This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.
Today, it is as though the first reading takes Jesus’ last line in the gospel and expounds on it.
“When I am lifted up, I will draw everyone to myself.”
I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts;
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives
how to know the LORD.
All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD,
for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.
But this effectiveness of Jesus in drawing people comes at a price.
Jesus Himself says in today’s gospel that unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Jesus suffered and died to merit the grace needed to draw all people to Himself and heal them.
If we want to be effective for others as Christians, we can expect no different. While there is no reason to believe that we will suffer all our lives, nonetheless, like the grain of wheat, we must die. We must die through purification from attachment to our own goals, our own selves, our earthly wants, so that our attachment to Christ as our only good may stand alone. This purification process is a painful one, and it involves steps whereby God Himself takes the initiative and cleanses us through suffering, like gold purified in fire.
Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to give you the inestimable gift of Christian effectiveness for others, through the process He describes in the gospel today. Tell Him that, even though that process may be painful, you understand that it is temporary, whereas the eternal punishment of souls is permanent. Imagine Him walking up the Way of the Cross for you, and ask Him to give you the courage to walk alongside Him.
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