LENT V

by Lori Kizzia

John (12:20-33)

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish 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 Chosen One to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

Those who love their life will lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, God will honor. Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘God, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. God, glorify your name.”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

Reflection

Our Lenten journey into the desert is nearing an end. The silence, reflection, fasting, reading, prayer and meditation we have been immersed in for the past month have been delicious, inspired and safe. But our quiet Lenten experience is teetering on a big, noisy transformation.

From the heights of our metaphorical desert mesa we can see Jerusalem in the distance, Things are heating up, anguish and loss loom ahead. Life is calling us back. It’s time to start moving toward our biggest challenges…Palm Sunday, Holy Week, Good Friday … time to leave the desert and head back to town After all, Jesus is waiting there for us.

When Philip and Andrew make it known to Jesus that people from far and wide are asking for him, Jesus knows that his time is coming to an end. He knows that his notoriety and reputation will land him in the hands of the empire. He is clear at this moment, that his arrest and death are close at hand. His response to his disciples, “ the hour has come for the Chosen One to be gloried,” is an important cue to them. He is preparing them for his death. He is preparing us for our own.

Everyone has been in this horrifying predicament: the realization that our lives are turning out of control, that a horrible change has settled upon us, and that no matter how hard we try, there is no escape from what is happening.
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For me, it was the last day of June 2004, when my beloved partner Jane, was diagnosed with incurable cancer. As we were leaving the oncologists’ office that day, the doctor gripped my arm and said… get your affairs in order, she’s going to die.

The certainty of death is a vague, sub-conscious knowing that we spend most of our lives avoiding. Until it is an official announcement, until it is unavoidable. In that moment in the doctor’s office, I knew that the hour had come. There was no getting out of it, no way around it. An ominous fear settled into me as we tried to move beyond that hour, back into the essential gifts of living.

Jesus embraces death as an essential gift of living. “Very truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life will lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

Jesus is offering us the greatest of all truths in this teaching moment, a truth that resonates through the wisdom of all great prophets and teachers: Buddha, Isaiah, St. Francis…“For it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”

This is Jesus’ truth: Impermanence is a law of nature and we are natural beings. Everyone will die, just each of us was born. It is through death that we attain the fullness of life.

Jane lived and died knowing this truth. Her response to her cancer diagnosis was to throw herself completely into the essential gifts of living. She let go of fear and anger, she let go of resentment and regret, she let go of the need to write her own story. She let go of all these useless things and, instead, embraced laughter and patience, forgiveness, gratitude and, most of all, love. Jane knew that Jesus was right, that he could be trusted, and that Easter would be there for her when her Good Friday had passed.

There is great comfort in knowing that letting go of expectation and time, of the obsession with control and power, of the desire to possess all that we need is the only way to get what we really want: eternal life and endless love.

So today, as Lent comes to an end and Jerusalem beckons us to come home and face the truths of life, I am ready to accept the essential gifts of Holy Week. I am peacefully certain that in every moment of every day, somewhere within the human family, Easter is happening.

During the Week

Reflect on the gifts you have received as the result of great challenge or loss.

Remember with gentleness, those moments in which you knew the hour had come in your life. What were your sources of strength and joy? Express your gratitude to God and to yourself for accepting these gifts.

Plant new seeds in your garden or in a beautiful container. Care for them until they grow into plants.

Affirm peace with every step you take today. Say the word ”peace” silently in your mind as you walk.
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