Sunday Mass for the 5th Sunday of Lent 2021 - Year B

00:06 - Our celebrant today is Jesuit Fr. Russell Pollitt SJ.

00:34 - In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

00:37 - [Amen. ] The grace and the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

00:43 - [And with your spirit. ] And welcome as we come together to celebrate this fifth Sunday of Lent.

00:51 - We get closer and closer now to the celebration of the Lord’s passion, death and resurrection.

00:57 - We hear in the Psalm today that we pray, “Create a pure heart for me, O God. ” As we look at our lives over the last week, for the times perhaps we notice that our hearts have been wayward, let’s now ask the Lord for mercy and forgiveness.

01:20 - You were sent to heal the contrite of heart.

01:22 - Lord, have mercy. [Lord, have mercy. ] You came to call sinners.

01:26 - Christ, have mercy. [Christ, have mercy. ] You are seated at the right hand of the Father, where you intercede for us.

01:32 - Lord, have mercy. [Lord, have mercy. ] May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and bring us to life everlasting.

01:40 - [Amen. ] And let us pray: By your help, we beseech you, Lord our God, may we walk eagerly in that same charity with which, out of love for the world, your Son handed himself over to death.

02:01 - We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.

02:09 - [Amen. ] A reading from the Book of Jeremiah.

02:26 - “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, and I showed myself their master, says the Lord.

02:48 - But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

03:05 - And no longer shall each man teach his neighbour and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; and I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. ” The word of the Lord.

03:25 - [Thanks be to God. ] Create a pure heart for me, O God.

03:31 - [Create a pure heart for me, O God. ] Have mercy on me, O God, according to your merciful love; according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.

03:42 - Wash me completely from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

03:48 - [Create a pure heart for me, O God. ] Create a pure heart for me, O God; renew a steadfast spirit within me.

03:58 - Do not cast me away from your presence; do not take your Holy Spirit from me.

04:04 - [Create a pure heart for me, O God. ] Restore in me the joy of your salvation; sustain in me a willing spirit.

04:14 - I will teach transgressors your ways, that sinners may return to you.

04:19 - [Create a pure heart for me, O God. ] A reading from the letter to the Hebrews.

04:39 - In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear.

04:58 - Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and being made perfect he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.

05:14 - The word of the Lord. [Thanks be to God. ] Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory! If anyone serves me, he must follow me, says the Lord; and where I am, there shall my servant be also.

05:49 - Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory! The Lord be with you.

06:04 - [And with your spirit] A reading from the holy Gospel according to John.

06:08 - [Glory to you, O Lord. ] At that time, among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.

06:20 - So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus. ” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew went with Philip and they told Jesus.

06:35 - And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified.

06:40 - Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

06:54 - He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

07:01 - If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honour him.

07:14 - “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour.

07:28 - Father, glorify your name. ” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again. ” The crowd standing by heard it and said that it had thundered.

07:44 - Others said, “An angel has spoken to him. ” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine.

07:54 - Now is the judgement of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out; and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all to myself. ” He said this to show by what death he was to die.

08:13 - The Gospel of the Lord. [Praise to you, Lord, Jesus Christ. ] Friends, we like heroes who, at all times, are strong, and brave and unflinching.

08:38 - We are led to believe that the hero of a story must never ever show any weakness; never display doubt or hesitation or uncertainty or fear.

08:55 - How many of the films that we watch, or the childhood cartoons, present us with heroes who are invincible, who never show any sign of loss or weakness? In John’s Gospel today we are presented with a “hero” in a way which is dramatically different to what we normally expect it’s different from any of our human convention.

09:29 - We see a very different Jesus in today’s Gospel.

09:35 - We see a Jesus who is at his most human, he is just like us.

09:42 - He says, “Now my soul is troubled and what shall I say?” These are certainly not the words that we expect to hear from Jesus, they are not words we expect to hear from a hero.

10:05 - In his book “Barking to the Choir” Fr Greg Boyle says that he believes “that God protects us from nothing but sustains us in everything. ” God protects us from nothing but sustains us in everything.

10:21 - And it seems to me that’s the lesson that we are invited to learn from Jesus today as he faces very soon his trial and his execution.

10:35 - But today I want to invite you to reflect with me on what we can learn about facing the struggles and the disappointments of our own lives.

10:45 - We are not taught to escape them, but rather how to live as best we can, as well as we can through them.

