Sr. Olivia Montejano, MSBT reflects on the Gospel for the Fifth Sunday in Lent, March 17, 2024. You can find the Gospel Reading by clicking this link.

Growing up in the fertile San Joaquin Valley in Central California, I was surrounded by an abundance of wheat, almond, fruit, and many other crops. During the summer, I would join my parents and brothers in picking grapes in the dusty fields in the small town of Laton. We witnessed firsthand the constant cycle of preparing the soil, planting, tending, harvesting, pruning, dying, waiting, and trusting that new life would emerge.

In today’s gospel Jesus says, “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.” The grain of wheat may seem insignificant and small, but it holds boundless, miraculous possibilities. Within that one grain of wheat, there is bread for the future. Jesus’ journey from Galilee to Calvary was a complete sacrifice, dying to become our Bread of Life. Jesus shows us who he is, what he is going to do, and what it will mean. And he invites us to join him.

How might this joining him take shape? For me, it means striving to move with love from self-centeredness to God-centeredness or other-centeredness. It is being mindful to ask throughout the day, even when I might have my own plans, or more accurately when I definitely do have my own plans, “Ok, Lord, how are you calling me in this moment to focus not on my own needs, but on the needs of others?” Sometimes the response is most surprising!