5th Sunday of Lent - Year B - 5th Sunday of Lent and “Lord of All Hopefulness”
As we continue our Lenten journey with Christ, the human face of God, this weekend’s readings remind us of the painful struggle Jesus had to endure to be faithful to his vocation as the suffering Messiah. From the beginning of his ministry, he chose the path of suffering love, the way of the Cross. Both the second reading and the Gospel give us an insight into what this would cost him.
The Gospel reveals Jesus’ inner struggle as the time of his passion and death draws near: ‘Now the hour has come… now my soul is troubled’. We have here an echo of Jesus’ agony in the Garden of Gethsemane where he seemed appalled at the prospect of his forthcoming death and prays to his Father: ‘Take this cup away from me’. Jesus’ fear reveals his humanity. As Alexander Solzhenitsyn states: ‘A person without fear is no hero; the person who overcomes fear is’. Jesus’ trepidation is followed immediately by his humble submission to the Father’s will: ‘It was for this very reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name!’.
Jesus knows that his death is necessary and he embraces it freely: ‘Unless the grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies, it remains a single grain, but if it dies it bears much fruit’. This expresses a profound truth at the heart of life and a key principle of all Christian discipleship. To try to avoid death, including the ‘little deaths’ that are part of everyday living, is to stunt our growth in love and suffocate the Spirit. Ilia Delio says that every time we try to hold on too tightly to our comfort and security, to control our lives to avoid risk, we reject the movement of God’s Spirit in our lives. ‘To say “I will not die” is to die. To be willing to die by surrendering to the freedom of the Spirit is to live forever’. Let us continue on our Lenten journey by surrendering to the Spirit as we wait in joyful hope for the Easter Resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
In honor of this weekend’s readings, we would like to share our latest video, "Lord of All Hopefulness", a Christian hymn written by Jan Struther and commonly set to the melody of an Irish folksong named SLANE. This folksong was named after the Hill of Slane, the site where St. Patrick lit an Easter fire in defiance of the pagan king, Lóegaire, near the village of the same name (Irish: Baile Shláine) in County Meath, Ireland.
Video can be watched by clicking here or on the picture below:
