Daily Gospel Reflection
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March 21, 2021
Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast
came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,
and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”
Philip went and told Andrew;
then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
Jesus answered them,
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
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.
Whoever serves me must follow me,
and where I am, there also will my servant be.
The Father will honor whoever serves me.
“I am troubled now. Yet what should I say?
‘Father, save me from this hour’?
But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.
Father, glorify your name.”
Then a voice came from heaven,
“I have glorified it and will glorify it again.”
The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder;
but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”
Jesus answered and said,
“This voice did not come for my sake but for yours.
Now is the time of judgment on this world;
now the ruler of this world will be driven out.
And when I am lifted up from the earth,
I will draw everyone to myself.”
He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.
“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.” This line from today’s gospel not only foreshadows Jesus’ death on the cross as we approach the final days of Lent, it also teaches us what it means to live as his disciples.
Hopefully, we will not be called upon to give up our lives as a witness to our faith, as Jesus did. But, even as we live our lives, there are ways in which we can and must die to ourselves so that our faith can grow and bear fruit. Discipleship always calls us to sacrifice. It is up to us to trust that our sacrifices will yield a harvest far greater than what we had to give up in the first place.
An obvious example of this (for me) is my family. My wife and I have three children. The wellbeing of our family and our children’s futures are a top priority for us in all of our decision making. Family commitments entail great sacrifices, but these sacrifices are usually easy to make because the benefits to our spouse or children are so close to our hearts. Anything that we give up to invest in our children has the potential to bear fruit in their lives in ways that we cannot even imagine.
Recently, I was called on to serve on the finance committee of a regional non-profit organization. I didn’t really want to give up the time it would take to fulfill those obligations. I didn’t know anyone else on the board and, frankly, I just didn’t think it would be enjoyable in any way. And yet I felt that God was calling me to do this work, so I agreed. It seemed like a worthwhile sacrifice and time will tell if my work will bear any fruit.
Jesus says: “Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.” In our own lives, when we think about the grain of wheat that must die so that it can bear great fruit, I think God is calling us to reflect on how we can serve. Serve our families, serve our communities, serve others, serve the world, serve the Kingdom of God. Service and sacrifice have one thing in common: they require us to die to ourselves in at least some small measure.
Prayer
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the healing power of your Son was made manifest through signs and wonders during his earthly ministry. Open our eyes to the ways of grace at work among us in these Lenten days. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Blessed Maria Candida of the Eucharist is a patient and tender model of holiness whose love for God and passion for the Eucharist as the foundation of the Christian life is an inspiration. Maria Candida, born Maria Barba, became a Carmelite in Italy and devoted herself to making the Eucharist the foundation of her spiritual life.
Maria was born in January 1884 to a large Italian family in Southern Italy. She was the tenth of twelve children, although only seven survived childhood. Raised in a devout household, Maria was formed in a rich Catholic imagination. When she would greet her mother coming home from church, Maria would cry: "I want to receive God, too." Maria received her First Communion when she was ten years old, and, from that moment onward, she experienced an even greater love and devotion for the Eucharist. The young Maria hungered to receive the Eucharist frequently, and developed what she called a "vocation for the Eucharist."
Alongside this love for Christ in the Eucharist, she began to feel a deep desire for religious life, particularly after watching her cousin take religious vows. Maria's parents absolutely forbade her from following in her cousin's footsteps. Just one year before this, however, 1898, Thérèse of Lisieux's autobiography The Story of a Soul was published. Thérèse's writings became wildly popular throughout Europe and were soon translated into six different languages and disseminated throughout the continent. Maria read Thérèse's memoir and Thérèse's story inspired Maria to persist in her desire for Carmel, despite her parents' resistance.
Her father passed away in June 1904. Almost exactly ten years later, Maria's mother died. Maria mourned her parents, cared for her grieving family, and made plans to enter Carmel. She entered in September 1919, and took the name Maria Candida of the Eucharist when she received her habit in April 1920. None of her siblings attended the ceremony.
Maria Candida lived up to her new name and spent hours in prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Maria prolonged her allotted time of adoration, especially every Thursday, when from eleven pm to midnight she would be before the tabernacle. Not only was she enthusiastic about Eucharistic devotion, but the Eucharist was the foundation both of her spiritual life and her theological understanding of the Catholic faith. Maria's entire spiritual understanding of the world was articulated in Eucharistic terms and viewed through a Eucharistic lens. Her descriptions of the three theological virtues, the evangelical counsels she vowed to as a religious, and the role of the Virgin Mary were all grounded in the Eucharist.
For example, Maria wrote: "When I receive Jesus in Communion, Mary is always present. I want to receive Jesus from her hands, she must make me one with Him. I cannot separate Mary from Jesus. Hail, O Body born of Mary. Hail Mary, dawn of the Eucharist!"
Sr. Ann Astell, of Notre Dame's theology department, writes in her book Eating Beauty that the Eucharist is one of the primary ways for Catholics to understand beauty: "Fittingly chosen by Christ as a sign of human art, the bread becomes through consecration the appearance of Beauty itself, the sacramental form of Christ, the Word through whom God the Father created all things" (13). For Maria Candida, the Eucharist truly was the "source and summit" of the Christian life. It was her way to understand beauty, truth, and love. On the feast of Corpus Christi, 1933, Maria began writing down her meditations on the Eucharist and her own spiritual experiences in prayer. This was published as Eucharist: True Jewel of Eucharistic Spirituality in 1936.
After spending her years in Carmel in writing and in prayer, Maria Candida passed away of cancer in June 1949. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2004.
Blessed Maria Candida of the Eucharist, devoted disciple of Christ's Sacrament of Love—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of Bl. Maria Candida of the Eucharist is in the public domain. Last accessed February 6, 2025 on Get Archive.