“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 . . . 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. (Jn 12:20-33)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031724-YearB.cfm
The hour has come to be glorified, to die, to be lifted up. As we enter into this last part of Lent, the Cross becomes ever more present to us. The Paschal Mystery, dying and rising with Christ, is the center of our faith which we celebrate in Eucharist. It is the essence of the Sacraments. It is the pattern of our lives.
These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
Sunday, Week V, Lent
