top of page
Saint Gertrude Parish - Lasne
Year B
On this page you will find:
The readings from the Mass
The Mass leaflet with the choice of hymns
A sample universal prayer available for download
In PDF format
In editable Word format
A meditation on the Sunday Gospel
A commentary to better understand the Gospel
A word for the road
March 17, 2024
5th Sunday of Lent
Feast of Saint Gertrude
Amen, amen, I tell you:
if the grain of wheat that falls into the ground does not die,
he remains alone;
But if he dies,
It bears much fruit.
John 12:24
Readings from the Mass
Lectio Divina
Mass leaflet
Prayer intentions
Today's Gospel reading offers us once again the words Jesus spoke to Nicodemus: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son" (John 3:16). Listening to these words, we turn the gaze of our hearts toward Jesus Crucified and feel within ourselves that God loves us, truly loves us, and loves us so much! This is the simplest expression that sums up the entire Gospel, all of faith, all of theology: God loves us with a free and infinite love.
God loves us in this way, and God demonstrates this love above all in creation, as the liturgy proclaims in Eucharistic Prayer IV: "You made the world so that every creature might be filled with your blessings, and that many might rejoice in your light."
At the origin of the world, there was only the free and unconditional love of the Father. Saint Irenaeus, a saint of the early centuries, and the Gospels go beyond this particular episode and express something universal; they reveal a desire that transcends ages and cultures, a desire present in the hearts of many who have heard of Christ but have not yet encountered him. “I long to see Jesus”: this is what the hearts of these people feel.
By responding indirectly, prophetically, to this request to see him, Jesus utters a prophecy that reveals his identity and points the way to truly know him: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (Jn 12:23). This is the hour of the Cross! This is the hour of the defeat of Satan, the prince of evil, and of the definitive triumph of God’s merciful love. Christ declares that he will be “lifted up from the earth” (v. 32), an expression with a double meaning: “lifted up” because he is crucified, and “lifted up” because he is exalted by the Father in the Resurrection, to draw all people to himself and reconcile them with God and with one another. The hour of the Cross, the darkest in history, is also the source of salvation for all who believe in him.
Continuing the prophecy about his now imminent Passover, Jesus uses a simple and suggestive image, that of the "grain of wheat" which, once it falls into the ground, dies to bear fruit (cf.
v. 24). In this image, we find another aspect of the Cross of Christ: that of fruitfulness. The Cross of Christ is fruitful. The death of Jesus, in fact, is an inexhaustible source of new life, for it carries within it the regenerative power of God's love. Immersed in this love through Baptism, Christians can become "grains of wheat" and bear much fruit if, like Jesus, "they lose their lives" for love of God and their brothers and sisters (cf. v. 25).
That is why, to those who still today "want to see Jesus," to those who are searching for the face of God; to those who received catechesis as children and did not pursue it further and who may have lost their faith; to all those who have not yet met Jesus personally...; to all these people, we can offer three things: the Gospel; the crucifix; and the testimony of our faith, poor but sincere.
The Gospel: there we can encounter
Jesus, listen to him, know him. The crucifix: a sign of the love of Jesus who gave himself for us. And then a faith that is expressed in simple acts of fraternal charity. But above all, in the consistency of life between what we say and what we live, in consistency between our faith and our life, between our words and our actions. Gospel, crucifix, witness. May the Virgin Mary help us to bring these three things.
Homily of Pope Francis
for the 5th Sunday of Lent
March 22, 2015
"Logic" of the cross
Father Étienne Roche
Jesus is making the Passover pilgrimage. For the last time. A few Greeks, not belonging to the chosen people but drawn by faith in the one God, are also going up to Jerusalem, according to custom. They long to be closer to Jesus, so, addressing Philip and Andrew, two disciples with Greek names, they make a beautiful request: “We would like to see Jesus.” How can we let this phrase resonate within us today? How can we discover ever more consciously that it expresses the deepest desire of our hearts? How can we allow this desire for eternal life to grow: to see the Son face to face, to allow ourselves to be loved, comforted, restored, and lifted up?
Losing one's life to find it
As often happens, Jesus seems to change the subject and answer incongruously. But not at all! On the contrary, he emphasizes how the path now opening before him is a path open to all. While in the first part of the Gospel of John, Jesus sows signs of his identity and his mission, the time has come, "the hour," when he is about to fulfill what he foretold. This hour is the act of total self-giving to the Father, the one who, out of love, will go all the way. "The hour" is also one of a relentless struggle against the broken covenants of all times. Like a grain of wheat, which needs to fall to the ground and germinate to release the life-giving power it contains, Jesus is about to give his life without reservation. By giving his body on the cross, by shedding his blood, he will open for us the gates of eternal life.
John, who does not mention the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane in his Gospel, reveals here Jesus' anguish before the anguish of death and sin, which do not correspond to God's plan for humanity. In doing so, he renews his loving commitment to the Father's will. This is also a profound challenge for us: to desire to receive and give ourselves completely in order to overcome Satan and prepare ourselves for heaven. Jesus has opened the way for us and continues to accompany us on our own.
“People came to him from everywhere” was the theme of last month’s Sunday of Health. This theme resonates with a recent memory: a seriously ill friend shared how she had gradually discovered that embracing the reality of her life, limited by her illness, was difficult, but nonetheless the only way for her to live fully. Like a tightrope walker looking up to find balance, she recounted how fixing her gaze on Jesus was the only way to move forward, gently, to receive life while it was there, to continue giving of herself as long as possible.
And what heartfelt commitment awaits us today?
A word for the road
What we would like to forget,
The cross places it before our eyes:
Life prepares us to die well.
To love is always a little bit like dying.
It's opening our hand
on what we thought we possessed
and return it to the One who gave it to us.
Life prepares us to give our all.
And when I've emptied my cupboards
everything that hinders love,
You will come, Lord, to dwell in my house.
and you'll never leave again.
bottom of page