Grains of Wheat

Dear friends in Christ,

This past Sunday we celebrated the fifth Sunday of Lent. Every day now, we are drawing close to Christ's Passion and Death that we remember in the Easter Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. The next couple of weeks are the holiest weeks of the year, and everybody should try their hardest, cooperating with the grace of God, to enter more fully into the Mystery of Jesus' Passion.

This past Sunday we learned a great lesson through the Gospel. The Gospel reads, "Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it bears much fruit" (John 12:24). Why does He say this? First, Jesus is looking towards His own Passion, realizing that He is that wheat which falls to the earth and will die. From the death of the wheat, which is Jesus, much fruit is beared. If a grain of wheat falls to the ground and the roots take hold, at harvest time there will be a wheat stalk, and from that farmers can take that wheat stalk, and many other wheat stalks, and turn it into bread. But from that single seed of wheat, a great stalk springs forth. Many things in nature are like that. If you look at the oak tree, it starts as a nut, but fully actualized, that nut turns into a mighty oak. Jesus himself spoke of a mustard seed, which is very small; however, a fully grown mustard bush is huge. Things in nature start of small, growing quietly into something that will bear much fruit.

Since Jesus refers to the grain of wheat, and since we know that Jesus is talking about Himself, since He is about to undergo His Passion, this reality of Jesus referring to Himself as wheat is a profound testament to the humbleness of Jesus. From the beginning of His earthly life, Jesus exhibited the perfect example of humbleness; he came into the world not with an army of angels, or with trumpet blasts, but born to a virgin in a stable with animals. He prepared for His public ministry not with angels serving Him, but by him going on what can be considered one of the most severe retreat one can go on: going into the desert for forty days and forty nights, fasting and praying. He isn't ministered to by angels, but says that He came not to be served, but to served. His entire life is a life of humble work and ministry. When Jesus refers Himself to wheat, he is making Himself the smallest of things.

However, a grain of wheat will grow and take root, at harvest time there will be a mighty stalk. It will produce much fruit. Like that stalk of wheat, Jesus will also bear much fruit. That fruit, in one way, will be through wheat; in another way, it will be through the cross; but in the end, they are the same way. Let us look at both of these ways, beginning with the latter.

Jesus, in His Passion and Death, will be scourged, whipped, beaten, and dragged through the streets with a giant cross on His back. The only consolations He will receive is when Simon of Cyrene helped Him carry his cross, and when He meets His mother, Mary, along the road. To make it harder for Jesus, is that the weight of the cross isn't just the physical wight, but there is also the weight of sin. The reality is that Jesus not only died for our sins, but he suffered for our sins. When Jesus carried the cross to His death, He also carried the sins that the Pharisees commit, that the Jewish people commit, but also, He carried sins that we commit, and ones that we will commit. He carried with Him every sin that every person in the world commited, commits, or will commit in the future. He is carrying all of this, and He suffers in a very physical way for us. Not only was he physically suffering, but He was also probably mentally suffering; imagine if His mind was racing with images of sins that people would commit, and that through His death, forgiveness can be given to them? He finally gets to the hill, Golgatha, the Hill of Calvary, where He is to hang for three hours until His death. He is nailed to the cross, and He is lifted up high on the cross to be crucified. Like the grain of wheat, which is planted into the ground, the cross is then planted into the ground, and so the cross then is the link between God and man; without it, there is still separation from God and man. The cross is the connecting factor between Jesus and the ground. At the death of Jesus, that cross, which was a machine for the death of Jesus, becomes life saving. Through the cross, Jesus makes holy the ground and all who walk on it. At the moment of His death, He redeems humanity through the cross, which is planted firmly in the ground. So it really is through the cross that Jesus can restore the human condition back to what it was. It is planted in the ground, and so the cross bearing Jesus bears much fruit because of Jesus.

We must go back to the wheat. Unless a grain of wheat fall to the ground it dies... it produces much fruit. Wheat produces bread through a process which is unknown to me, but I know that wheat fields produce bread that I eat at mealtime. Like the cross, which bears much fruit, as we discerned above, the wheat bears much fruit. What does it produce, or a better question: what does Jesus the wheat produce? It says what It produces in John, chapter 6, verses 32-33: "So Jesus said to them, "Amen, Amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." Now, what is this bread of God, and how does it relate to grains of wheat? Well, as we have said, grains of wheat are turned into bread, so we see the relationship between the wheat and the bread. But what about the bread of God? First, Jesus said "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst" (John 6:35), and he later says "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world" (John 6:51). Jesus is the bread of God, and so the wheat that falls to the ground and dies, and produces much fruit, turns into bread. Since Jesus says that He is the living bread, the bread of life, His origin must be that of wheat, which produces much fruit when it falls to the ground and dies. Jesus is the wheat, and when he dies, He produces much fruit.

