FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT – 2015
It is the last Sunday of
Lent, on the following Sunday we will
begin the Holy Week. Let us review our
Lenten journey:
We began with the
contemplation of Jesus tempted in the desert after his baptism in the Jordan river, when he heard
the voice of the Father saying “You are my beloved Son…”
In awe, like the
disciples who were witnesses of the transfiguration of the Lord, we learned
that the beloved son who had been tempted in the desert is God incarnate who
allows us to see his glory, and the Father repeats again the same words
pronounced at Jesus’ baptism “This is my beloved… listen to him.”
After that we
began a series of three Sundays in which the liturgy helps us to contemplate
three different themes:
o Jesus cleanses the Temple of his Father and says to us
that he is the true temple, the true law.
o Jesus has to be lifted up on the cross so that whoever
looks at him will be saved, like those who looked at the bronze serpent in the
desert were cured from the bite of the snakes.
o Jesus grain of wheat that falls and dies to give us
life, invites us to do the same, if we want to have eternal live and give it to
others.
Let us see what message do
the readings bring to us today.
FIRST READING – Jer 31:31-34
Ø Jeremiah is the prophet that was present when the fall
of Jerusalem, when the city felt under
the power of the Babylonian empire, in 586 B.C
Ø Today’s reading belongs to the part of the book called
“the book of consolation” chapters 30 and 31,
considered to be one of the highest points in the spirituality of the
Old Testament.
Ø Jeremiah dares to propose the substitution of the
Covenant on Mount Sinai by a “New Covenant.”
Ø The emphasis is on the word “new”, on the newness
which this covenant will bring.
Ø Jesus fulfills this new covenant announced by
Jeremiah, and Jesus himself on consecrating the wine says that this is the new
and eternal covenant…
Ø What is this new covenant?
o First of all it is new, it is not the old one with
some changes, no, it is new, completely new.
o God says that he will make a new covenant with House
of Israel. The church is called the new Israel, which is formed by all who
accept the Lord, who turn their eyes to him to be saved
o This covenant will not be like the covenant made when
God took their “fathers” and led them by his hand from slavery to freedom.
o It will not be a law written on cold and hard stones,
like the first covenant on Mount Sinai.
o It is a covenant in which God repeats “You will be my
people” and “I will be your God.”
o Under these words we discover the compassionate love
of God toward all those men and women who will be his people.
o In the New Covenant the law will be written in hearts
of human flesh, in the heart of each man and woman who will look at the Lord to
be saved.
o God will be more than ever “his God” and they will be
“his people.”
o Something new will happen, each person (young and old) will know the law since God will put it in their hearts.
o This law will be in the human heart like the rivers of
water which Jesus promised the Samaritan woman.
o The church has seen in these passages about the living
water and the law in the heart, the pouring out and the presence of the Holy
Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, on his church, on each one of its members.
o All this wonderful things will happen because he will
have forgiven their guilt and their sin. Jesus will fulfill this offering his
life on the cross for the glory of the Father and our salvation, both things
are the same thing.
In the Responsorial Psalm, we will ask God CREATE IN ME A
PURE HEART, on which you may write the new law, the new covenant.
Have mercy on me
God in your goodness
In the greatness
of your compassion wipe out my offense
Thoroughly wash me
from my guilt
And of my sin
cleanse me.
A clean heart create
for me O God
And a steadfast
spirit renew within me
Cast me not out
from your presence
And your Holy
Spirit take not from me
Give me back the
joy of your salvation
And a willing
spirit sustain in me
I will teach transgressors
your ways
And sinners shall
return to you.
SECOND READING – Hebrews
5:7-9
« The author of this letter reflects in this chapter on Jesus’ priesthood.
« Every priest is formed in prayer which enkindles in
his heart the love of God, and helps him to be more and more close to the God
whom he loves.
« In this process man learns obedience, to become all
that God has dreamed for each one of us when he created us.
« Jesus, the Word of God, the Incarnate Son of the
Father, who partakes in our limited human nature, in prayer, in the events of
his life, learns to obey. The Letter says “he learned obedience from what he
suffered.”
