Fifth Sunday of Lent

Reflection

Today’s Gospel from John says, 

“Whoever loves his life loses it,

and whoever hates his life in this world
will preserve it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me,
and where I am, there also will my servant be.”

This passage is Jesus’ fervent call to His disciples (and to us!) that to follow Him requires one to be wary of what we do with this one precious life.  I do not believe for a second Jesus was prescribing self-hate and misery as the recipe to find eternal life.  Instead, I believe that here Jesus calls us to turn away from the “things” of this world that are so very easy to be consumed by, and instead to serve.  In the Gospel of Matthew it is written, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mt 10:39).  Jesus calls us each and every day to lose ourselves for His sake.  To me, this means that Jesus wants us to lose ourselves not in the logistics and little details of each day, but rather to lose ourselves in Him, and in each other.  What greater good is there than losing ourselves in the most holy part each of other, our divine souls, that live on far longer than the body it resides in now?

Prayer

God, help me to lose myself in the beauty of this world and the people I am surrounded by each and every day.

Greg Hamilton, ’16

 

Scripture

First Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm 51:3-4, 12-15
Second Reading: Hebrews 5:7-9
Gospel: John 12:20-33

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website