5th Sunday of Lent, Year B: Homily by Fr. Isaac Chima
Theme: The Cross: gateway to success
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Reading: Jer. 31:31-34; Heb.
5:7-9; Jn 12:20-33
Dear brothers and sisters, God created every one of us
for greatness, He destined us for glory in Christ Jesus, and has blessed us
with the capacity to realize this project. In the Gospel reading of today,
Jesus gave us an example of how to realize the plan of God for us. He teaches
us how to handle or deal with the situations that confront us on our journey
towards our God-destined glory, and also how to achieve other goals and
objectives we have set for ourselves. The central message of his teaching in
today’s gospel is that ‘nothing good comes easy’ and that ‘we should be ready
to thread the paths of suffering and pain if we really want to reach our
destined glory.’
Dear friends, as we approach the great Paschal events
that gave us life, the church presents to us the real picture of these salvific
events, that is, the way of the cross. She urges us not to be afraid to embrace
suffering and pain on our journey towards our destined glory and towards eternity.
Hence, we should be ready to walk on thorns and to wear crowns of thorns, to be
despised, rejected, humiliated, and to lose our time and energy if our goals
and objectives are to be realized.
In the first reading of today from the prophet
Jeremiah, God made a plan for a permanent covenant with the people of Israel, a
covenant that will not be written on tablets of stone, but in the hearts of the
people. This new plan of God was set to be realized in and through Jesus. So,
Jesus came into the world with the mission of establishing a new covenant
between God and humanity, a mission of reconciling us with the Father and
making the Word of God – God’s covenant – permanent in our midst. Thus, God’s
project for Jesus was that of establishing a new covenant, a covenant that will
be written in the hearts of human beings.
Dear friends, what Jesus passed through, the many
hurdles he jumped, the problems he encountered on his journey towards the
realization of the mission set for him by God is a good example for all of us
who are marching towards our own God-destined missions and glories, and the
many goals we have set for ourselves.
In the Gospel of today, Jesus plainly told us the path
opened for him to realize his mission, the path that will lead him to the glory
destined for him by God. He said: ‘the hour has come for the Son of man to be
glorified… but unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it
remains alone.’ Dear friends, the road that will lead him to glory required him
to sacrifice his life on the cross. So, it was the path of suffering and
shameful death on the cross that lay between Jesus and the glory destined for
him by God. In the same way, dear friends, between us and the glory, the
realization of the mission entrusted to us by God and our goals in life, there
are many obstacles. Between us and the realization of the glories set for us by
God, there are temptations, a difficult life of faith and currents against
Christian morality. Between us and the glory destined for us by God, lies the
challenge of saying ‘Yes’ when others are saying ‘No’, standing by the truth
when the majority is saying the contrary, and giving out our time and treasures
for the good of our neighbours and the society. Between you and the throne of
glory which God has prepared for you lies the task of saying ‘No’ to the lure
of sin, and enduring abandonment and criticisms from friends and relatives.
Christ did not abandon his mission – his journey to
glory - at the sight of the magnitude of suffering that stood between him and
the realization of that mission. He rather saw the cross as a bridge to his
glory. Jesus stood firm on his way to his destined glory, even when God didn’t
answer his prayers the way he requested them. The second reading said: “in his
life on earth, Jesus made his prayers and requests with cries and tears to God,
who could save him from death.” Of course, God did not grant his supplication
the way he requested it. But then, he did not quit the mission entrusted to
him. He learnt obedience through suffering. How many times have you quit a task
because it was difficult and uncomfortable? How many times have you stopped a
spiritual exercise because it was taking your time and causing you your
friends? How many times have you cursed God because He didn’t answer your prayers
the way you asked him? How many times have you denied your Christian faith
because you want to avoid being mocked or criticized?
Dear friends, Jesus has given us an example to follow.
Let us not quit the Christian life because of the sufferings and criticisms it
brings to us. Let us not quit the race for our destined glory because of
abandonment by friends and loved ones. Let us not quit our wonderful goals and
objectives because the road to them is full of thorns and pains. Let us not
stop praying, fasting and giving alms in this season of Lent because of the
pains inherent in them. Let us take up our cross and march with Christ towards
our own glory.
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