Texts taken from the “On Your Word” Missal March-April 2024

5th Sunday of Lent (B)
1st week, psalter

FIRST READING

From the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah (Jer 31:31-34)
Behold, the days are coming - oracle of the Lord - when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, a covenant they broke, though I was their Lord. Oracle of the Lord. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days - oracle of the Lord -: I will place my law within them and write it on their hearts. Then I will be their God, and they shall be my people. They will no longer have to teach one another, saying, “Know the Lord,” because all will know me, from the least to the greatest - oracle of the Lord - for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more. - The word of God.

Commentary on the First Reading

The new covenant written in our hearts consists in the forgiveness of sins, the prophet Jeremiah tells us today. When we truly and deeply feel forgiven by God, a sense of communion, gratitude, and appreciation is created, binding us to him indelibly. The commandments of the old covenant, written not in hearts but on stone tablets, remain; they have not lost their validity: they are like signposts that guide us and help us remain on the right path. But they are not enough on their own, because after original sin, human beings are rebellious and want to do things their own way. It is precisely God's forgiveness that enables us to know him and shows us his true face. God's name is mercy, and he desires to pour out his Spirit into us, who are always so weak and fragile. Unfortunately, we experience sin and fall many times, but what is asked of us is to continue believing that we are loved, because God does not remember our faults if we sincerely repent. “True humility,” writes Fabrice Hadjadj, “does not consist in prostrating oneself. It consists in allowing God to raise us back up.” 

SECOND READING

From the Letter to the Hebrews (Heb 5:7-9)
Christ, in the days of his earthly life, offered prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to God who was able to save him from death, and because of his complete surrender to him, he was heard. Although he was Son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. - The word of God.

Commentary on the Second Reading

The text seems contradictory: it says that Jesus prayed fervently to the Father, who could save him from death, and that he was heard. Yet we know that he was not heard, because Jesus died on the cross. So what does this mean? Clearly, biological death is not intended here - the stopping of the heartbeat and the end of bodily life - but death must be understood as the definitive rupture of communion with God. Jesus chose to experience biological death, which was the consequence of the sin of Adam and Eve, precisely to repair that rebellion and respond to the Father's love by once again making it possible for human beings to be children of God, in full communion with him. Because of this obedience, because he entered the great darkness of the punishment caused by sin, Jesus was made perfect and became the source of eternal salvation: because, being God, he brought light where there was darkness. From that moment on, whoever dies in Christ continues to live with him, while whoever prefers rebellion has already chosen to bear its consequences, accepting to remain forever in hatred and darkness. God respects our freedom of choice.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to John (Jn 12:20-33)
At that time, among those who had gone up for worship during the feast were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we want 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. Truly, truly, I say to you: unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone; 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. If anyone wants to serve me, let him follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. Now my soul is troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? But it was for this very reason that I came to this hour! Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again!” The crowd that was there and had heard said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus said: “This voice did not come for my sake but for yours. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw everyone to myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was going to die. - The word of the Lord.

Commentary on the Gospel of the Day

Jesus addresses the Father and asks that his name be glorified, just as we do whenever we say the Lord's Prayer (“hallowed be your name”). And how does Jesus glorify the Father? By carrying out his sacrifice on the cross. But how can a death so shameful and dreadful give glory to anyone? Is the cross not rather something to remove and forget, so unjust and terrifying does it seem to us? If we look at it with human eyes, it is so, but in God the perspective is that of love. This is why Jesus says that he himself, the Son, is also glorified in the act of dying. Everything converges in that total, absolute, definitive gift, which is death in love. From that moment on, every death to ourselves in love, every act that chooses the other over ourselves, is participation in that death, an event of eternal salvation, divine joy. There is no greater love than this: to give ourselves and no longer remember ourselves, knowing that we will find everything again in Heaven. To die to ourselves every day by giving love is divine life.