On the night before He suffered, Jesus took bread, and gave His Father thanks and praise. He broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said: "Take this, all of you, and eat it. This is my body, which will be given up for you." When Jesus says, "And the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world", He is referring to the Last Supper, that bread he gave "is my flesh". This begs the question: "Why did He give it?" And he answers that question when He says "for the life of the world". This bread, which is his flesh, will be given up for the life of the world. This bread has a salvific aspect to it because it is Jesus Himself, because he says that Himself: "And the bread that I will give is my flesh [the verb "is" equates the bread and his flesh; they are the same] for the life of the world [the bread is salvific because it is His flesh]". But it is bread that will be given, because Jesus says "I will give". And not given for mere trivial matters, but for the life of the world, for our lives, for us. This is my body, which will be given up for you. The bread Jesus breaks at the Last Supper is His flesh, which will be given up for you.

So, we look at the cross as saving, and we look at this bread turned into the flesh of Jesus as saving. On the top layer, it looks as though there are two different sacrifices happening; Jesus gives himself as bread, and then later on the cross. But when Jesus says, "This is my body, which will be given up for you", His body will be really given up on the Cross. At the Last Supper, this bread which becomes flesh for the life of the world has yet to be actualized. Jesus doesn't offer two sacrifices, but rather one sacrifice. His body will be given up. The sacrifice Jesus made at the Last Supper is completed on the Cross, and it becomes actualized. This sacrifice is started on the night before He died, and it is completed on Good Friday when He is crucified. It is here that the wheat produces much fruit, that the cross becomes the tree of life, and that the salvation of humanity becomes actualized, all by the one sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. Through the cross, which is salvific outside of time, as well as inside, salvation can be given to all who came before, and all who came after. Through the completion of the sacrifice of Christ, the part of the sacrifice which came before (at the Last Supper) is fulfilled into a very real reality: And the bread that I will give [and gave] is my flesh [Jesus Himself] for the life of the world [actualized with the crucifixion of Christ]."

As a result of this, we must read the Last Supper account in a specific hermeneutic. A hermeneutic is a lens through which we read things. We read the Last Supper account through the hermeneutic of the cross and crucifixion of Jesus, and through what the rest of the Gospel says about the Last Supper and the Cross (that of Jesus being wheat, and Jesus being that bread (flesh) which is given for the life of the world). We don't understand the full meaning of the Last Supper without looking to the deeper significance of the bread which Jesus offers, which I hope through this meditation have brought to life. We also don't understand the Last Supper without looking at the Cross, and how the Cross fulfills this Last Supper meal into what it really is: Jesus offering himself in a very literal way for the life of the world. This bread truly turns into the Body of Jesus, the Body of Christ, and it becomes so tranformed that the only thing that remains of the bread is that it looks and tastes like bread. The bread turning into the Body of Christ is the same sacrifice as the Crucifixion and death of Christ; it is that complete, and the completeness of the bread turning into Christ Himself is a mirror image of that. As transforming the Cross of Christ became, going from a symbol of death to a symbol of life, this bread transforms completely from mere food into the ultimate symbol of life: Jesus himself.

May you remain close to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. May you, during this holy season, seek to draw closer to the crucified Christ, who humbled himself by being obedient unto death, even death on a cross. God bless.

Silent Prayer

Following the Holy Father's Lenten retreat several weeks ago, he discussed the importance of silent, meditative prayer. Click here to read the article.

The Year of the Priest

Dear friends in Christ,

Recently, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI declared the Year of the Priest, to begin in June. Click here to read the article.

God bless. May you remain close to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The Pope on his recent retreat

Recently Pope Benedict XVI went on his annual Lenten retreat, which was given by Cardinal Arinze, recently retired Prefect for the Congregation of Divine Worship. Here is the article on it.

Retreats are always an important time to have one on one time with the Lord through prayer and the sacraments. It is a time for us to get away for a while, away from the world, to strengthen that relationship that needs it most, our relationship with God. Try to set a Saturday aside this Lent to have some extra prayer time. Spend time in Eucharistic Adoration, go to Mass, and read Scripture. Meditate on the mysteries of the Cross, and how through it, we can be offered salvation.

May you remain close to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Priests in Imitation of Mary

Last week, Pope Benedict XVI had a conference with pastors from around the city of Rome, in which he called on them to imitate the life of Mary. Click here to read it.

Mary is a great example of love and humility. She was one who heard the Word of God in a very literal way, since it was the Word that entered into her. The "Word" (λογος in Greek) is Jesus. At the beginning of the Gospel of John, it reads "In the beginning was the Word" (Εν άρχή ήν ό λογος). It is the Word, Jesus, Who Incarnates Himself into the womb of Mary. This profound event is the Annunciation, which we celebrate on March 25 most years.

