Fifth Sunday of Lent, Cycle B March 18, 2018

FIRST READING
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Jeremiah tells the people that the Lord will make a new covenant with
them, planting the law within their hearts.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 51:3-4,12-13,14-15
A prayer for God's mercy and forgiveness

SECOND READING
Hebrews 5:7-9through his sufferings, Jesus gained salvation for all who obey him.

GOSPEL READING
Jesus teaches his disciples about the way in which he will be glorified
by God, and a voice from heaven is heard to affirm this teaching.

GOSPEL JN 12:20-33

Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast
came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,
and asked him, "Sir, we would like to see Jesus."
Philip went and told Andrew;
then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
Jesus answered them,
"The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,
it remains just a grain of wheat;
but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
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.
The Father will honor whoever serves me.
"I am troubled now. Yet what should I say?
'Father, save me from this hour'?
But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.
Father, glorify your name."
Then a voice came from heaven,
"I have glorified it and will glorify it again."
The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder;
but others said, "An angel has spoken to him."
Jesus answered and said,
"This voice did not come for my sake but for yours.
Now is the time of judgment on this world;
now the ruler of this world will be driven out.
And when I am lifted up from the earth,
I will draw everyone to myself."
He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.

BACKGROUND ON THE GOSPEL READING

Today's Gospel reading is taken from the Gospel of John. We are reading
much further into John's Gospel than we have for the past two weeks.
Chapter 12 of John's Gospel is a preparation for the beginning of the
passion narrative to follow. Jesus has just raised Lazarus from the
dead--an important sign in John's Gospel, which inspired many people to
believe in Jesus. This event also marks the turning point in Jesus'
conflict with the Jewish authorities. John's Gospel tells us that the
Sanhedrin met after this event and made plans to kill Jesus. In the 12th
chapter of John's Gospel, Jesus is anointed at Bethany and enters
Jerusalem in triumph. We again see evidence of the significance of the
raising of Lazarus to this event; John reports that the crowds also
gathered to see Lazarus.

Following his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, Jesus predicted his
suffering, death, and Resurrection and prepared his disciples to believe
in the salvation that his death would accomplish. Using the metaphor of
the grain of wheat, Jesus presented the idea that his dying would be
beneficial. He also taught that those who would be his disciples must
follow his example of sacrifice. This theme will be repeated in John's
account of the Last Supper, when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples
as an example of how they must serve one another.

The final section of today's Gospel might be read as John's parallel to
the agony in the garden. Unlike the Synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of John
does not record Jesus' anguished prayer in the garden of Gethsemane
before his arrest. Although comparable words are found in today's
reading, Jesus gives a confident response to the question he raises when
asking God to save him from his impending death. After announcing his
conviction that it is for this purpose that he came, a voice from heaven
speaks, as if in answer to Jesus' prayer. This voice, like the one heard
at Jesus' baptism and at Jesus' Transfiguration--events reported in the
Synoptic Gospels but not in John's Gospel--affirms that God welcomes the
sacrifice that Jesus will make on behalf of others. In John's Gospel,
Jesus teaches that this voice was sent for the sake of those who would
believe in him.

In today's Gospel, we also hear Jesus speak about the cosmic framework
against which we are to understand his passion, death, and Resurrection.
Through his death and Resurrection, Jesus conquered Satan, the ruler of
this world. In this way the world is judged, but the judgment is not
condemnation. Instead, through Jesus' dying and rising, salvation is
brought to the world.

FAMILY CONNECTION

Family life is often a balancing act in which we prioritize and attend
to a variety of competing needs. We learn the value of putting others'
needs ahead of our own. In family life we also learn that when we make
personal sacrifices to serve others, we gain so much more than we may
have lost.

As you gather as a family, talk about how important it is to your family
life to gladly serve one another. Ask each person to consider the last
time that another family member asked for help. What was your response?
Did you cheerfully try to honor the request, or did you ask "Why me?"
Read today's Gospel, John 12:20-33. How do you think Jesus would want us
to respond when someone in our family asks for help? Invite each family
member to make a commitment for the next week to try to respond
cheerfully to requests for help. Pray together, asking God's help with
this commitment. Pray the Prayer of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.


Sources: Loyola Press; Sunday Readings