Who Wants to be a
Grain of Wheat?
By Steve Martin
Today is the Fifth Sunday of Lent. We are only two weeks away from the celebration of our Lord’s glorious resurrection. As we approach Easter it is good to ask, “What kind of fruit has resulted from our Lenten observance?”
Lent is a time of preparation for Easter. We fast. We abstain. We empty ourselves in order to make room for Christ to come into the depths of our souls. We increase our good works as we follow the Lord’s footsteps through his passion and death. We pray that the Holy Spirit will make our hearts ready to welcome the holy presence of our Risen Lord.
For many Catholics it is easy to become
lukewarm and spend our time in Lent just going through the motions. We sometimes take a “been there – done that” attitude about the prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that is at the center of our Lenten devotion. Are the sacrifices we are making and the good works we are doing really transforming us?
Today’s Gospel helps us to reflect on the reason why the Church encourages us to nurture a spirit of self-denial and generosity toward others with
increased effort during Lent. Jesus informed his
disciples that, “The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified”1 He then added the following words. “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.”2 Jesus was preparing his disciples for the journey to the cross which he was about to begin. He wanted them to understand that the cross would not be the end. The victory of resurrection was right around the corner.
Jesus also wanted to give us an example of
obedience and patient suffering. According to the Navarre Bible, this Gospel truth is “a lesson and an encouragement to the Christian, who should see every type of suffering and contradiction as a
sharing in Christ’s cross, which redeems us and
exalts us. To be supernaturally effective, a person has to die to himself, forgetting his comfort and shedding his selfishness.”3
When we choose to sacrifice our own comfort and security for the good of another, we are living as Christ lived. We are all called to offer our lives as a total self donation to God. We are called to love God above all things.4
Now let us return to the question, “What kind of
fruit has resulted from our Lenten observance?” Are the good works we are doing and the sacrifices we are making helping us to die to self? Is it becoming easier to serve those God has placed around you? The battle against self centeredness is a life long
battle. Jesus calls us to become like a grain of wheat. He challenges us to die to self daily in order to be
reborn through the transforming presence of the Holy Spirit. Only then will we bear much fruit for the Kingdom.
1The New American Bible, Gospel of John 12:34
2The Navarre Bible, pg. 620
3Catechism of the Catholic Church, pg. 1
4The New American Bible, Gospel of John 12:23b