Homily for Fifth Sunday Of Lent: &#034;See The Lord With The Eyes Of Faith&#034;

March 22, 2021

Abu Dhabi.

Below is the full text of the homily delivered by Bishop Paul Hinder for the Fifth Sunday of Lent.

Readings of the Day: Jer 31:31-34; Heb 5:7-9; Jn 12:20-30

We can see ourselves in the Greek pilgrims who reached Jerusalem for the Passover Feast and heard about Jesus the famous preacher and miracle worker. We too would seize the opportunity to get at least a glimpse of him and approach one of the disciples with the request: “We should like to see Jesus” (John 12:21). In none of the four gospels the topic of seeing Jesus is as explicitly present as in John. Let us have a closer look at this topic, which is important for our faith in Jesus Christ.

Already in the first chapter, John the Baptist points at Jesus who is waiting in the queue for baptism with the words: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). A day later, the same Baptist watching Jesus who walked by, exclaimed, " Look, here is the Lamb of God!” (John 1:36) The evangelist, stresses in all his writings the visibility of the Word who has become flesh. At the beginning of his first letter, he writes: “ We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at und touched with our hands, concerning the word of life…” (1 John 1:1). The faith of the Apostle is based not on speculations but on sensuous perception of the incarnate Word of God.

One of the two of disciples who followed Jesus the day after his baptism, asked him “where are you staying?” Jesus simply invites them: “ Come and see! They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day" (John 1:39). The same happens, when Philippe speaks about Jesus to Nathanael, “ Come and see” (John 1:46). Faith in Christ is not only a theoretical learning about Jesus. It has to do with a personal encounter; with the courage to walk with him, to talk to him, to see him and to stay with him.

Later, in chapter 4 of John’s gospel, the Samaritan woman who just came to know Jesus at Jacob’s well, invites the people of her town: “ Come and see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Messiah?” (John 4:29) She invites her fellow citizens in town to make the same experience and to discover the Christ sent by God. For this purpose, the eyes have to be opened, as it is explained in chapter 9 of John, where the blind man is healed in order to see Jesus and to believe in him, while those who pretended to see, remained blind. John, the Evangelist, wrote his gospel as an eye-opener for all those who are ready to walk with Jesus, to see Him with the eyes of faith, and to recognize him as the Lord.

Finally, John shows us the shocking moment, when Pilate exhibits the tortured and ridiculed Jesus to the people: “Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak. And (Pilate) said to them, “ Behold, the man!” (John 19:5) It is an unvoluntary echo of what John the Baptist had announced at the beginning of the gospel: “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” On Golgotha people will look again at him – most of them with contempt, a few with faith, hope and love, as it was prophesied by Zechariah 12:10, “ They will look upon him whom they have pierced.” (John 19:37) Now, the moment has come, which Jesus had predicted: “ When I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw everyone to myself” (John 12:32).

At the foot of the cross, it takes courage to say: “We should like to see Jesus”. We would rather hide or at least keep distance. However, we cannot really understand and see Jesus unless we look upon the crucified. It is the moment when “the prince of the world is to be overthrown” and the new covenant is established, as we heard today from Jeremiah: “See, days are coming—oracle of the LORD—when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah” (Jeremiah 31:31, Heb 8:8). This covenant is concluded on the Cross and renewed and kept present in every Eucharist, based on the words of Jesus during the last supper: “ This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me” (1 Co 11:25; cf. Luke 22:20).

Only after the resurrection of our Lord, the disciples can truly say “We have seen the Lord”. “Seeing the Lord” does not refer only to what their bodily eyes can catch; it means the inner eyes of faith. It takes time to get from the physical seeing to the spiritual seeing. The best example we find at the end of John’s gospel in the story of the Apostle Thomas. He still wanted to see with his bodily eyes and to touch with his physical hands: “ Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). The Risen Lord had to lift him to another level of understanding: “ Thomas, have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (John 20:29). We too have to go through the same laborious process until we are able to profess wholeheartedly: “My Lord and my God!”

Dear friends in Christ, do you want to see Jesus? Look at the consecrated host during the Mass but do it with the inner eyes of faith and say with a humble heart:

“My Lord and My God!”

Amen.