Fifth Sunday of Lent

Posted on by Cassie

Philip is the apostle who was also tested by Jesus before the multiplication of the bread.  His name is Greek, so one could understand that the Jews from Greek background, also in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, would come to him to have access to Jesus.  Their request empties more than just having physical access to Jesus: “Sir, we want to see Jesus”.  However, Jesus’ reply to their request sends everyone back to the paschal mystery of His death and resurrection.  The Son of Man is just about to be glorified, and from now on, Jesus is to be seen only with the eyes of post-Easter faith.

Jesus takes this opportunity to provide one of the most enlightening theological accounts of His upcoming death and resurrection: “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (verse 24).  This tells us everything.  One might say it is the law of nature.  Yes it is, but for Jesus it comes as a free choice and from a total willingness to serve.  There is no other way to be a disciple of Jesus, to be a Christian, than being a loving servant like Him and giving away one’s life “in this world” so as to “keep it for Eternal life” (verse 25).

God Bless

Msgr. Powell

Fourth Sunday of LENT

Posted on by Cassie

Nicodemus appears only in John’s Gospel.  A member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, he is attracted by Jesus’ miracles and recognizes Him as “a teacher who has come from God”.  Yet Nicodemus seems unsure of any larger claims.

Jesus explains to him that He will bring salvation by being “lifted up” on the cross.  “Lifted up” is another Greek word with two meanings: physically lifted up, and exaltation.  Those who accept Jesus as the crucified/exalted revelation of God thereby receive eternal life (verse 15).  John’s Gospel is a proclamation of this message, and an invitation to accept it.

Verse 16 sounds this message again, for emphasis.  God “gave” His only Son in two senses: He gave Him as a gift to us through the word becoming flesh, and gave Him up to death for us on the cross.   That fact is the measure of God’s love for us.  God does not seek to condemn us, but to give us eternal life through His Son.  Those who accept Jesus as God’s revelation receive eternal life; those who reject Jesus reject the eternal life He brings, and thereby condemn themselves to the death which is the fate of all those born of flesh alone.

Deciding for or against Jesus therefore has eternal consequences, but it also has consequences here and now.  Rejecting Jesus and His message goes hand in hand with leading a wicked life, for that too is the way of all flesh untouched by grace.

God Bless

Msgr. Powell

Third Sunday of Lent

Posted on by Cassie

Through the “cleansing” of the temple, Jesus was really symbolically replacing it.  Without animals for sacrifice, sacrificial worship could not be offered at the temple.  Jesus later in the Gospel of John tells the Samaritan woman at the well because of Him, worship will be offered to God not at special sites like the Jewish and Samaritan temples, but in Spirit and truth (4:23-25).  The real temple of God—place of God’s special presence– is not a building in Jerusalem, but Jesus Himself.  Thus Jesus can say, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”  John explains to us that He is talking about the temple of His body.

Jesus’ action at the temple was thus another sign of who He was and of the momentous change He was making in the relationship between God and His people.  His first disciples did not immediately grasp the full significance of the signs He worked, but their  meaning became clearer after Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.  Signs such as the “cleansing” of the temple enabled people to believe in Him (Verse 11,23).

God Bless

Msgr. Powell