11:00 - The first thing I want to invite you to reflect with me upon is it’s okay to show weakness, and display doubt, and hesitation, and uncertainty and fear.

11:14 - You know I don’t know if you have heard people say “men don’t cry” – we often say that to little boys when they hurt themselves.

11:23 - Because we live in a culture where we think we always need to be strong, we always need to be successful, our image depends on our ability to always be strong and show no vulnerability.

11:40 - Because vulnerability is a weakness, it is a sign of defeat.

11:48 - Today Jesus invites us to live our emotional lives well – we do not have to pretend that we are made out of granite when things go wrong and when we are deeply affected by what happens to us.

12:07 - We do not need to hide our fear and our weakness.

12:12 - Modern psychology tells us that many of the struggles we grapple with – perhaps even the high rate of depression that we notice in our society and our world – is because we are not living healthy emotional lives, things are suppressed because we are so busy trying to be “heroes” and make others think that we are strong, we have it all together.

12:42 - Today we see that the greatest hero, himself, Jesus doesn’t necessarily have it all together.

12:52 - Like us, he struggles and he names his struggle publicly.

12:59 - He doesn’t hide it. He is authentic.

13:05 - And so, Jesus teaches us that being a real hero is not about never being afraid or never sharing emotion, it is about our ability to name our weakness and our vulnerabilities.

13:21 - Because naming gives us power over them. And that is an important first step.

13:31 - “Now is my soul troubled”, Jesus says. The second thing I want to invite you to reflect upon with me is the paradox of life coming from death – sometimes we are so attached to things that we do not see that when we let go often life can come from there.

13:59 - Jesus uses that metaphor of a grain of wheat for his own life.

14:05 - If he didn’t die, new life would not come, and so there would not be salvation for the world.

14:15 - Jesus gives his life so that new life can emerge.

14:21 - And we too are invited to “let go of” or to “give up” those parts of our lives, perhaps our emotional lives that stop new life from emerging in us and from us.

14:37 - Some of the things perhaps that we are most attached too can actually be the things that prevent us from experiencing new life.

14:47 - We are prevented from life coming from death when we refuse to let bitterness or hatred or racism or isolation or failure or hurts die in our lives.

15:06 - When we hold onto them no resurrection can dawn and we suffer from a kind of “soul-sickness”.

15:15 - To die to ourselves, is to transcend ourselves not to deny or forget but rather to see the bigger picture and not allow our attachments to narrow our vision.

15:31 - To dare to go down the road of forgiveness, or love, or inclusion, or healing, or restoration, is to allow new life to slowly emerge.

15:46 - But notice something else in that text, “dying to self” means letting go of me and embracing others.

15:57 - Jesus’ life wasn’t taken from him, it was given, freely, in the service of others, for us and for our salvation.

16:10 - When we dare to let go of those deep-felt feelings we sometimes cling to, when we dare to let go of material goods, or classicism, or racism, or bitterness, or hatred, or bigotry, we dare to transcend ourselves and like Jesus, put others before ourselves.

16:38 - And the third thing I want to invite you to reflect with me on today is how our lowest points can become our turning points.

16:49 - Notice how in that text Jesus speaks about “the hour” – the hour of his death, the hour of his shame the hour of his humiliation.

16:59 - Yet we know that God turned the hour of his death into an hour of triumph and new life, an hour of grace for all of us.

17:15 - The lowest point, the hour of complete failure, proves to be a turning point in the life of Jesus.

17:26 - And therein we see another great paradox, and John brings this out so often in his Gospel.

17:35 - The hour of darkness is the hour of triumph and light.

17:41 - Life and death, failure and success, these paradoxes are always part of our lives.

17:52 - And so too the lowest moments in our own lives can prove to be turning points.

18:00 - Moments of great worldly success fade and often leave people empty inside – they have all that they want but inside there is a heart-felt emptiness.

18:16 - And yet on the other hand moments of great weakness, great darkness, great failure can prove to be moments of great change and opportunity – think of the alcoholic or the drug addict who hits rock bottom and then decides that things need to change.

18:38 - The things that hurt us most and the things that help us most cannot be separated from each other.

18:49 - Most times perhaps we only see this in retrospect.

18:53 - And so today it seems to me Jesus invites us to see how the lowest points in our lives can become turning points.

19:03 - We are invited to remember that darkness - paradoxically - always means light, because we move into light, and hence we know darkness because we know light.

19:17 - Let’s pray together, on this 5th Sunday of Lent that we, like Jesus, will not be afraid of our own struggles and our own vulnerabilities.

