Homily: Fifth Sunday of Lent cycle B, March 25th 2012

There seems to be on bit of insight that can be found in each and every bit of human "wisdom."  It was carved over the door of the temple to Apollo at the Temple of Delphi and it still is good advice today. 

Know thyself


I think that many people honestly try to know themselves, to know their inner self, to explore the depths of their heart, to know their own soul.  If you try this... and you are like me in any way you just might find that what you find isn't always wonderful or good.  If you are like me you will get to the point where you find that you need God, you need Jesus, you need to be given a new heart.  


I think we all are like the Greeks in the Gospel reading today (John 12:20-33).  We often go looking for Jesus.  We need him, we need to see him, and we need to get to know him.  We come to the point of realizing that it is only Him who can heal our pain, comfort our sorrows and suffering, and forgive our sinfulness.


Consider what we hear in this reading from John the Gentiles go to see Jesus.  Philip and Andrew tell Jesus, "Hey, Lord there are some folks here to see you."  Notice how Jesus responds.  It almost seems rude what He does next.  


Jesus begins to talk about His coming hour.  He said that this is the moment that he had been waiting for.  This is the hour that His whole life has been preparing for.   This is it!  The time is now and when He is lifted up in glory He will draw everyone to Himself.


If I were one of those Greeks I'd be scratching my head and wondering, "what does this have to do with me... all I wanted was to see you and chat with you?"


Yet Jesus wasn't ignoring them.  He wasn't avoiding their request.  Rather, He was offering a much more profound response than what they were expecting.


If we ever want to seek out God, if we want to see who God really is, if we desire to see Jesus and find some relief from our pain, suffering and sin then the best place to look is on the cross.  It is on the cross that God's glory is most revealed.  On the cross we see God for who He really is.  On the cross we see the depths of God's love.  On the cross we see how God has given Himself to us completely... look what we did to him.


All too often we think of the cross as a payment on our debt.  That is not it at all!  God is not keeping a balance on how much punishment is needed to be suffered in order to "pay off" our sins.  Rather the cross was about our relationship with God.  On the cross we see God as He truly is.  It is by the sacrifice of the cross that God gives Himself freely to us so that we can love Him.  The cross is about being reconciled to God... it's not really about debt.


If we are looking for Jesus we need to look at the cross.  The second reading (Hebrews 5:7-9) told us that Jesus learned obedience through what He suffered.  In His suffering He obediently joined us in our suffering and became for us someone who can heal our broken hearts.  God's greatest glory is to be found on the cross.  


If we are looking for Jesus and if we find Him in His glory on the Cross we must imitate His openess, His love, His humility, and His self-gift.  This is how the cross heals us.  The grace of the cross is that it begins a new covenant where God no longer desires that we sacrifice to Him, as in the Old Testament, but rather now He sacrifices for us.  We share in this sacrifice, in this new coventant [that we hear about in the first reading (Jeremiah 31:31-34)]  we are given a new heart and we share in this sacrifice every time we approach the altar at mass.  The new covenant in Jesus' blood is remembered and shared completely at each and every mass.  It is in the Eucharist that we unite ourselves to Jesus' cross.  It is in the Eucharist that we are healed.


If you ever seek to "know thyself" and find that you then seek Jesus because you long for a new heart and a share in the new covenant then the only place to find Him and receive Him is on the cross and on the altar.