My Dear People,

The Gentiles, it seems, were well disposed to Judaism or in the process of converting because they came to worship at the feast (see Acts 10:1-2). They approached Philip to make a request: “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” Phillip tells Andrew, and then both disciples go to tell Jesus. Upon hearing the Gentiles have come to see Him, Jesus announces that the moment has arrived for the Son of Man to be glorified.   

What is it about the arrival of the Greeks that marks the arrival of Jesus’ hour? Jesus spoke of His mission to unite all His sheep, including those who “do not belong to this fold,“  into  “one flock” under His leadership (10:16).  John also told us that Jesus would die “not only for the nation but also to gather, into one, all the dispersed children of God” (11:51-32).  Jesus’s mission has universal scope: He aims to gather all people, Jews, and Gentiles, to the one God through Himself.  This aim resonates with prophetic text in which God, after He works His definitive saving action for His people Israel, will be made known to the Gentiles. The Gentiles will then make a pilgrimage to Zion to worship the one true God (see Tob. 14:6’ Isa 60:1-7).  John: (12) depicts both Jews and Gentiles coming together around Jesus. These events illustrate the beginning of the gathering of all people to God, which Jesus’ death on the cross makes possible (12:32).  Thus, the hour has come! 

Jesus elaborates on the mystery of His hour, beginning with the parable: “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.”  Seed imagery is common in Jesus’ parables (Mark 4:9: Luke 13:18-19), and Paul uses it to give insight into the mystery of the resurrected body (1 Cor.15:35-38; 42-44).  Because a seed can grow into a plant only after being buried in the ground, Jesus makes use of it to talk about His death and its benefits. He, the “grain of wheat,. . . dies” on the cross, and His death “produces much fruit,” the crops for eternal life (Mark: 4:26).  His death and resurrection make eternal life in communion with God available to all. 

Jesus’ movement from death to resurrected life provides the basic pattern for the Christian life. Jesus gives His life for others, and His disciples participate in this saving dynamic: “whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life!” ( John 15:11-17). Here the term “world” means human beings who are in rebellion against God and under the power of sin.  To hate life in this world does not mean that we should hate earthly existence as such. Rather, it means detachment from sin including all things in life that lead us away from God and cause us to rebel against God.  If we embrace the attitude Jesus prescribes and put it into practice, we will preserve our lives for eternal life. 

Jesus is going to His cross and resurrection, and He has that path in mind when he says: “Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am there also will my servants be. ” The way of the cross, which the self-sacrificial love and the dying of self-centeredness entails, is the only way for discipleship. This way is not optional.   By following Jesus to the cross, we also follow Him to the resurrection. Just as the Father glorifies Jesus in the resurrection,  Jesus says:  “the Father will honor whomever serves me.” 

Yours in Christ, 

Fr Vincent Clemente