St James Catholic Church

In what we call the old church, this week marks the beginning of Passiontide.  The crosses and statues in church were covered until the beginning of the Easter Vigil.  In our Gospel today, Jesus announces that His hour has come.  The Son of Man will now be glorified through His passion, death, crucifixion, and resurrection.  He even says, “I am troubled now.  Yet what should I say?  ‘Father, save me from this hour?’”  But it was for this very purpose He came into the world, and so we enter into these last two weeks of Lent in a spirit that is very somber, serious, and even sad.

The first law of nature is self-preservation.  Why does a deer or rabbit run at the first sign of danger?  It’s the urge to survive.  It’s the natural instinct to want to live.  In our reading, our Lord talked about finding life by losing it, the law of love.  He spoke of enlarging life by giving it away.  He uses the example of a grain of wheat.  If it falls to the ground and dies, it will produce much fruit.  By giving up its own life, it can become a stalk of wheat and reproduce itself many times over.  By giving Himself, by dying, His life would be expanded beyond belief!  By dying on the cross, He became the savior of the world and a source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him.

Who of us at times does not feel troubled?  It could be because we witness a loved one or friend suffering or we face our own suffering.  It’s painful.  It’s difficult.  It’s unavoidable.  Know at that time, Jesus is with us.  Just as His Father was with Him, so we know our Lord will be with us to comfort and help us.  Just as Christ was made perfect through his suffering, so too will we have a share in His glory.  As we approach these days in which we remember Jesus’ suffering and death, we ask ourselves if we are willing to resolve to die to sin, and to live faithfully, selflessly, and courageously in the Lord.  If we keep our faith, hope, and love to ourselves we will lose them.  Jesus knew that life is not for keeping.  Have a blessed Passiontide.

Love, Peace, Joy,

Fr. Bob