Wheat

As we continue our journey into Holy Week, the Daily Office invites us into an unusual visit with Jesus (see below).  Some foreigners are interested in seeing Jesus.  The message is relayed to him.  His response?  One of his challenging sayings.  These words are difficult not because they're difficult to understand but rather because they make a demand of us.  If we want to live, we must first die.

This, if we've been open to the Spirit, is what we've been trying to do during Lent.  Through prayer, reflection, and repentance, we seek to die so that we may begin a new life in which we grow closer to God.

Today, I invite you to join me in reading this passage from John, praying over its message, and then asking God that we might be blessed to be like a kernel of wheat, buried in the ground, waiting to burst forth in new and wondrous ways.

John 12:20-26
Now some Greeks were among those who had gone up to worship at the feast. So these approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and requested, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew, and they both went and told Jesus. Jesus replied, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the solemn truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains by itself alone. But if it dies, it produces much grain. The one who loves his life destroys it, and the one who hates his life in this world guards it for eternal life. If anyone wants to serve me, he must follow me, and where I am, my servant will be too. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him."

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