“The days are coming, says the Lord ” Jeremiah 31:31
At this moment, as I write, I am hoping that the days are coming! I’m not sure how many inches of snow have fallen in this most recent edition of winter, but I know it’s significant! After putting our clocks ahead this past weekend, I really thought I could begin thinking and writing about days with less white stuff and more green!
But the markers and the reality of time can be like that. What the remote or recent past has brought to our lives can make us very cautious or excited with anticipation. What is happening in the present moment can have the same effect on how we view time to come. The Scriptures for this Fifth Sunday of Lent lay bare the possibility that our path to celebration might be marked with suffering. Our path to liberation might require a whole new approach to and appreciation of “the Law” which our God writes into our hearts. The path to full revelation of God’s power to redeem and give life will begin with a parable of the seed which must be sown and die in order to yield its harvest and then burst into reality on the tree of the Cross.
In the final verses of today’s Gospel according to John Jesus is looking ahead. His own words and the words of God from heaven point those who are seeking him and those who would lead others to him to that inescapable suffering that lies ahead. But Jesus uses words like “to be glorified” and “lifted up that [he] might draw everyone to [himself].” These words do not convey to his hearers what it is that causes him “to be troubled now.” The full power behind these words and images are yet to unfold as they hear him. For us, now, the days of Lent quickly will give way to next week’s Palm Sunday, and after that the holiest of our days as Church. I encourage you with all my heart to be with us and to invite someone to join you here for Palm Sunday. I encourage you with all my heart to plan now to be with us in Holy Week for the wonderful liturgies with which our Parish Family will bridge time and eternity, sin and redemption, death and life!