March 18, 2018
5th Sunday of Lent
“Greeks” approach Philip: “We would like to see Jesus.” They are visitors in Jerusalem and they are drawn to see Jesus. Philip and Andrew have seen Jesus for an extended period of time yet they too are seeing more in him than meets the eye. Last week, Nicodemus, a Jewish Religious leader, a member of the Sanhedrin, comes to Jesus at night wanting to talk with him. Jesus says: “God so love the world that he gave his only son that everyone who believes in him may not perish but come to eternal life.” Now in Jerusalem, the “Greeks,” the disciples and Nicodemus will see Jesus lifted up on the cross and God’s glory revealed. “Son thou 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 is not easy for us “to see” God one with Jesus on the cross. It is not easy to see Jesus – the Christ – in us and in others. A prayer attributed to St. Patrick expresses this abiding presence of Jesus in us: “Christ be with me. Christ before me. Christ behind me. Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me. Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me. Christ in every eye that sees me. Christ in every ear that hears me.” Fr. Albert Haase led our Lenten Mission. He puts it succinctly: “How can we hope to see Jesus when we die if we fail to see Jesus now in others especially those most in need?”
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3rd Sunday of Lent
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Palm Sunday
