Fifth Sunday of Lent

Brothers, as we continue to Journey through lent, we are reminded of the tension that existed between Jesus’s mission and the ideas the Disciples had about who Jesus was and what his purpose was. In Last Sunday’s Gospel reading, we were reminded that this tension does not only apply to Jesus and his mission, but it also applies to us and to ours.

Hear the words of Our Lord, “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”

“...where I am, there shall my servant be also…”

Where is Jesus?

Where are you, his servant?

This lent… as in every lent… Jesus is on the road to Calvary, preparing himself to be obedient to his mission. We know from the second reading in Hebrews chapter 5 that that even our Lord had to “learn obedience through what he suffered”. Why do we need to learn obedience?

The desires that we carry in our flesh for self-preservation run deep in us, as they did for our Lord. It is not a joyful or comfortable thing to contemplate the prospect of willingly embracing pain and suffering. Isn’t it common to our human experience to seek to reduce these afflictions, and increase comfort and convenience in our lives? Even Jesus asks the Father that the cup should pass from him…

While comfort and convenience are not sinful, the truth, brothers, they need to be subjected to the will of God the Father. Like Jesus, we must live the words of our Lord who said, “my food is to the will of him who sent me.” In these readings, Jesus contemplates his own life and mission, saying “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No. for this purpose I have come to this hour.”

For what purpose have you come to the hour you find yourself in? For your comfort and convenience? Or for a higher call?

St. Maximilian Kolbe gave his life in the Nazi concentration camps for another man who he didn’t even know. Reflecting on his sacrifice, a mentor of mine wrote,

“Neither sacrifice nor martyrdom are accidental responses which unexpectedly find a home in our lives. Rather they are the natural, or should we say supernatural, response to a lifetime of seemingly little acts of obedience. Daily as we say “no” to our world and our will, and “yes” to the Kingdom of God and His will, we appropriate the grace of dying to self…”

Brothers, what are you doing to cultivate the reflex of “yes” to the call of our Lord?

Reply to this thread with your thoughts and reflections. And in the meantime let’s ask for the intercession of our Lady, whose “yes” led to the piercing of her heart at the Cross of our Lord, her Son.

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed if the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and in the hour of our death. Amen.