A Commentary and Reflection on the Readings for the Fifth Sunday in Lent – Year B. The Liturgical Sense of the Scriptures Podcast, by Catholic Author and Theologian David L. Gray. READINGS: Jeremiah 31:31-34, Hebrews 5:7-9, John 12:20-33.
Through the Liturgy of the Catholic Mass, we are United in Christ Jesus’ Redemptive Suffering
There is every indication given in our First Reading for the Fifth Sunday of Lent from Jeremiah 31:31-34 that the Prophet Jeremiah believed and prophesized that God would establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,” which was different from the covenant He had made with their fathers. In fact, Jeremiah calls it a “new covenant,” and that this new covenant “will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers.” The indicators that this covenant is a new thing God is establishing is also indicated by a transition from the Law of God written stone tablets to a Divine law that He says, “I will place [my law] within them and write it upon their hearts.” The most apparent familiarity between the old covenants and this new one in Jeremiah’s prophecy is the similarity of language where God promises to claim the Israelites as His people and to be their God. We hear this language in Genesis 17:7, where God promises Abraham, “I will maintain my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout the ages as an everlasting covenant, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.” We hear it again with Moses in Exodus 6:7, “I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God; and you will know that I, the LORD, am your God who has freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians.” Then, with Jeremiah, God repeats, “I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” The prophecy ends with a promise to “forgive their iniquity and no longer remember their sin,” without specifying whether that will still come through the sacrifice of lambs or the death of the Lamb of God on the Cross. From these verses alone, it seems clear that the new covenant God will establish is distinct and familiar, most notably because it is with the same people. In other words, we do not have a new covenant with a new people, but a new covenant with an old people being made new.
However, the Jewish interpretation of Jeremiah 31:31-34 rejects the literal reading of the text. Rather than hearing that God will establish something new, many Jewish commentaries read this prophecy as the promise of God not replacing the existing covenant but rather reinvigorating and revitalizing the old. Perhaps this is an overreaction reaction against Christianity, or maybe it is a reflection of the fact that God promised Abraham that the covenant He established with him and his descendants would be “everlasting” rather than expiring. Therefore, because the covenant made with Abraham is everlasting, there can never be a break or cessation in a thing that God promised would never end. Here, Saint Clement of Alexandria, in his Stromateis or Miscellanies (202 A.D.), would undoubtedly agree with the Jewish interpretation where he writes:
“From what has been said, then, it seems clear to me that the True Church, that which is really ancient, is one; and in it are enrolled those who, in accord with a design, are just . . . We say, therefore, that in substance, in concept, in origin and in eminence, the ancient and Catholic Church is alone, gathering as it does into the unity of the one faith which results from the familiar covenants – or rather, from the one covenant in different times, by the will of the one God and through the one Lord, – those already chosen, those predestined by God who knew before the foundation of the world that they would be just.”
There are many distinctions we can make between the covenants made with those who were united with the bloodline of Abraham versus the covenant made with those united with the blood of Christ Jesus, but as it relates to the season of Lent, the most striking distinction has to with our response to suffering. Whereas the old covenant is distinguished by a litany of pleading and prayers from the Israelites asking God for delivery from suffering, the new covenant is most clearly distinguished by the Lord calling us to participate in His suffering. For example, the most prominent example of the Israelites praying for deliverance from suffering is Exodus 2:23-25, “A long time passed, during which the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their bondage and cried out, and from their bondage, their cry for help went up to God.” Now, contrast how that prayer for deliverance from suffering is foreign to the call of Christ Jesus, saying, “Take up your cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24), which asks us to follow Him in the path of being made perfect through redemptive suffering.
Today’s Second Reading from Hebrews 5:7-9 offers an image of the transition of the old covenant to the new through our Lord’s journey from asking for deliverance from suffering to being made perfect through redemptive suffering, writing, “In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” Here, the Second Reading is an echo of our Gospel Reading from John 12:20-33, where Jesus refers to Himself as a grain of wheat, saying, “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.” He also connects His path of redemptive suffering with the path to glory that those who follow Him must journey, saying, “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.” Even though our merciful Lord was troubled at the coming of His passion, He says, “Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.”
The Liturgy of the Mass is deeply intertwined with the redemptive suffering of Christ Jesus; a truth echoed through the teachings of the Council of Trent and the Second Vatican Council. The Mass stands as a non-bloody offering akin to the sacrifice of Calvary, renewing the new covenant with each celebration. In the Mass, a human priest, in Persona Christi, perpetuates His offering, where the Eucharistic elements serve as an external sign while reflecting Christ’s unwavering interior disposition as witnessed at Calvary. Though Christ’s death once earned redemption, the Catholic Mass provides a unique and special means for distributing the graces obtained on the Cross. The Mass invites us to align our dispositions with those of Christ during His Last Supper—marked by obedience—and participate in His one sacrifice, thus uniting us with His redemptive work.
Redemptive suffering finds its core in Christ’s passion, transforming suffering into an expression of love. Our participation in His suffering through the Mass allows us to enter this mystery, conforming us to Christ and uniting us with His Passion. Offering our sufferings during the Mass becomes an act of acknowledgment and gratitude towards Christ’s ultimate sacrifice, lending power to our prayers and sufferings, purifying our souls, and preparing us for eternal life.
This is just one way how the readings at Mass this Sunday connect to the liturgy and how the liturgy is forming us how to live our lives in the world. Be in the world what you have received through the liturgy.
