THE LENTEN SEASON IS A TIME OF DYING TO SELF

Homily for the Fifth Sunday in Lent, Year B

Fr. Ugochukwu Ugwoke, ISch

Bible Texts: Jeremiah 31:31-34, Hebrews 5:7-9, John 12:20-23

As we gradually approach the end of the season of Lent, our Lenten journey with Jesus is becoming more demanding. In the past four weeks, we have journeyed with Jesus to the wilderness in order to confront our own weaknesses and shortcomings; to the mountain in order to encounter God, listen to his voice and be transformed by God; to the temple in order to cleanse our own spiritual temples – our bodies from every impurity; and lastly, to the cross, a symbol of victory over sin, death, and oppression. Just as Jesus’ own journey ended on the cross where he gave up his life for our sake, on this fifth Sunday of Lent, our Lenten journey is inviting us to experience dying.

In the gospel reading, Jesus uses the analogy of a grain of wheat dying in order to bear much fruit to foreshadow his impending death and resurrection. Jesus says that “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:24-26). This statement of Jesus brings us face to face with one of the great paradoxes of our faith - that in order to really live, we must die. That before we can reign with Christ we must first share in his sufferings. That when God begins to do a new thing, old things must pass away. That in order to experience resurrection we, too, must die.

The season of Lent is a time of dying: dying to self in order to experience new life and growth in Christ; dying to self as we embrace the cross of Christ; dying to the world as we live as citizens of heaven; dying to material wants and sensual inclinations, desires, and pleasures that we may be raised by God to new heights; dying to fleeting things that we may take hold of eternal life; the death of that which is false in order for something truer to come to life. Dying to self means working to increase self-mastery over the use of created things, so as to use them wisely and in the right proportions in accordance with the virtue of temperance. Dying to self involves shifting priorities away from self toward God and the needs of others. Lastly, dying to self means striving to bring the body into conformity with the spirit or soul, so as to lead holy lives in union with the loving plan of God. 

Dying is a painful experience. It entails letting go of something. It involves giving up the things we value and at other times, persons dear to us. That is why dying is one thing we are all afraid of. Even Jesus dreaded the hour of his death and prayed his Father to save him from the hour. But knowing the necessity of his sacrifice for the salvation of humanity, he prayed that the Father may glorify his name. Jesus also speaks of the glory that will come through his suffering and death, inviting us to embrace the mystery of dying to self as the path to new life and redemption. As the author of the letter to the Hebrews reminds us in the second reading of the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ, who, in obedience to the Father, endured suffering and death for the sake of our salvation, we too must be ready to practice dying because it is through death that we pass to life.

Lastly, we are called to examine ourselves and find ways in which the Lord is inviting us to die to ourselves so as to live fully for him. What needs to die in you? What aspects of your life and ways of relating with others need to be put death? Let us embrace the internal transformation proposed by the prophet Jeremiah in the first reading in which he invites us to die to our old ways and embrace a new way of life centered on God’s love and mercy (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Amen.