The Grain

Fifth Sunday of Lent (B)

John 12: 20 -33     “Unless the grain of wheat is brought down into the earth and dies, it remains

                                    just a grain of wheat”

March 25, 2012

To follow Christ, means to travel the same road as His, to lay down our lives, and to leave everything totally in the hands of God our Father. To drive home this point, Jesus takes an example from the world of nature. Our lives, like Christ’s, must be like the grain of wheat which is brought down into the earth to produce new life. The grain of wheat dying in the earth shows us how we must uproot our attachments, our selfishness before we can start living the life of Christ. We must never forget that we ourselves are God’s grain of wheat. What does to be buried in the earth mean? It means avoiding sin, accepting suffering and living for others. Christ’s way of the cross begins at our own doorstep and this is His challenge to each one of us – to follow His path of pain and suffering in our daily lives.

Firmly believing that God our Father will bring us through our pain and suffering to everlasting life, we now pray: “ O LOVING FATHER, YOUR SON TELLS US THAT HE IS THE GRAIN OF WHEAT WHICH IS BROUGHT DOWN INTO THE EARTH AND DIES IN ORDER TO YIELD A RICH HARVEST. LIKE YOUR SON JESUS, HELP US TO UPROOT OUR SELFISHNESS SO THAT OUR LIVES MAY BE MORE OPEN TO YOUR LOVE. THIS IS OUR PRAYER THROUGH JESUS CHRIST YOUR SON OUR LORD. AMEN.”