Archbishop of Sydney

His Eminence,
Cardinal George Pell
Cardinal Priest of the Title of S. Maria Domenica Mazzarello

See also:

See also: About the Archdiocese


Home > Our Archbishop > Homilies 2003 > Article	Printable Version

Fifth Sunday of Lent

St Mary's Cathedral
Jer 31:31-34, Heb 5:7-9; Jn 12:20-30

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
6 April 2003

In the first reading we hear the prophet Jeremiah predicting a time when there will be a new pact or covenant between God and his people. At this stage God's law will be written in the hearts of his people, there will be no need for teaching; because everyone will know God's law of love, God will have forgiven all their sins and no longer be mindful of their crimes.

Do we fit this bill with its set of requirements? In some ways we do and in other ways we clearly fall short of the mark. We all need continual reminding about our obligations in faith and good living, because God's love is only partly written onto our hearts. But we are part of the new covenant, which was commenced by Jesus Christ, through his death and resurrection and we have all experienced God's forgiveness of our sins.

You have often heard me say that the new pagans of today know nothing of God's forgiveness and don't understand too much about the Christian requirement of repentance. The secular world understands and values justice, treating persons equally, rewarding virtue and punishing vice. Vengeance is also understood, the temptation to get even and punish the evildoer ourselves. They also have some idea that some brave and good people can forgive their enemies, but unless they believe in a good God who is interested in us, they cannot understand God's forgiveness, God's ability to cleanse our soul of guilt, even when the bad consequences of our evil doing remain in the world i.e. when the suffering continues and the obligations of justice are still being worked out.

Lent in particular is a time for repentance and forgiveness through individual confessions.

Therefore psalm 50 has a special significance for us as we pray the good God to create a clean heart in us. The psalmist asked God to have mercy on us, to blot out our offences, to wash away our guilt, cleanse us from sin. And having done that, and anxious not to fall back quickly into old habits, the psalmist asks God to give us a steadfast spirit and a spirit of fervour.

This is part of what Jesus is talking about in John's gospel, where he explains that the grain of wheat has to die before it can yield a rich harvest.

The contrast is not between the seed rotting and being fruitful, but between not dying and therefore remaining sterile on the one hand and being bursting into life on the other.

Some writers claim that there is no exact equivalent in the Old Testament and even in the three synoptic gospels that it is only through death that life is born.

Certainly there are many other references to the fact that we must make sacrifices to follow Christ. In chapter 8 of St. Mark Our Lord clearly explained that we have to take up our cross to follow him and that we might have to lose our life for the sake of the gospel. But this probably does not go as far as the image of the dying seed.

What does all this mean? First of all, we must acknowledge that it requires some level of genuine humility to acknowledge our sins, verbalize this personally to another person and ask for God's forgiveness. There is a real dying to self here, but is not too difficult at all once we have the habit of acknowledging our weakness. But it can be very difficult to start on this track and occasionally, even when we are long on the track, to acknowledge and confess those lapses which hurt our pride and make us ashamed of ourselves.

Some people are so proud, or so steeped in the habit of sin, that they cannot even see their own weakness or badness. Even the Son of God during his lifetime submitted humbly and learnt to obey through suffering. We too have to struggle towards humility and learn from our mistakes and suffering.

Some would object to what I have been saying and claim that I am reinforcing Catholic guilt and creating a situation where people hate themselves.

The second claim is completely mistaken. Nothing boosts self esteem more than the personal conviction that God loves us, you and me, warts and all. In a deep and genuine sense, we move a bit beyond the human rise or fall of our affairs. God's love is healing and consoling.

As far as guilt is concerned, only a psychopath never feels guilty. All of us have done some things which we need to regret, but our guilt is only a stepping stone to God's forgiveness and healing. Many great sinners have converted and produced great fruit for God and Church and society.

And for the rest of us, who aren't real sinners, but pretty ordinary, through our repentance, prayer and perseverance we too be be channels of grace and produce a good harvest.