Suffering is a part of life.

Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Lent

Readings: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 14-15 (12a); Hebrews 5:7-9; John 12:20-33

By a show of hands, have you ever suffered?

Suffering is a part of life. For some of you, part of you Lenten journey may have included giving up sweets or chocolate. And by me just mentioning this, your mouth may have started to water, you stomach ache for just a small taste of something sweet or chocolate. This may be causing you to suffer right now.

But this is not the type of suffering I am talking about. I don’t know about your suffering, but I do know about the suffering I have experienced over the past year. I have suffered when family members have died, along with friends, priests, deacons and nuns. I have suffered as family members under go medial tests to discover they are in the early stages of organ failure, heart problems, and caner. I have visited hospitals more in the past year than I have over many previous years combined. And every time in the past year it appeared there was there was finally a break in my suffering, something else came up. I have sent many emails requesting prayers over the past year. After one of the more recent emails, a friend of mine told me his first reaction upon reading my email, was to turn to his wife and ask “how much more must they endure?”

And while there have been many tears and much suffering over the past year, there was always one thing that got me through these times, my personal relationship with Jesus.

Jesus can be a model for us, because his divine nature did not spare him from the need to accept God’s will, even when it included suffering. Jesus understands suffering. As we heard in the reading from Hebrews, Jesus “learned obedience from what he suffered.” He suffered for our sake. He knew God’s will for him, his mission in the world, and he knew that from his suffering and death, new life would spring forth. As Jesus said in the gospel, “unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a grain of wheat, but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” That is what we are called to do with our suffering.

Lent is a time for conversion. It is a time for us to change. It is a time for us to more consciously work on our relationship with Jesus. And to better understand why he suffered for us.

Developing a personal relationship with Jesus is similar to developing a relationship with a friend, especially a friend who becomes our spouse. We start the relationship by spending time with them; we talk to them on a regular basis. We share our lives with them, our joys and our suffering. When they harm us in some way, we forgive them. Eventually, we will do anything to help our friend. And in return, they want to spend time with us, share their lives with us, their joys, and their sufferings. They are willing to forgive us when we harm them; they are willing to do anything to help us.

While this is the Fifth Sunday in Lent, it is not too late to begin our Lenten journey, if we have not already, or if we have failed along the way, to restart the journey. There is still time to work on our conversion, to change our lives, to work on our personal relationship with Jesus. We can do this my attending the Stations of the Cross, or even doing them on our own. We can participate in a bible study, or even start one. We can attend a daily Mass besides the weekend liturgy. We can ask for forgiveness for the suffering we have caused Jesus by receiving the sacrament of Reconciliation. We can participate in the entire Easter Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil, which really is one continuous liturgy spread across three days.

Besides the communal gatherings, we also need to spend some time with Jesus one-on-one. If you are not praying every day, start. If you are, continue. Get to know more about Jesus by reading scripture. You can start by reading the daily Mass readings, especially before coming to Mass. Spend some time each day, just talking to Jesus, share your day, with him, tell him what has been happening, the good things and the bad, where you are happy and what is causing you suffering.

Prayer is really just a conversation with Jesus. It can include the formal prayers and devotions like the Mass, the rosary, liturgy of the hours or the Magnificant. But it can also be as simple as a conversation you might have with your spouse or a friend. And if you need help starting such a conversation with Jesus, bring along an extra chair to your prayer space, and invite Jesus to sit down with you. And when you are done sharing your life with Jesus, sit in silence to listen for Jesus to speak to you, to see what Jesus has to share with you. And if your mind starts to wander, like it does for many of us, maybe that is Jesus leading you to a person you need to pray for, call or visit. Maybe Jesus is showing you an area in your life you need to change.

By spending time with Jesus every day, by working on your personal relationship with Jesus, you will experience a conversion, a change in your life. Your life will be like the grain of wheat Jesus spoke about, it will bear much fruit. But, in order to bear the fruit, we will encounter suffering. But our suffering is made easier, because of our personal relationship with Jesus, who will be there to help us, as a friend.