Posted by The WORD in other words (2018) by Fr Sonny de Rivera SVD – Rome, Italy
5th Sunday of Lent – B
One of the most inspiring books for me is Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Cost of Discipleship. This German Lutheran pastor and theologian led me into his belief that when Christ calls someone, he bids him come and die. There is no “cheap grace,” only a costly one, justifying then that personal sacrifice is an essential component of faith.
Lent’s fifth Sunday readings present us “the cost of discipleship”in the same way. Jesus as the “Promised Messiah” offers his life for others. Today’s readings focus on the upcoming death of Jesus, which is interpreted not only as a priestly sacrifice (Heb 5) but also as the moment of his “exaltation” and “glorification” (Jn 12).
There is a beautiful imagery in the gospel today about what it means to be Jesus’ disciple, and how to carry faithfully our Christian vocation. Jesus uses the image of a grain of wheat that must fall to the ground and die so that it can produce fruit. This imagery is a reflection of Jesus who emptied himself and became one of us, our Brother, and was obedient until death so that we would have the fullness of life. But as Jesus is talking about the fallen grain of wheat, he is also referring to our lives as Christians. It’s the “cost of our discipleship”. We face the struggle of surrender. We have to die to ourselves and let go.
Some years ago I worked as a chaplain in one of the biggest jails in Orlando, Florida. Some inmates openly related their journey of conversion and willingness to live a new life: “surrendering to Jesus”. With God’s grace, we can become a fruitful grain of wheat when we simply surrender to grow more and more and become a sign, a witness of the presence, of the love and of the salvific mercy that is Jesus in our midst. It is not easy and can be costly when we open and empty ourselves of all that is selfish, self-centered, and all that we cling to.
Just as Bonhoeffer said, “There is no cheap grace, it is rather costly. There aren’t any minimums. No bargaining is possible. That grain of wheat that falls into the ground and dies gives everything and surrenders everything.” As we wind up our Lenten journey and soon meet with the Christ who suffers and dies, we too open ourselves to his call of surrender and costly discipleship.
During this Fifth Sunday of Lent, it is not too late for us to again look at our own call to self-emptying, to surrender, to dying to self. That’s the key to the question that we ask: What do I need to do to be a good Catholic, a good disciple, a good follower of Jesus?
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