Fifth Sunday of Lent
For Lent 2021, members of CTA’s Anti-Racism Team are sharing weekly reflections. As they are published, their pieces will be posted here.
Jeremiah 31: 31-34
Psalm 51
Hebrews 5: 7-9
John 12: 20-33
The Gospel reading for this 5th Sunday of Lent begins with the coming of a group of Greeks, perhaps Jewish proselytes or Greek-speaking Jews from the diaspora, asking to see Jesus. The Greeks were known to have a deep desire for knowledge and truth. One could characterize the ancient Greek as a “seeking mind.” It is particularly poignant that the Greeks come seeking Jesus, the Truth, soon after his solemn entry into Jerusalem, when Jesus is hailed as a military leader and conqueror, rather than the Prince of Peace.
At this time, Jesus is surrounded by a “great crowd” that includes the Pharisees and Sadducees. These religious leaders of Jesus’ time, particularly the Sadducees, were rich and powerful. They would do anything to preserve their own wealth, position and privilege. Towards this end, they were prepared to destroy the evidence for the truth, namely Jesus himself. That does sound familiar to us, doesn’t it? The hierarchy of the Catholic Church, much like the Sadducees, are powerful and they will do anything to preserve their status quo. The erasure of certain groups of people, the evidence of the reality of racism within the Church, has been the ongoing legacy of the Catholic Church, all done in the name of Christ.
At this point in the Gospel, Jesus makes it clear that it is in burying our own desires and ambitions that we become the instruments of God’s unconditional love to others — we become truly the servants of God. Not only do we have to give up our personal plans, we also have to be willing to live with insecurity, uncertainty, even danger, in order to speak truth to power. Jesus did. And he was crucified. But he did not remain in the tomb. God had the final word in the resurrection, the ultimate security, certainty and safety. If we call ourselves followers of this Jesus, we must also die to ourselves, and unless we do, we will not be free to use to the fullest our transformative potential to move ourselves and those around us to wholeness and holiness. Unless we relinquish our prejudice and privilege we will remain deaf to the voice of God, blind to the agony of the Cross that Jesus and millions of brothers and sisters have experienced. God promises to create a heart for us that will be imbued with the law of love, a love that will allow us to be united with those most in agony, a love that will usher into our world a new covenant with God and with our fellow human beings.
Let us take a moment to reflect: Are we the Greeks, seeking the truth? Are we the Sadducees, erasing the truth? Are we the people of God with a new heart and a renewed courage to gather all people under the Cross?
