Scripture Reflections for the Fifth Sunday of Lent

"Friends, one of the most fundamental beliefs of the Biblical Israelites is that God is a covenant-maker. He formed his people through a series of agreements and contracts saying, “I..."

"Jeremiah 31:31 contains the great prophecy that the Lord will one day place his law within our hearts. In the Old Testament, God’s law was written on stone and often..."

"The best way to understand the history of salvation is to understand it as the story of covenants between God and his people. In the Old Testament, covenants are typically..."

“Now that Jesus has completed His work of redemption, the only people left in Hell are those who would prefer to be there more than to be united with the angels and saints in Heaven”

"‘Unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies, it remains alone.’ This mini-parable from Christ about the grain that dies, about losing our life in order to save..."

"Jesus is near his end in the gospel of today. The acclamation of Palm Sunday is over and the crowds melt away. Jewish plotting for his arrest is stealthily working...."

"From time to time, probably, all Christians ask themselves, 'what would it have been like to have been in the gospels, to have seen Christ face to face?' Today we..."

"Our Lord's words establish a direct relationship between the grain of wheat falling into the ground, seeming dead in itself and corrupting in the earth but finally bursting into new..."

“It is clear that the author of John believes that Jesus is alive and Jesus can change your life, turn it upside down in fact.”

“A God of love does not want the Gospel used to ruin lives”

"As we approach the Passion, the celebration of Jesus’ death, we’re called to a new life, a new glory, and a new way of being. We allow our lives to..."

“Where and how do we follow Jesus to let our lives be scattered, God’s seeds of love sown?”

“Today’s Gospel teaches us that new life and eternal life are possible only by the death of the self through obedience, suffering and service”

“Any god can overpower creatures, but a god that loves them to the point of submitting to their abuse is a truly magnificent God, a God worthy of worship”

“Selflessness is a great virtue. Decompressing extreme egos is great action, where once the heart skipped a beat in fear of egomaniacs”

“Walk-up to Christ, don’t walk-out on Him, embrace His simplicity and let His love be written in your heart”

"Today’s Gospel sets the scene for the forthcoming drama of Holy Week. Jesus is, in effect, telling his disciples both that his work of preaching is over and also –..."

“We need to be cleansed of our sins of apathy, indifference, fatigue and giving up in the fractious situations with which we are confronted”

“What did I learn? That broken relationships are almost as unbearable as a food shortage, that forgiveness is as life-giving as flour. The grain of wheat dies when we forgive, and food in abundance fills our lives.”

"John's Gospel is building to a show-down. You can feel the rising tension. The Pharisees are watching for an opportunity to attack Jesus. And as they complain in the verse..."

“Being a disciple of Jesus does not mean that we have achieved perfection. It means we are making progress. And the progress we make need not be earth-shattering. It can occur in small steps.”