Whoever serves me must follow me, says the Lord;
and where I am, there also will my servant be.

Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast
came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,
and asked him, “Sir, we would like 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 Son of Man to be glorified.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,
it remains just a grain of wheat;
but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
Whoever loves his life loses it,
and whoever hates his life in this world
will preserve it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me,
and where I am, there also will my servant be.
The Father will honor whoever serves me.

“I am troubled now.  Yet what should I say?
‘Father, save me from this hour’?
But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.
Father, glorify your name.”
Then a voice came from heaven,
“I have glorified it and will glorify it again.”
The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder;
but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”
Jesus answered and said,
“This voice did not come for my sake but for yours.
Now is the time of judgment on this world;
now the ruler of this world will be driven out.
And when I am lifted up from the earth,
I will draw everyone to myself.”
He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.

The movie Forrest Gump chronicles a man’s life in his search for purpose.

In one memorable scene, after his mother died and his childhood friend and sweetheart, Jenny,  rejects his proposal for marriage, Forrest spontaneously begins to run without any thought as to where he is going or where he will end up. He runs across the United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean not once, but as many as four times. When asked why he did it, he responds, “For no particular reason”.

I suspect his running  was a result of confusion and way to deal with death and rejection. The absence of love left him searching for purpose and the meaning of life.

Many of us go through life looking for purpose with the underlying  objective to preserve our life. Some grab all they can in this world with shortsightedness giving little or no thought to eternity. Others find themselves frozen and afraid to enjoy the wholesome pleasures that God has given us. Either way, both types are looking for purpose.

The difference between many of these people and Jesus is that Jesus knows the reason for His existence; He knows His purpose.

In today’s Sacred Gospel account, in their search for truth and purpose, the Greeks approach Philip as they seek out Jesus. Philip tells Andrew of their request and they bring the Greeks to Jesus whose opening words to them are, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified”(Jn 12:23).

This is something new. If you recall, in His first act of public ministry when the Blessed Virgin Mary asked Jesus to help the newlyweds at the wedding feat of Cana, Jesus responded that “[His] hour had not yet come: (Jn 2:4). As He continues His ministry, Jesus tells the Samaritan woman “the hour is coming” (Jn 4:21; 23) and reiterates it to the paralyzed man at the Pool of Bethesda  that “the hour is coming…when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will live” (Jn 5:25).

Then, upon His entry in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, Jesus tells the Greeks in today’s Gospel account, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (Jn 12:23). “Not yet”, turned into “Pretty soon”, and finally, in today’s Gospel, Jesus’ time has arrived as He says, “The hour has come”.

During His public ministry Jesus waited patiently but not passively for His time to come. And now the time is here. Soon He will celebrate the Passover, wash the disciples’ feet, institute the Holy Eucharist, and begin His Passion.

Jesus message is the same as it has been all Lent: the only way to glory, for Jesus and for each of us, is by dying to oneself.

Jesus asserts we should remember the law of life already exists in nature. He uses a parable about agrain of wheat to illustrate that if any seed is preserved from dying to itself, it remains a single grain with no life. Only when its buried in the ground and dies to itself does it bear much fruit. This prefigures Jesus’ Death, burial, and Resurrection: Jesus dies to Himself, is buried, and upon His Resurrection bears much fruit.

Jesus was well aware His time to glorify The Father had come. Since Jesus is fully human and fully divine, His human nature wants to preserve His life; yet His divinity also wants to glorify The Father by His obedient Death. Despite His fear Jesus exhibits courage; true courage. As any real hero will tell you, real courage doesn’t mean not being afraid; it means knowing enough about the situation to be very much afraid and yet do what needs to be done.

Today’s Gospel account shows that Jesus’ entire life and mission is one great exorcism; an exorcism to cast Satan and his power out of this world. He says, “Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out” (Jn 12:31).

Through His Passion, Death, and Resurrection Jesus offers His life to The Father in atonement for our sins. And through this atonement, Satan is defeated. It’s not enough to drive Satan out of the world; Jesus wants to drive Satan out of our hearts as well.

As we come closer to the end of Lent, we need to do all we can to drive Satan out of our lives. It is when we are prepared to die to our selfish desires that our lives become the most fruitful. May our prayer be that with the Grace of God and the reception of the Sacraments, especially those of Confession and The Eucharist, we can gain the strength to know our purpose and with courage take up our cross and follow Jesus.

The hour has come. Now is the time. “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat (Jn 12:24). Are we willing to die to ourselves and bear fruit that will last for eternal life; or will we run aimlessly through life like Forrest Gump “For no particular reason”?

Deacon Mark Izzo, Permanent Deacon, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Basilica – Saint Anthony Parish

The days are coming, says the LORD,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers
the day I took them by the hand
to lead them forth from the land of Egypt;
for they broke my covenant,
and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD.
But this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD.
I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts;
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives
how to know the LORD.
All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD,
for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.

R. (12a)  Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners shall return to you.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.

In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh,
he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears
to the one who was able to save him from death,
and he was heard because of his reverence.
Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered;
and when he was made perfect,
he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

It has long been a Catholic understanding that when circumstances prevent one from receiving Holy Communion, it is possible to make an Act of Spiritual Communion, which is a source of grace. Spiritual Communion is an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament and lovingly embrace him at a time or in circumstances when one cannot receive Him in sacramental Communion. The most common reason for making an Act of Spiritual Communion is when a person cannot attend Mass. Acts of Spiritual Communion increase our desire to receive sacramental Communion and help us avoid the sins that would make us unable to receive Holy Communion worthily.

Spiritual Communion Prayer

My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.

I love you above all things and I desire to receive you in my soul.

Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally,

Come at least spiritually into my heart.

I embrace you as if you were already there

And unite myself wholly to you.

Never permit me to be separated from you.

Amen.