Homily

"We wish to see Jesus." This is the request of some Greeks who had gone up to worship during the feast. "We wish to see" that teacher who speaks as no other had ever done. "We wish to see" one who is compassionate, who explains everything, who goes to meet others, who weeps for his friend who has died. "We wish to see" him who has mercy on sinners, who makes possible a life of salvation; who has come not to judge but to save the world. "We wish to see Jesus." It is the request of this world gone astray, confused, marked as it is by war, swept by the logic of conflict which hardens hearts, which broadly sows enmity, which arms the hands and minds of so many. "We wish to see Jesus" in order to hope what today seems impossible; because we need someone who can explain what we should do, for whom the only valid reasons are those of love. "We wish to see Jesus" so as not to accept the logic of violence, because we need to look ahead, to listen to words of the heart: true, credible, humane, disinterested. "We wish to see Jesus" because we try to be different and don’t know what to do; because alone we cannot forgive ourselves and we have need of him, who makes new what is old and loosens the bonds of evil.
"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." It was not enough for him to come to earth, even if this already showed his incredible love for humanity. He wanted to give his life to the end, to the last hour, to the last minute. Not that Jesus sought death. To the contrary, he did not want to die at all. In the Letter to the Hebrews, which we read as the second reading, it is written: "In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up 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 reverent submission." Nevertheless ?and here lies the great mystery of the Cross? obedience to the Gospel and love for humanity were for Jesus more precious than his own life.
He had not come to earth in order to "remain just a single grain," rather to "bear much fruit." And the way to bear fruit, he indicates with these words: "Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life." It is an expression which seems incomprehensible; and in a sense it is, since it is totally at odds with what is commonly thought. We all love to preserve our life, guard it, spare it from fatigue and generosity; and no one is led to "hate it," as the Gospel passage on the other hand seems to suggest. It is enough to think of the cares we all have for our body, and the sophisticated attention we devote to it. The Gospel speaks another language; it seems hard, but it is profoundly true. The meaning of the two terms (love and hate) are to be understood according to Jesus’ life itself, his way of behaving, of loving, of engaging himself, of thinking, or being concerned. In short, Jesus lived his whole life loving people more than himself. And the cross is the Hour in which this love was most clearly manifested.
The life of each one of us is like a seed which can give extraordinary fruit, even beyond our existence, brief as it is, and our limited capacity. Jesus’ choice was not painless. His love is not an empty feeling or a sensation, but a strong choice, passionate, which confronts evil, and is stronger than evil! "Now my soul is troubled." The verb means "full of fear," sad to the point of death. Poor Jesus. In the face of evil he is disturbed, like any man. But he does not flee far away seeking a new situation; he does not take refuge in things to do; he does not unload on others; he does not stop thinking; he does not compromise with the enemy; he does not curse; he is not deluded by the power of the sword. Jesus entrusts himself. His victory over anguish is not fatalism or courage, but trust in the Father’s love which gives glory, that is, the fullness of what each of us is. "What should I say—"Father, save me from this hour?" He entrusts himself to the Father. We too can do this in times of pain, sadness, darkness, so that in our weakness, God’s glory may be manifest, that is, that the extraordinary power of love be revealed.
And the Father does not let his voice, which comes from heaven, be unheard: I have glorified him and will glorify. Jesus explains to the people that that voice has come for them and not for himself. It is the voice of the Gospel, which impels us to open our eyes, to not leave off until tomorrow, but to understand today the secret of that grain which dies in order to give fruit.