« And when he
will be made perfect, consecrated in obedience,
in suffering and in the giving up of his life.
« He will become the source of salvation for all those
who obey, who look at him to be saved.
« The author sees in all that process of Christ the
priest, a new priesthood which gives salvation to all who cling to him, and he
takes them to God.
« For a new covenant a new priesthood is needed.
GOSPEL John
12:20-33
ü John presents today a group of Greeks. As we have
already said in the Gospel of John each person represents a different group of
human beings.
ü The group today is a group of Greeks, gentiles who do not
belong to the people of Israel.
ü They approach Philip and say WE WANT TO SEE
JESUS.
ü When they told Jesus, he teaches the following lesson,
which might seem not to respond to what those men were looking for, but Jesus
is explaining this situation, some gentiles want to see him, let us remember
that whoever looked at the bronze serpent in the desert was cured , whoever
looks at Jesus with faith is saved.
ü The hour has come, what hour? The hour of Jesus which
John mentions several times in his Gospel.
o
It is not a
chronological hour, but a “kayros” a time of salvation.
o
It is the hour of
the glorification of the Son. What glorification? The glorification of his
death and resurrection, his Passover.
ü He has to die like the grain of wheat in order to give
life.
o
All of us, if we
want to give life we have to die like the grain of wheat, like Jesus
o
Jesus invites us,
if we want to serve him, to follow him because where “I am” my servant will
also be
o
Whoever serves
him will be honored by the Father. After all the Father said on the Mountain of
the Transfiguration “listen to him.”
ü Jesus opens his heart to us he tells us “I am
troubled.”
o Jesus is ready to do the will of the Father which is
his food, but as a man that he is, he experiences fear of suffering, abandonment,
scorn, death.
o How much we have to be grateful to Jesus for opening
his heart and letting us know his feelings.
o But John continues saying that Jesus acknowledges that
he has come for this “hour”
o Will he ask the Father to deliver him up from this
hour?
o No, because he has come for this “hour.” It is the
hour to make real in his flesh the “New Covenant” for the salvation of all.
o Jesus asks the Father to glorify his name as
Father
o The Father responds to Jesus, he speaks to him as he
did in his baptism and on the transfiguration, “I have already glorified you
and will glorify you again”
o The glory of Jesus lies in his filial, loving and
difficult obedience to the compassionate and loving will of the Father.
o Those present do not understand the meaning of the
voice, but Jesus explains that this voice did not come for him, but for them,
to help them to see Jesus not with the eyes of flesh but of faith.
ü And Jesus makes the solemn declaration
o Now the judgment of this world has come
o Now the prince of this world, the spirit of evil has
been driven away, it has no more power.
o And once “ I will be lifted up from the earth” I will
attract all to me. The cross of Christ has always been the point of attraction
of Christians and non-Christians.
o Jesus realizes completely the “new covenant” engraved
in the human heart, his death seals this covenant made in love and compassion;
and thus he attracts all. Only a compassionate and respectful love can make us
go back to the heart of our Father.
ü John ends this fragment saying that “lifted up from
the earth” means Jesus death on the cross.
CYCLE
A
GOSPEL OF JOHN 11: 1-45.
«
John narrates the
resurrection of Lazarus, interpreted as the resurrection of Israel into the New
Israel.
«
The Jews (according
to John these are the Jews who do not accept Jesus, most of the time it refers
to the religious authorities) agree to kill Jesus because he has given the life
back to a dead man.
«
For John this is
the cause of his condemnation, for the Synoptic Gospels he is condemned because
he has made himself like God.
«
When Jesus hears
that his friend is sick he does nothing, he let him die. Israel is also sick
but it cannot be cured it has to be resurrected.
«
The sentence “the
one you love is sick” is a reference also to Israel, the beloved and chosen
people of God is sick to death. The death of Lazarus will be the occasion for the manifestation of the
glory of God, and as well the resurrection of the people of Israel will make
visible the glory and the power of God.
«
Martha at the
beginning represents the group of Jews
who have a pharisaic orientation; but later she does a leap of the new
faith in Christ.
