made the father of His Chosen People. God watched carefully over Jacob's 12 sons and the tribes that grew from each of them. He rescued them from Egyptian captivity, guided them through the desert, and helped them win their promised land. Their history is full of fidelity and lapses, piety and idolatry, obedience and waywardness.

They lived by The Law, and in time, Jesus came as the Law that God said he would plant among His people. Jesus told us that He came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. He did not seek to end the designation of God's chosen people. He sought to come to them in love as the Savior that God had promised to them. Christ came to fulfill the hopes of the Israelites as the One who would save them forever. He came not just for the Jews but for all people, offering the Good News and salvation through Himself to all who sought it. When Jesus died on the cross, the veil of the temple's sanctuary was torn in two; the barrier that separated the Holy of Holies, where only high priests could go, had been eliminated. Christ came so that we all could know God, so that all could receive Him and be numbered among His Chosen People. Christ came to us so that His Father could be our God and we could be His people.

Then I shall be their God, and they will be my people,

and through Christ, who became for all who obey him the source of eternal salvation,
I shall draw all people to myself.

Second Reading

A reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Hebrews:
During his life on earth, he offered up prayer and entreaty,
with loud cries and with tears,
to the one who had the power to save him from death,
and, winning a hearing by his reverence,
he learnt obedience, Son though he was,
through his sufferings;
when he had been perfected,
he became for all who obey him
the source of eternal salvation.

He became for all who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.

Christ's ministry of preaching, healing, and presence was not a consolation to everyone. Some people tried to trap Jesus in order to make him blaspheme or contradict the letter of the Law. Others hatched plots to kill Him. Jesus Christ is the Savior of everyone, but for some reason, He isn't for everyone. Christ makes the offer of salvation to all who come to Him, but many people reject Him.

The new wording of part of the Eucharistic Prayer at our Mass changed the formula describing the blood of Christ from “shed for you and for all” to “poured out for you and for many.” This adjustment evoked criticism from some people. If Christ died on the cross for all people, shouldn't the words have stayed “for you and for all”? Isn't that a better reflection of universal salvation offered on the cross? These questions are difficult because they come back to this challenging reality that, though the redemption by Christ on the cross is available to all people through baptism and faith in Him, not everyone believes that to be true. We are left with a tension when we reflect on the conflicting sentiments – if salvation comes through Christ, are my non-Christian friends going to hell? Should I be doing something about that? What if they're not baptized but live and act in accordance with the Gospel values and Christ's example?

Only God has the answers to these questions. We believe that the Church is the best means we have to prepare ourselves and our hearts for eternal life with God. For those outside the Church, I just pray that they may remain open to Christ's truth and love and not go out of their way to condemn or disparage Christ or the Church. Ultimately, we believe that for all people, Christ became for all who obey Him the source of salvation.

Then I shall be their God, and they will be my people,

and through Christ, who became for all who obey him the source of eternal salvation,
I shall draw all people to myself.

Gospel

A reading from the Gospel according to John:
Among those who went up to worship
at the festival were some Greeks.
These approached Philip, who came from Bethsaida in Galilee,
and put this request to him,
'Sir, we should like to see Jesus.'
Philip went to tell Andrew,
and Andrew and Philip together went to tell Jesus.
Jesus replied to them:
‘Now the hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified.
In all truth I tell you, unless a wheat grain falls into the earth and dies,
it remains only a single grain;
but if it dies it yields a rich harvest.
Anyone who loves his life loses it;
anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me, must follow me,
and my servant will be with me wherever I am.
If anyone serves me, my Father will honour him.
Now my soul is troubled.
What shall I say:
Father, save me from this hour?
But it is for this very reason that I have come to this hour.
Father, glorify your name!’
A voice came from heaven, 'I have glorified it, and I will again glorify it.'
The crowd standing by, who heard this,
said it was a clap of thunder;
others said, 'It was an angel speaking to him.'
Jesus answered, 'It was not for my sake that this voice came, but for yours.
'Now sentence is being passed on this world;
now the prince of this world is to be driven out.
And when I am lifted up from the earth,
I shall draw all people to myself.'
By these words he indicated the kind of death he would die.

Here, Jesus gives us a direct insight into who He is and what He has come to do. He preaches to the people about the necessary role that death plays in giving new life, and in case there was any doubt in the hearts of the listeners, God speaks from heaven to affirm that Christ is doing His will. We will reflect more upon the Passion and death of Christ in our Lenten observances of the Stations of the Cross, Palm Sunday, and Good Friday. For now, I want to focus on a beautiful line that concludes this reading.

In one of our Eucharistic Prayers, the priest prays, “You never cease to gather a people to yourself, so that from the rising of the sun to its setting, a pure sacrifice may be offered in your name.” This line draws directly upon John's Gospel to invoke Christ's prophecy.

Taken on its own, Jesus' line is a beautiful reflection on His love: Christ gathers people to Himself. He does not simply sit on a throne and grant wishes to desperate people; Christ comes among us to show us God's Love and build relationships with us.

Looking at the larger context of the reading, Christ says he will draw all people to Himself when He is lifted up from the earth – a clear gesture toward the Resurrection, the final moment when Christ ascends to Heaven forever and brings us with Him to live in eternal life. But there's even more to it than that; the reading concludes, “by these words, He indicated the kind of death He would die.” This contextualizes Christ's message. This beautiful image of Christ drawing us to Him for His ultimate ascent into Heaven is inherent in His death. Christ's death fundamentally includes this reality. When we reflect upon His death, we must reflect also on His Resurrection. The death of Christ defeats death forever and makes it the door to Heaven. Christ tell us, “I shall draw all people to myself.”

Then I shall be their God, and they will be my people,

and through Christ, who became for all who obey him the source of eternal salvation,
I shall draw all people to myself.