A group of Greeks, probably pagans, approached the disciples with an admirable request: “We would like to see Jesus.” On hearing this request, Jesus responded with a vibrant discourse in which he summarized the profound destiny of his life. The hour has come. Everyone, Jews and Greeks, will soon understand the mystery of his life and death: “When I am lifted from the earth, I shall draw all men to myself.”
DRAWN TO THE CROSS
March 29. 20095 Lent (B)
A group of Greeks, probably pagans, approached the disciples with an admirable request: “We would like to see Jesus.” On hearing this request, Jesus responded with a vibrant discourse in which he summarized the profound destiny of his life. The hour has come. Everyone, Jews and Greeks, will soon understand the mystery of his life and death: “When I am lifted from the earth, I shall draw all men to myself.”
When Jesus is lifted upon a cross and appears crucified on
Golgotha, everyone will understand God’s inscrutable love; they will understand that God is love and only love towards all people. They will feel the attraction towards the Crucified. In Jesus they will understand the ultimate manifestation of God’s mystery.
To reach such state, naturally, one must have heard much more than the doctrine of Redemption, and much more than following the services of Holy Week. We have to concentrate our interior eyes upon Jesus, allowing ourselves to be moved by the final gestures of the Crucified, as he surrendered his life for a better world for all; a world that finds salvation in God.
Probably, however, we shall discover the real Jesus only when we are drawn to him, as he surrenders to his Father, and delivers his life in order to suffer and die so that others may have a better life. It was then that we heard Jesus say: “If a man serves me, he must follow me, wherever I am, my servant will be there, too.”
Everything starts from the desire to serve Jesus, collaborate in his task, living only for his project, and follow him in his footsteps, in order to imitate his gestures and the various ways in which God loves us. It will be only then that we shall become his followers.
In other words, we must share in his life and destiny: “wherever I am, my servant will be there, too.” To be a Christian, one has to be where Jesus was, be occupied in the things Jesus did, achieve what he achieved, and hang from the cross as he did, and later be at the right hand of his Father.
What would the Church look like if it were attracted by the Crucified, motivated by the desire to serve Him alone, and be occupied in the things that kept him always occupied? What kind of a Church would be able to attract all people to Jesus?
Author: Jose Antonio Pagola