V Sunday of Lent

WORK FROM THE INSIDE

Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 5:7-9; John 12:20-33

Readings for the V Sunday of Lent

A little boy asked: “Why is it that when I open a marigold it dies, but if God does it, it’s so beautiful?” Before anyone could respond, he said: “I know! It’s because God always works from the inside.” 

The little boy was wise to God’s way of working! Whether it’s with nature or with people, God works from the inside as today’s readings indicate.

In the first reading, God announces the new covenant he intends making with his people. The earlier covenants had external elements: the sign of the covenant with Noah was a rainbow; the covenant of Sinai was inscribed on tablets. In this new covenant, God will put his “law within them and write it upon their hearts”. All will then “know” him. This “knowing” is not an external keeping of laws; it’s an inner relationship with God.

The Lord assures the Jews in Babylon, uprooted and in exile: “I will be their God and they shall be my people.” God is not restricted to their home territory or to an external structure; God is with them wherever they go. 

In the gospel, Jesus uses the analogy of the death of grain to produce fruit to emphasize that – beyond an inner relationship – the covenant involves a dying to oneself and a rising to eternal life. God always works from the inside!

Growing in relationship with God and becoming persons God calls us to become, begins with a dying to our immaturity, to our doubts and fears, to our prejudices, to our self-centred wants, to our plans and our will. 

This inner work takes time and patience. So often, like the little boy, we force growth, we force change in behaviour in ourselves and in others. Like his marigold, we die. But this dying is not like the dying of the grain! It does not produce fruit; it produces frustration. We need to work from the inside with patience. We need to allow God to work from the inside. 

Will I allow God to write his law upon my heart? Will I – like Jesus – fall into the ground and die to myself so that I can produce fruits of the kingdom? Am I willing to let the divine gardener nurture me with his never-ending love?

Let me allow God to work from the inside and “create a clean heart in me.”