SERMON/HOMILY FOR THE FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR B 17TH MARCH 2024

SERMON/HOMILY FOR THE FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR B 17TH MARCH 2024

Jer.31:31-34; Ps.51; Heb.5:7-9; John 12:20-33

“ _If anyone serves me, he must follow me_ ” (John 12:26)

Having a Sacrificial Disposition!

We are drawing very close to the peak of the events leading to Jesus’ crucifixion. These events are not meant to entertain us but enliven us. The story of the crucifixion is a story that is relived everyday with each one of us playing different roles. We may not know if we are the Judas or Pilate, Peter, Nichodemus, Simon of Cyrene of today or any other actor until we fully plunge ourselves into what happens in the liturgy henceforth up until Easter Sunday. For today, the liturgy invites us to a life of sacrifice. Of course, the starting point to embracing the life of Christ and not being part of Jesus’ executors is having a proper and full disposition towards life of sacrifice. If we lack this disposition, we will never sacrifice anything; and the extent to which we are so disposed, is the level to which we will sacrifice. On this note, the liturgy doesn’t just invite to have a sacrificial disposition but a full sacrificial disposition. The love of Christ is without reserve; without full sacrificial disposition, we will never be able to imitate this height of love.

So, in the gospel reading, Jesus talked about sacrifice as the key to a fulfilled and fruitful life. Wanting to tell his disciples that the time for his passion has come, he said “The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified”. Sacrifice is suffering that surely leads to glory. Interestingly, such sacrificial suffering is not unusual to us. At this time when the rains are beginning to drop, it is for the farmer, a season of planting. Whatever is being planted now is that which was preserved from consumption or sales after the previous harvest. So, the farmer first disciplined himself by not selling or eating everything. Again, whatever is being planted now, is practically being buried in the ground. For someone who entirely lacks the syntax of farming, the act of preservation and burying will not make sense. But the farmer knows that that is the only way for fruitfulness in the nearest future.

The Lord wants us to imbibe this mentality of the farmer in our spiritual lives and dealings in this passing world. Our natural instinct pushes us to hustle for ourselves. We feel that the more we accumulate for ourselves, the happier we become. So in a bid to attain the happiest life possible, we lose the sense of sacrifice. Today, the extent to which people are ready to go for the good of another is almost nothing. In fact, we have been so wired with this selfishness mentality to the level that if we encounter someone with a sense of sacrifice, we are surprised and may be suspicious that the person may have some ulterior motive.

Sacrifice is something of the heart; not really what can be legislated upon. It is very possible for you to be forced to do something for someone, yet you will do it without a sense of sacrifice. Sacrifice is a matter of the conscience. So, the Lord invites us to a deep level of spirituality whereby our hearts are ready to use the slightest opportunity to sacrifice for another.

This is the point the Lord is making in the first reading of today. He would enter into a new covenant with men wherein the laws will no longer be written on tablets but on their hearts. This means that men will grow from a level where love is legislated to a point where love freely flows from the heart. So, Jesus died for us not because he was sent to do so but because he loved us to the point of giving himself up for us. The death of Jesus did not result from life being taken away from him but he himself freely gave his life for us.

Beloved, to fully and properly plunge ourselves into the spirit of this heightened Lenten season, we must make personal the prayer of the psalmist: create a pure heart for me, O Lord. Let us unlearn that selfishness is gain and relearn that our lives will be meaningful, fruitful and positively impacting if and only if we embrace service. Service is never without suffering; but this suffering is what qualifies as loving persons. He who is not willing to suffer, is not willing to serve; and if we are not serving, we are not loving. On the last day, it will be all about rewarding service with the Glory of God. There is not greater achievement than attaining the glory of God. Never loose sight of attaining this glory.