Mary is also the woman who listens. She still plays an important role by being the Mother of God. She intercedes for us, and so the prayer we give to her is intercessory. What do you need to pray for? Do you have a sick mother, or are you praying for clarity of vocation? Pray to Mary, and ask her to intercede for you to Jesus.

Her example is also to inspire us. She followed Christ in his ministry, and in our meditations on the life of Christ, part of us should stand back and be observant of what Jesus does, trying to incorporate what he did into our lives, and how what He did can guide us to follow Him closer.
Pray the Rosary. Mary will always be faithful to you, so let her know that you want her to be faithful. She will always pray for you, so ask her to pray for you.

May you remain close to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The Cross

Dear Friends in Christ,

In the Season of Lent, we prepare for the death of Jesus that will happen on Good Friday, and we eagerly await the Resurrection of Christ, that we celebrate on Easter.  The Cross is the ultimate paradox of the history of the world.  On one hand, it is a sign of suffering and sacrifice, a sign of the death of Christ, one that we remember in a literal way at Holy Mass.  On the other hand, it is a sign of the salvation of mankind, a sign that because of the sacrifice of Christ on the Hill of Calvary, we have been given salvation for all who accept it.  

In this Season, we meditate on this profound mystery: God loves us as much as God is love.  Because love is a transcendental of God, not an accident, love is intrinsic to the substance of God; no part of God is not love.  Love is not merely a part of God, God is love.  Any kind of love we do on earth is in direct imitation to the love that God is, and the love that he pours forth on us.   Any kind of sincere love we do on earth is in direct imitation of Him; not only that, but it is because of Him that it is possible to love in the first place.  Just like we are made in God's image, part of that image can be the ability to love, because we are imaging God when we love.  

Jesus says in the Gospel, There is no greater love than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.  Jesus here teaches us something very important about love.  Love is more than just a feeling.  Equating love with feeling is a common mistake made in modern society; it results in divorces when people lose that feeling of love, precisely because they equate love with feeling.  Love is more than a feeling.  It is a choice; it is also a sacrifice.  Love goes much further than just feeling affectionate.  Love is required when the child is sick in the middle of the night, or when a priest gets a sick call at 2 AM.  Love is that choice, that sacrifice.  In any vocation we are called to enter into, love is a necessary requirement in order to be faithful to that vocation.  Love is required even when we don't think we have any more love to give.  At this point, this is where the grace of God is most important, since it is through graces received that we can be given the ability to love like God.  Love is designed to be sacrificial.  The love a husband and wife shares is a sacrificial love, laying down their life for the other.  The love a priest has for his people is a sacrificial love, as the priest lays down his life for his flock.  

The example we look to, in terms of laying down one's life, for the sake of his friends, is the sacrifice Christ made on Calvary.  Jesus laid down His life for His friends, and Jesus seeks friendship with all.  He extends a hand of friendship, yet so few reach out to take His hand.  Jesus offers himself for the sake of humanity; this is the ultimate expression of love.  The Cross is hard, and it shows in a real way the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross.  But also, the Cross is a symbol of love, since it is through the Cross that we can seek friendship with God, and it is through that Cross that we can seek salvation through God.  

What we learn from the Cross is that the way to true love with God and with fellow man is through the Cross, and it is through suffering that we come to love.  It is easy to love when there is little sacrifice.  It is hard to love when the suffering and sacrifice is a heavy burden to us, but it is through these moments that we experience the love of the living God.  It is through these moments that God pours forth graces upon us.  It is through these moments that we become more Christ like.  May we always seek the Cross, that great example of love, especially in the Lenten Season, that through the Cross we may become more Christ like.

May you remain close to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  

Papal Message for World Youth Day 2009

Dear friends in Christ,
I found this translation from the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, on Youth Day 2009, which is to be celebrated on the Diocesan level on Palm Sunday. Here is the link to that address.

The Holy Father continues to stress the importance of hope, not a false hope in any worldly things, but rather hope in Christ. This theme became poignant when he wrote Spe Salvi, literally, Saved in hope. But he continued this theme at World Youth Day last year, and Hope was the theme of the Holy Father's visit to the United States last year.

In the midst of trouble in our world, with terrorism, the economic situation, and the offenses against human life that happen from the womb until people are old, if you are not grounded in faith of God, then we can lose hope. Our faith perfects the hope we have. There is hope. It may not be in this world, but if we stay hopeful, and we stay faithful, we can be assured that our hope will not be in vain.

We must follow Christ, and we must follow His will for us. God wants us to be joyful, and following Him without hesitation in whatever he asks of us will bring us the most joy. May we always remember that.

God bless. May you remain close to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.