19:25 - We won’t be afraid to take them on, to, in a sense, make sure that we own them.

19:35 - Let’s pray that we will have the grace to let go of what perhaps hinders us from experiencing new life.

19:46 - And let’s ask the Lord for the grace to see how the lowest points in our lives can be turning points, moments of great opportunity, moments of resurrection, because that is indeed where we are all moving towards in these days as Lent closes.

20:05 - That wonderful moment of resurrection. Let’s now make a profession of faith by praying together the Apostle’s Creed: I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

21:04 - I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.

21:18 - [Amen. ] We have heard God’s word, and now we respond to that word by bringing our prayers before the Lord, asking him to grace us with what is that we, and our church, and the world need at this time.

21:44 - For the Church: that God’s covenant, which is written upon our hearts, may help us know the Lord more deeply and guide us in serving God each day.

21:59 - Lord, hear us. [Lord, graciously hear us. ] For the grace of surrender: that we may let go of control, entrust our lives to God, and allow God to raise new life within us.

22:17 - Lord, hear us. [Lord, graciously hear us. ] For all who are facing little deaths through loss, betrayal, or impairment: that they will surrender these wounds to God and allow God to bring forth new life in them.

22:40 - Lord, hear us. [Lord, graciously hear us. ] For all who desire to see Jesus: that they may come to know and develop a relationship with Christ who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

22:58 - Lord, hear us. [Lord, graciously hear us. ] For a spirit of repentance: that God will free us from our false attachments and sinful actions, move our hearts to celebrate the sacrament of penance, and open us to the power of forgiveness.

23:24 - Lord, hear us. [Lord, graciously hear us. ] For all who lay down their lives for others: that God will guide and strengthen parents, caregivers of the sick, and those who assist the marginalized to be instruments of God’s love and compassion, Lord, hear us.

23:51 - [Lord, graciously hear us. ] For all searching for employment: that God will help them to recognize all the gifts that they possess, open new opportunities to use them, and give them confidence in presenting themselves to employers.

24:12 - Lord, hear us. [Lord, graciously hear us. ] Almighty God, we ask now that you hear the prayers that we have spoken aloud, but the prayer too that rest within the hearts of each one of us.

24:32 - Answer them as you know best through Christ Jesus, your Son, and our risen Lord.

24:38 - [Amen. ] Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have this bread to offer: fruit of the earth, and work of our human hands, it will become for us the bread of life.

25:15 - [Blessed be God for ever. ] Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have this wine to offer: fruit of the vine, and work of our human hands, it will become for us our spiritual drink.

25:35 - [Blessed be God for ever. ] Let’s pray, brothers and sisters, that our sacrifice and the sacrifice and efforts of all our lives may be acceptable to God, the almighty Creator.

25:59 - [May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of God’s name, for our good and the good of all God’s holy Church. ] Hear us, almighty God, and having instilled in your servants the teachings of the Christian faith, graciously purify them by the working of this sacrifice.

26:20 - We ask this through Christ, our Lord. [Amen] The Lord be with you.

26:29 - [And with your spirit. ] Lift up your hearts.

26:31 - [We lift them up to the Lord. ] Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

26:35 - [It is right and just. ] It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God.

26:45 - For through bodily fasting you restrain our faults, raise up our minds, and bestow both virtue and its rewards, through Christ, our Lord.

26:54 - Through him the Angels praise your majesty, dominions adore and powers tremble before you.

26:59 - Heaven and the virtues of heaven and the blessed Seraphim worship together with exultation.

27:05 - May our voices, we pray, join with theirs in humble praise, as together we acclaim: Holy, Holy, Holy [Lord God of hosts.

27:14 - Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest.

27:20 - Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

27:25 - Hosanna in the highest. ] You are indeed Holy, O Lord, and all you have created rightly gives you praise, for through your Son our Lord Jesus Christ, by the power and working of the Holy Spirit, you give life to all things and make them holy, and you never cease to gather a people to yourself, so that from the rising of the sun to its setting a pure sacrifice may be offered to your name.

27:45 - Therefore, O Lord, we humbly implore you: by the same Spirit graciously make holy these gifts we have brought to you for consecration, that they may become the Body and Blood of your Son our Lord Jesus Christ, at whose command we celebrate these mysteries.

28:01 - For on the night he was betrayed he himself took bread, and, giving you thanks, he said the blessing, broke the bread and gave it to his disciples, saying: TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT OF IT, FOR THIS IS MY BODY, WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU.

