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Gospel: John 12: 20-33
Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast
came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,
and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”
Philip went and told Andrew;
then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
Jesus answered them,
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,
it remains just a grain of wheat;
but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
Whoever loves his life loses it,
and whoever hates his life in this world
will preserve it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me,
and where I am, there also will my servant be.
The Father will honor whoever serves me.
“I am troubled now. Yet what should I say?
‘Father, save me from this hour’?
But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.
Father, glorify your name.”
Then a voice came from heaven,
“I have glorified it and will glorify it again.”
The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder;
but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”
Jesus answered and said,
“This voice did not come for my sake but for yours.
Now is the time of judgment on this world;
now the ruler of this world will be driven out.
And when I am lifted up from the earth,
I will draw everyone to myself.”
He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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“Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
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Death is neither something we like to talk about, nor something we look forward to.
When we hear that someone has died, often the first question we ask is, “How old was that person?” Consciously or unconsciously, it’s a gut check; a way of measuring our own time here on earth.
If the person was much older than us, then we sigh a sigh of relief. There’s still time… And, hopefully, lots of it.
But if they were either the same age or younger than us, then we are saddened by the reality of death, which has come too close.
The truth is, we spend most of our lives avoiding death – not only the event itself, but also thinking about it. But we cannot prepare for something that we deny or are trying to avoid.
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus places this theme front and center.
However, he is not drawing our focus to the physical death that he and his disciples will experience; rather, the invitation to eternal life that comes through the path of love, surrender, and giving one’s self away.
“Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,” he says, “it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
Again, what type of death is Jesus talking about?
It’s not something physical.
It’s something far more important – and difficult.
It’s the death to self.
The change in perspective from “me” to “we.”
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Think about this in terms of a child.
When a child is first born, all it can think about is itself. If the child is hungry, tired, hot, or cold, then it’ll let you – and everyone around you – know, “I’m not happy.” It’ll cry until it gets exactly what it wants.
But as that child matures, he or she must learn how to live in a world beyond its own immediate needs and desires, beyond that little world of “me.” Otherwise, it will remain what it once was – a child.
You might say, we all must learn how to become like a grain of wheat that dies to ourselves, making a positive contribution to our family, to society, and to God by living in a world of “we,” not just “me.”
In fact, this was one of the very first lessons that Saint Paul taught the early Christians. In his First Letter to the Corinthians, he writes:
“Brothers and sisters, I could not talk to you as spiritual people, but as fleshly people, as infants in Christ… For you are still of the flesh. While there is jealously and rivalry among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving in an ordinary human way?”
The challenge for the Corinthians – as it remains for us all these years later – is to live the words of Saint Paul, who proclaims, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ living in me.”
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This is not something foreign or contrary to human nature. It’s a law written by God into our hearts – the more we give, the more we have.
Parents understand this well. The more you contribute to the life, health, and happiness of your children, the happier you become.
The more you support your spouse or a friend, the happier you become.
The more we offer ourselves in ministry, contributing to the life and growth of this faith community, the more fulfilled we become, because it is in giving that we receive.
Each of us is already like a grain of wheat. We live in a world beyond ourselves; love sprouts wherever we’ve been planted.
But during this season of Lent, in what ways is the Lord inviting us to give a little more – to be a tad more generous; to forgive a little quicker; to offer a little more of our time to others?
As Mother Teresa once said, “Love until it hurts.”
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Death is not something we like to talk about, nor is it something we look forward to – not in a physical sense.
But the Lord reminds us today, “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
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Image credits: (1) Japanese Congregational Church (2) Indian Catholic Matters (3) Crosswalk.com