We want to see Jesus. The Fifth Sunday of Lent 2021

                                     We want to see Jesus.

The Fifth Sunday of Lent 2021

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Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 51; Hebrews 5:7-9; John 12:20-33

 

 

Lent shifts to the beginning of the Passion as the Greek Jews arrive for the Passover. Saint Phillip has a unique role in biblical events. As one of the first disciples, he was a messenger to tell others about Jesus. Initially, he presented Nathaniel, a doubter, to Jesus to become a disciple, and now he and Andrew are presenting the Greek Jews to Jesus. The tiny movement that began in Bethsaida of Galilee now has the whole word wanting to see Jesus. This marks the end of Jesus’s ministry and the beginning of the Passion narrative. The hour has come for all that Jesus did and represented to be glorified by God. The glory had to first pass through a dark hour.  

 

While the Fourth Gospel presents the most divine image of Jesus, he indicates that he does not want to die in this excruciating manner. He says, “I am troubled now,” which pales in comparison to the words we hear in Hebrews, “with prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one was able to save him.” This is real pain and sorrow. This is real fear. This is real anger. The evangelist tells us that God will eventually have the last word after Jesus goes through this terrible ordeal.

 

It is helpful if we, like Jesus, expressed more of our anger in prayer because it is a useful tool for our communication. Anger is fuel. It is a voice, a shout, a plea to be heard, and it shows us where we want to go. Anger lets us see where we’ve been and it lets us know where we need to go. Anger points the way, not just the finger, and anger is a sign of good health. Anger points the direction, and we are to use anger as fuel to take the actions we need to move where our anger points us. Anger is meant to be acted upon, and not acted out.

 

When we feel anger, we are often very angry that we feel anger. We tell our confessor that our sin is anger. We stuff it, deny it, bury it, block it, hide it, lie about it, medicate it, muffle it, ignore it. We do everything but listen to it. Anger tells us that we cannot get away with our old life any longer, that our old life is dying, that we are being reborn, and this rebirth hurts. The hurt makes us angry. Anger is a tool. Anger is not to master you. Anger is the fuel to bring us rapidly into our new one. Anger is meant to be tapped into and be drawn upon. Anger is useful.

 

 

 

Sloth, apathy, despair are our enemies. Anger is a friend, maybe not a nice friend or a gentle friend, but a very, very loyal friend. It will always tell us when we have been betrayed. It tells us when we have betrayed ourselves. It will tell us that it is time to act in our own best interests. Anger is an invitation. 

 

Jesus was not afraid of his anger. He dealt with real life emotions. He expressed it often in the Gospels, and he let God have it when he was preparing to enter Jerusalem and then again in the Garden. Jesus did not want to die and he told that to God, and because he released his anger, he was then free to trust God, though he knew it would end in his death. God had something more, something beyond, and Jesus could grasp it. It allowed him to be free to be obedient to God, obedient to his death. His obedience freed him for God’s glory. It is his obedience of faith that saves us. His obedience to faith led God to vindicate him in the resurrection. Let’s go with him now as he heads to Jerusalem and to that Cross of shame and glory. 

 

Scripture for Daily Mass

 

First Reading:

Monday: (Daniel 13) Daniel’s sharp advocacy skills spare the life of Susannah who has been unjustly accused of immoral sexual relationships.

 

Tuesday: (Numbers 21) As the wandering Israelites passed through the desert near the Red Sea, many are bitten by seraph serpents, but Moses erected a bronze serpent that he lifted up for those bitten to gaze upon the image and be cured. 

 

Wednesday: (Isaiah 7) Annunciation: Ahaz is tempted by the Lord to ask for a sign but he will not. The Lord gives it anyways: the virgin shall conceive and bear a son named Emmanuel.

 

Thursday: (Genesis 17) The Lord said to Abraham: You are to become the father of a host of nations. You will become fertile; kings will stem from you.   

 

Friday: (Jeremiah 20) Terror on every side. Let us denounce him. The Lord is with me like a mighty champion.

 

Saturday: (Ezekiel 37) My dwelling shall be with my people. I will be their God and they shall be my people.   

 

Gospel: 

Monday: (John 8) A woman caught in adultery is brought to Jesus for a verdict, but he does not answer as he calls upon those who are without sin to cast the first stone. 

 

Tuesday: (John 8) Jesus tells the Pharisees that they will lift up the Son of Man and will then realized that I AM. 

 

Wednesday: (Luke 1) Gabriel was sent to Mary of Nazareth to inform her that she has been chosen by the Lord to bear a son who will be called holy, the Son of God.

 

Thursday: (John 8) Whoever keeps my words will never see death. Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.

 

Friday: (John 10) The Jews picked up rocks to stone Jesus, but he wanted to know for which of the works he was condemned. He went back across the Jordan and remained there.

 

Saturday: (John 11) Many came to believe in Jesus. Caiaphas asked, “do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people?”

 

Saints of the Week

 

March 23: Toribio of Mogrovejo, bishop (1538-1606) was a Spanish law professor in Salamanca who became the president of the Inquisition in Granada. As a layman, he was made the Archbishop of Lima, Peru and became quickly disturbed at the treatment of the native populations by the European conquerors. He condemned abuses and founded schools to educate the oppressed natives. He built hospitals and churches and opened the first seminary in Latin America.

 

March 25: The Annunciation of the Lord celebrates the announcement that God chose to unite divinity with humanity at the conception of Jesus. God sent the angel Gabriel to Mary to inform her of God’s intentions to have her conceive the future Messiah. The boy’s name was to be Jesus – meaning “God saves.” This date falls nine months before Christmas Day. 

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

• Mar 21, 1768. In Spain, at a special meeting of the Council of State in the presence of King Charles III, the Suppression of the Society was urged on the pretense that it was independent of the bishops, that it plotted against the State, and that it was lax in its teaching. 
• March 22, 1585: In Rome, Fr. General received the three Japanese ambassadors with great solemnity in the Society's Church of the Gesu. 
• March 23, 1772: At Rome, Cardinal Marefoschi held a visitation of the Irish College and accused the Jesuits of mismanagement. He removed them from directing that establishment. 
• March 24, 1578: At Lisbon Rudolf Acquaviva and 13 companions embarked for India. Among the companions were Matthew Ricci and Michael Ruggieri. 
• March 25, 1563: The first Sodality of Our Lady, Prima Primaria, was begun in the Roman College by a young Belgian Jesuit named John Leunis (Leonius). 
• March 26, 1553: Ignatius of Loyola's letter on obedience was sent to the Jesuits of Portugal. 
• March 27, 1587: At Messina died Fr. Thomas Evans, an Englishman at 29. He had suffered imprisonment for his defense of the Catholic faith in England.