Fifth Sunday in Lent- March 17, 2024
“Go and Proclaim: The Father honors those who serve Jesus”
First Reading: Jeremiah 31: 31-34
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 51: 5-6; 7-8;9-10;12-13
Second Reading: Hebrews 5: 5-10
Gospel Reading: John 12: 20-28
Homily by Fr. Romie- Jun Peñalosa
In this Sunday Mass Homily at Saint Michael Kalibo, Fr. Romie- Jun reminds us die to ourselves so that our lives will be transformed.
The First Reading tells us about God’s coming new covenant to Israel- that He will put His law in their minds and write it on their hearts. This reminds us that even though we are unfaithful, God will remain faithful to us. He made a new covenant for us to live eternally, and that covenant was manifested on Jesus’ death on the cross. That through His death, we are saved. The second reading speaks about Jesus, as the Son of God, Who obeyed to His Father so the new covenant will be fulfilled.
The Gospel tells the story of Jesus, predicting His death to the newly- converted Gentiles. He compared it to a grain – when it dies and gets buried on the ground, it will live and multiply. This reminds us that in Jesus, there is no death, but only transformation.
Fr. Romie- Jun also tells about the two kinds of death. The first one is Terminal Death wherein our life here on earth is already finished. The moment that we die, everything is finished. Our hopes and dreams have come to an end. On the other hand, Paschal Death talks about the death that we should anticipate- that when we die, life will begin. Through the Paschal Death, we are changed. This Lent, we are entering the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ- He died, rose from the dead, and will once again come back. His life does not end here on earth, but it will continue on.
People are afraid of death because we do not practiced dying in our daily life. We could practice dying on a daily basis by dying to ourselves. If we die to ourselves, we are to follow Jesus. God does not want us to simply look forward to Terminal Death, but Paschal Death. We should let Jesus enter our hearts, and that would only be possible if we die to ourselves first. Unite our heart to the death of Jesus Christ to witness His resurrection.
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