This Sunday we move into the fifth week of Lent and the first words we hear from Jesus, in the Gospel of John, are “Now the hour has come…..”.  Have you ever found yourself using that phrase?  Perhaps we don’t use those exact words, but we say things like, “right, this is the moment” or “the time has come”.  We often make these resolute type statements when we are about to make a decisive choice or take a stand on a long considered decision.  The feeling is as if I cannot put this off any longer.  It may be that the time has come to tell someone that you love them.  It could be that the time has come to say goodbye.  It may be that the ‘penny has dropped’ and the time has come to move on from your job.  For others, it can be quite dramatic when we know that the time has come to say farewell to a loved one, to let our loved relative or friend go, and watch them die.  There are numerous times in our lives, it seems to me, when we reach the stage of saying, ‘the time has come’.  And when the time has come, I have to let go.  I have to trust in something beyond myself.  In a certain way, I have to die to something and allow a new moment to arise. This is the sense of the gospel on this fifth Sunday of Lent.  Jesus, claims, “Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”  He goes on to explain, “unless a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies it remains only a single grain; but if it dies it yields a rich harvest.”  Jesus is talking about his own life and the fact that he is aware that the direction of his life, his fate, will soon be in the hands of others.  His trial and death is at hand.  Ultimately, however the other in whose hands his life will be, his Father, will raise him up.  There is enormous trust in this disposition of Jesus.  There is a sense in which he knows that if he remains true to himself and his mission, ultimately it will lead to life, even if he is put to death.  This is indeed the Christian paradox.  When the hour has come and we let go, we also rise up.

In the middle of this week’s gospel passage are the curious words of Jesus: ‘Anyone who loves his life loses it; anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for the eternal life.’  Love and hate are strong words.  Father Frank Moloney, in his commentary on the Gospel of John explains it like this: “The one who is prepared to let go, (to hate this life), has eternal life: a totally satisfying life both here and hereafter.”  In other words, sometimes letting go (or dying) can free us and open up a new world and new life before us.  The gospel call is to always let go of what is contrary to the way of Christ, the way that brings life.

As we enter into these last days of Lent, perhaps we could urge ourselves to make that decisive call to let go what is holding us back at the moment.  The hour has come.  We may just find that in doing so we meet the Christ who brings new life.

Br Fr Brendan Reed

Published: 15 March 2024