We live in a world where the greatness of a person is graded on that person’s outstanding achievements. This mindset is deeply rooted in our society. Therefore, all are running behind success and achievements. If a person is ready to work hard, why do we need to discourage that person from achieving success, name, and fame? Anyhow, we all need to realize that achieving something is not the only criteria for judging a person as great. It also includes a person’s willingness to lose something dear to his or her heart. We have heard people lose their own lives to save someone else. Such individuals, though they have not achieved great success, whose self-sacrifice makes them immortal.
In today’s gospel, we see Jesus saying: “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies it bears much fruit.” (Jn. 12:24) In fact, Jesus uses this analogy of a grain of wheat to speak about his sacrificial love. He did not allow this analogy to remain as a theory. Every crucifix is the remainder of this self-sacrificing love of Jesus. We may wonder why he had to die on the cross; why not other means and ways to express his self-sacrificing love? He had to die on the cross to bring salvation to the entire universe. Yes, of course Jesus had the freedom to choose not to die on the cross for the sake of our failures. Nevertheless, He consciously made this choice to be a sacrificial victim at the altar of the cross so that we may live and share his eternal life.
However, losing oneself for the sake of others is not an easy task. Jesus says: “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say: ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.” (Jn. 12:27) Bishop Fulton J. Sheen says every child is born to live, but Jesus was born to die. Thus, by surrendering himself completely to the will of the Father, he will glorify his Father. In the book of Genesis, we see God making a covenant with Abraham: “I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.” (Gen. 17:7) However, humanity has constantly failed to remain faithful to this commandment. In all the ages, God tried to revive this commandment with the people of Israel. Anyhow, humanity could not succeed because of human fragility and inclination towards sin. God reestablished this covenant by sending His Son in human form, so that by the son of God becoming a human person, we will be strengthened to remain faithful to this covenant.
In the first reading, we see God revealing his new covenant with the people of Israel through the prophet Jeremiah: “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt – a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Jer. 31:31-33) Thus, Jesus becomes the connecting link between divinity and humanity. Immediately, we see Abba Father acknowledging Jesus: “I have glorified, and I will continue to glorify.” The resurrection and ascension of Jesus were the moments wherein Abba Father glorified his son for all that he had been. We are called to imitate Jesus’ love for Abba in our concrete life situations. When we surrender our will to that of Abba and remain open to his will in our lives, like Jesus, we too may be glorified. Thus, the covenant that he made with our ancestors is fulfilled in our lives. Abba wants all of us to be a grain of wheat so that we may forget our own selves’ and lead others to the fullness of life. Thus, by losing ourselves to Jesus, we may gain everlasting life.