Today’s Gospel:  John 12:24-26

REFLECTION
Jesus reminds us in today's Gospel that there is no harvest without death -- the seed has to be planted and die before it can germinate and grow.  Jesus submitted everything, including his fears and his friends, to the will of God. It cost him his life. It won him the harvest.

Many times, so much of what we want to do for God we try to do by ourselves. Our motives are right. Our heart is right. Our plans are made with prayer. The problem is that we end up doing everything except the crucial thing: we are not willing to die.

So, like a grain of wheat, we must let ourselves fall to the earth and die. We give all to the Lord. Then we find that not only are our resources transformed, we are transformed. We are no longer our old selves of selfishness; we are new creations in the love of Jesus.

The Lord calls us to give totally to Him.  His command “to love Him with all our hearts, all our souls, all our minds, and all our strength”, to give all to Him may seem unreasonable until we focus on Jesus' death on the cross.

Giving sets the tone for living. If we give bountifully of our possessions, time, and energy we will live an abundant life.  If, however, we give sparingly, begrudgingly, and selfishly, the joys of our lives seem to be put in "a bag with holes in it".   Therefore we need to accept the grace to give all to Jesus and we need to “die” in order to grow.

- MA

Today’s Reading:  Phil 3:17-4:1

PRAYER
Father Almighty, grant me the grace to die to my will and have yours come to life in me. Show me how to live the life you willed for me that I may be an agent of your great harvest.  In Jesus’ Name we pray.  Amen.