Joke: Mom asked little John to bring her the mop outside the backyard one evening. The little boy replied, “No, mom, I’m scared.” “Why?” she asked. “It’s dark outside.” He replied. “Don’t you learn in religious education class that Jesus is everywhere?” she said. “So, do not be afraid and go get me the mop, please.” Little John opened the door of the backyard just enough to sneak out his eyes and said, “Jesus, would you bring me the mop, please?”

Coming closer to the Holy Week, the Church puts the readings together to reveal the Son of God’s true nature, his mission in coming into this world, and how he would accomplish his mission.

First of all, who is Jesus Christ? A son of Mary and his foster father Joseph who performed many miracles and yet suffered and died on the Cross and had many people following and that’s it? Is he a man or God or both? I once mentioned an experience when I was in seminary. Father John Kelly used to ask us questions in the exams: Was Jesus, a man? True or False. Was Jesus God? True or False. If we answer either one was true or false, we were all wrong. The correct answer for Jesus was that he was both God and man.

In today’s second reading, a concise reading, which has only two sentences. However, Saint Paul beautifully teaches us the two true natures of Jesus Christ saying, “In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh, 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.” In other words, the Son of God and God himself, Jesus Christ, though he was, in the days when he was in the flesh, taking on our human flesh to be like all of us except for sins, he learned obedience from what he suffered. When he was made perfect, and resurrected from death, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. This then conveyed that Jesus Christ was God and man. As a man, he was so limited by his human nature in obedience to God the Father that he could not be born in Jerusalem and at the same time be born in America, Vietnam, or any other places. By vesting on himself our very human nature, he needed food to eat and drink to satisfy his thirst and sleep when tired and many other depending conditions that human beings have to adapt and fulfill. The question is: Could he not eat, drink, or sleep? He could because he was not only man but also God at the same time. Forty days and nights fasting in the desert, has there been any human being able to fast like that? Fasting for three days, for example, will get our Metabolism cranking at full speed. As God, was Jesus able to get away from being caught and crucified on the cross? He could have, but why didn’t he do it? What motivated him not to run away from being seen, suffered, and died on the cross? What motivated him was his love for humanity’s fallen state and his obedience to God the Father. The question for us is as his followers, how should we obey him, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, just as he is obedient to God the Father?

In today’s Gospel, Saint John helps us to answer this question by repeating the teaching of the Lord Jesus, 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. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.” We are invited to die to our sins, die to our unkind words and deeds, die to our cheating and lying, die to our self-center, and our pride, and die to our selfishness to take on commitment responsibility for our actions and behaviors. If we don’t want to accept the challenges and difficulties of life, face and deal with them by ourselves and not anybody else, then we are just like the grain of wheat that does not touch the ground to bear much fruit.

Abortion hurts the mothers and haunts them for the rest of their lives. However, for some women, there seems no other option that they have no other choice than they have to violate what the Church teaches. Welcome to our human club with all human weaknesses and limitations, but learn to accept our human weaknesses and limitations, learn to accept the challenges and difficulties of life to face, and deal with them ourselves. Learn to humble ourselves to acknowledge the needs of God in our lives. If we have the courage and strength to enjoy our human pleasure, should we have the courage and strength to commit ourselves and take responsibility for our actions and behaviors? Do we know God’s laws and the commandments? We know them all before going to school or stepping into religious education classes and many other classes. Why do I say that?

In today’s first reading, taken from the book of the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord makes a new covenant with the house of Israel by placing and writing his laws in their hearts, saying, “I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.” The moment that we are baptized into Christ, the moment that God has written his laws and his commandments in our hearts. Pay attention to the time we are about to sin, during the time we sin, and after we sin, has there been anything that nudges us to say: That is wrong. Stop. Don’t do it. It is a sin. Stop. And many other similar words. In these moments, have we had the courage and strength to stop and listen to God’s voice, or do we allow ourselves to go with the flow? We all want to be saved from condemnation, but are we willing to die for our sins? We all know that we have to sweat our eyebrows to work hard to earn a living, but do we also know that we need to do good and avoid evildoing to achieve eternal life? Jesus Christ, though he was God, accepted to be born in human flesh, totally obedient to God the Father even at the point of death, death on the cross, have we had the courage and strength to die to our sins in obedient to God whom we put our faith and trust in him? The decision is yours.