Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church

Homily for April 2, 2006
Liturgical Year B-Cycle II
5th Sunday of Lent
By Fr. Joshua Nyoni
Topic: Dying to our will.
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Gospel
Jn 12: 20-33
Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,  and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew;  then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them,  “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you,  unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,  it remains just a grain of wheat;  but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me,  and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.

“I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven,  “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder;  but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered and said,  “This voice did not come for my sake but for yours. Now is the time of judgment on this world;  now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth,  I will draw everyone to myself.” He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.
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In the Gospel today, we have just heard two profound statements from Jesus. The first one is: “Unless a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain, but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest”. The second one is this: “Anyone who loves his life loses it, anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life”.

The grain of wheat remains unfruitful, ineffective, as long as it is preserved and kept safe. Only when it is thrown into the cold ground, buried there as if in a tomb, that it bears fruit. 

This reminds me of a retreat which I gave to some deacons, whom were about to be ordained priests. I said to them that they were being ordained to die. It was a shock to them, but that was true. They had to die to certain things, so as to bear fruit. You think that I wouldn’t love to have a beautiful wife like some of you, a beautiful child? For me, priesthood or marriage, it is all about dying to certain things, so that life can come about. For example, if you, as parents, are always spending almost all of the money in those Casinos, how will the family have enough? There has to be some kind of death to certain things.

Throughout history, we find that there has been people, saints, martyrs, scientists, who have sacrificed their lives. They have had to die to certain things, so that great things could be achieved. It was by the death of the martyrs that the church grew: “The blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church”.  For us to be of real use to God, we need to bury our own personal aims and ambitions.

The second point that Jesus did emphasize is about life. It is only by spending life that we gain it, not by hoarding it. Hoarding it only manifests selfishness and a desire for security. The world is what it is today because of people who have spent themselves and have allowed themselves to be spent, completely giving themselves to God and to others. The people whom the world remembers with love are the people who have given their lives to the service of others. For us to gain eternal life, we must be willing to trust in God, to put our lives in his hands. If we wish to bear fruit for God, we must be willing to die to our will. Jesus became the grain of wheat that did die so that we could be saved.

Concretely, what does all this mean for us today, here and now? Let me take some examples: 

1. Say a marriage is falling apart and we need outside help but are too proud  to ask for it. Dying to our own will/self means dying to our pride (getting rid of that pride, swallowing that pride) and going to ask for help.

 2.Suppose some close friends tell us we are developing a drinking problem but we keep on denying it, in spite of mounting evidence. Dying to our will means admitting our problem and going out to seek medical help.

3. Suppose a friend or a family member has hurt us in some way and we are holding a grudge against him or her. Dying to our will means forgiving  that person from the heart and treating him or her with love once again.

Dying to our will is not easy. No one said it was. But it is dying to these wills that life can come about - be it in the family, in church or in society.

May the Lord help us.