5th Sunday of Lent 2024 (Saint Patrick’s Day)
Jeremiah 31:31-34 Hebrews 5:7-9 John 12:20-30
Today’s Gospel Reading from St John recalls the last act of the Public Ministry of Jesus before we go on to read the narrative of the Last Supper.
Andrew is there, as he was at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. He is the one who was chosen to bring his brother, Peter, to the Lord. He is the one who seems to share the ministry of hospitality with Philip, as we see so clearly at the time of the feeding of the five thousand. And it is he on whom Philip relies for support when he encounters the ‘enquirers’, the Greeks.
There are many signs and elements of something new happening in this Gospel reading. The Greeks had heard about the signs and wonders and they wanted to be part of it. And it seems that it was just the right moment: “Now the hour has come” declares Jesus. This is the very moment for which Jesus had been sent by the Father.
The new covenant foretold by Jeremiah will be fulfilled: “Deep within them I will plant my Law. I will be their God and they shall be my people”. But it will not be as they might have imagined. This will be a time when every reality will come to signify the opposite; dying will mean living: losing will mean winning. If the grain is to produce it must fall into the ground and die.
In order to share in the life of Christ these new disciples will have to imitate the pattern of Jesus by dying to self-centredness and become focused on the love of all other people.
As we celebrate our national Patron, Saint Patrick, perhaps we can imagine all the same emotions, fears, ideals and urgency of another new adventure in life of the Kingdom of God. Patrick heard the calling of the Lord. But he heard with the ears of his heart. He heard the voices of the Irish asking ‘Sir, we should like to see Jesus.’ Patrick responded in the manner of Andrew and Philip – wanting to bring people to the Lord. And, of course there was the portent – ‘Now the hour has come’: the grain must die and all manner of things must change. But turning ones back on this present life and hating it will assure eternal life.
Patrick chose the lonely and unsure option, believing that ‘if anyone serves me (the Lord), my Father will honour him.’ We can perhaps imagine Patrick looking to the example of the apostles for strength and inspiration as he began his mission to God’s people in Ireland. He could see himself bringing people to the Lord and introducing them to the Lord as Andrew did. He could imagine himself, like Philip, feeding the multitudes with bread from the master’s hand. Like the Lord too, Patrick learned through suffering and was made perfect. For all who followed him he became a source of eternal salvation.
We are those who have heard the word of God from Patrick. While we thank God for him today, we pray that we may be faithful to what we have received and that we might proclaim the same gospel by our way of living.