«
The conversation
of Jesus with Martha is a theological declaration on life, resurrection and the
identity of Jesus.
«
Lord if you had
been here my brother would have not died, but I believe that God will give to
you whatever your ask. – Have I not tell you that your brother will rise? – Yes
on the last day – I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE … and whoever BELIEVES IN MI WILL NOT DIE FOREVER. – Do you
believe Martha? YES LORD I HAVE COME TO BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE THE MESSIAH, THE
SON OF GOD, WHO HAVE COME TO THE WORLD.
« Martha goes to call Mary who was still outside the
village waiting for the Lord. There is here a connotation to the Song of Songs
when the girl is waiting for her beloved. The relationship of Mary with Jesus
is different from the one between Jesus and Martha. Mary related to him from
her heart.
«
Mary says to
Jesus the same words as Martha said, but probably she meant something
different, because Jesus does not
request from her a profession of faith as he did with Martha.
«
He has been dead
for 4 days. After four days the person was considered really dead.
«
Israel is also
dead in its faith, but Jesus has the power to give life again, because he is
the Life.
«
And Jesus raises
Lazarus from the tomb, he also gives new life to the faithful Israel that opens its heart and puts
its faith in him.
«
The man comes out
with hands and feet tied, are these the ties of the old Law? Jesus orders them
to free him, I think that Jesus has been doing that all his life long and
continues to do it for all of us.
«
A good work may
have different results according to who receives it or sees it:
o
For some it helps
them to believe, to put their faith in him.
o
For others it
separates them from him, and they agree to put him to death. What an irony! to
kill the one who gives life, who is life himself. How much darkness can the
human heart harbor.
«
Do I believe in the resurrection? Do I
believe that Jesus is risen? Do I believe that he can raise me up, give life to
me? Let us say with Martha LORD I HAVE
COME TO BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE THE MESSIAH.
BIBLIOGRAFÍA
- CASTRO SÁNCHEZ, Secundino. Evangelio de Juan – Compendio
exegético-existencial. Madrid 2002.
- LOZANO, Juan Manuel. Escritos(Writings) María Antonia París, Estudio crítico, “El
Misionero Apostólico- The Apostolic Missionary.” Barcelona 1985.
- RAVASI, GIANFRANCO. Según las Escrituras. Doble
Comentario de las lecturas del domingo. Año B. San Pablo, Bogotá,Colombia 2005.
- RUBIO MORÁN, Luis. “Escrito a los Hebreos” en Comentario al Nuevo Testamento. Estella (Navarra) 1995.
§ VIÑAS, José María cmf y
BERMEJO, Jesús, cmf. Autobiography of Saint Anthony Mary
Claret.
CLARETIAN CORNER
For
us the Claretian Missionary Sisters the first reading has a very especial and
dear meaning. We believe that the new covenant was made real in the heart of
our Foundress on her Initial Experience, when the Lord engraved his law in her
heart.
I was very attentive, overwhelmed to what was
happening, and it seemed to me that I was reading the Holy Law of God, but
without seeing any books nor letters; I
was seeing it written, and I was understanding it so very well, that it
seemed to me it was imprinting in my soul but in a particular way the book of
the Holy Gospels, which till then I had never read, neither the Sacred Scripture (O.T). After, by God’s
grace, I have read something and I have seen it written word by word, as our
Lord taught it to me from the holy tree of the cross. It seems to me that the
words I understood were coming out from his host holy mouth. (María Antonia París, Foundress of
the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 5)
I tell myself: A Son of the Immaculate Heart of
Mary is a man on fire with love, who spreads its flames wherever he goes. He
desires mightily and strives by all means possible to set the whole world on
fire with God's love. Nothing daunts him; he delights in privations, welcomes work,
embraces sacrifices, smiles at slander, and rejoices in suffering. His only
concern is how he can best follow Jesus Christ and imitate Him in working,
suffering, and striving constantly and single-mindedly for the greater glory of
God and the salvation of souls.(Anthony
Mary Claret, Fpounder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 494)