28:28 - In a similar way, when supper was ended, he took the cup, and once more giving thanks, he gave it to his disciples, saying: TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT, FOR THIS IS THE CUP OF MY BLOOD, THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT, WHICH WILL BE POURED OUT FOR YOU AND FOR ALL FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.

28:46 - DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME. The mystery of faith.

29:01 - We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again.

29:08 - Therefore, O Lord, as we celebrate the memorial of the saving Passion of your Son, his wondrous Resurrection and Ascension into heaven, and as we look forward to his second coming, we offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice.

29:20 - Look, we pray, upon the offering of your Church and, recognizing the sacrificial Victim by whose death you willed to reconcile us to yourself, grant that we, who are nourished by the Body and Blood of your Son and filled with his Holy Spirit, may become one body, one spirit in Christ.

29:38 - May he make of us an eternal offering to you, so that we may obtain an inheritance with your elect, especially with the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, with Saint Joseph, her spouse, with your blessed Apostles and glorious Martyrs and with all the Saints, on whose constant intercession in your presence we rely for unfailing help.

29:58 - May this Sacrifice of our reconciliation, we pray, O Lord, advance the peace and salvation of all the world.

30:04 - Be pleased to confirm in faith and charity your pilgrim Church on earth, with your servant Francis our Pope and Buti our Bishop, the Order of Bishops, all the clergy, and the entire people you have gained for your own.

30:17 - Listen graciously to the prayers of this family, you have called before you: in your compassion, O merciful Father, gather to yourself all your children wherever they may be.

30:30 - To our departed brothers and sisters and to all who were pleasing to you at their passing from this life, give kind admittance to your kingdom.

30:39 - There we hope to enjoy for ever the fullness of your glory through Christ our Lord, through whom you bestow on the world all that is good.

30:50 - Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honour is yours, for ever and ever.

31:00 - [Amen. ] The Lord Jesus taught us to call God, Our Father, and so we pray: Our Father, [who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

31:23 - Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. ] Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, and graciously grant peace in our days.

31:40 - That by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

31:49 - [For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and for ever. ] Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your Apostles: Peace I leave you, my peace I give you, look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church, and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will, who live and reign for ever and ever.

32:10 - [Amen. ] The peace of the Lord be with you always.

32:14 - [And with your spirit. ] Let’s for a moment pray for peace in our own hearts, in our families, in the church, and in our country and world.

32:38 - And we pray together: Lamb of God, [you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

32:45 - Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

32:51 - Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace. ] Behold, Jesus, the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sin of the world, how blessed are we who are called to share in this supper of the Lamb.

33:15 - [Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed. ] May the Body and Blood of Christ bring us to life everlasting.

33:27 - [Amen. ] Although you cannot receive physical communion with us now, we invite you into a moment of spiritual communion.

33:43 - The great medieval theologian, St. Thomas Aquinas, defined spiritual communion as: “an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Holy Sacrament”, and “a loving embrace as though we had already received him. ” His words are echoed by the great mystic, and fellow doctor of the church, St. Teresa of Avila, who wrote: “When you do not receive Communion, and do not attend Mass, you can make a spiritual communion which is a most beneficial practice.

34:15 - By it, the love of God will be greatly impressed on you. ” At this moment we invite you to focus on Christ, and your longing for union with him.

34:29 - Express your desire to feel his grace coursing through you, giving you strength and courage, particularly in these difficult times.

34:39 - In your desiring union you are united with us, and to Christ.

34:45 - In this moment we experience the reality that is already here.

36:21 - And let us pray. We pray almighty God, that we may always be counted among the members of Christ, in whose Body and Blood we have communion.

36:32 - Who lives and reigns for ever and ever. [Amen. ] So thank you for joining us from wherever you are today.

36:41 - It was good to have you with us. And we will continue to do these broadcasts, we will give you the times of the various tribune services, beginning of course next Sunday with Palm or Passion Sunday.

36:55 - The Lord be with you. [And with your spirit] Bow your heads and pray for God’s blessing.

37:02 - Bless, O Lord, your people, who long for the gift of your mercy, and grant that what, at your prompting, they desire, they may receive by your generous gift.

37:13 - Through Christ, our Lord. [Amen. ] And may almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

37:20 - [Amen. ] Go now in the peace to love and serve God, by loving and serving one another.

37:26 - [Thanks be to God. ].