ALL SAINTS MARGARET STREET

Homily preached by Fr. Julian Browning at Low Mass on the Tuesday of Holy Week, 30 March 2010.

Readings: Isaiah 49.1-7; 1 Corinthians 1.18-31; John 12.20-36.

John 12.23 Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified."

I used to approach Holy Week each year expecting to make some new spiritual discovery, to get something valuable out of the experience, something to take home with me. More services, more books, more sermons, deeper thoughts, changing gear furiously for the steep hill of Calvary. Surely there would be some pay-off, some deeper insight into the mystery of it all. Sometimes there was a new thought or two, an occasional ray of light, but the trouble was that I entered Holy Week expecting some sort of reward for being around. I was like the sons of Zebedee, James and John, asking my Lord for the right to sit in state with him. We are so used to equating effort with reward, that we apply it to Holy Week and Easter. But it doesn't seem to work like that. Let's explore a different way.

The early followers of Christ were known as Followers of the Way before they came to be known as Christians. The Gospels take as a central theme the way that Jesus walked to Jerusalem and to his death. John's Gospel gives us Jesus saying 'I am the Way'. The way was known as the way of the cross right from the start. Followers of Christ have to take up their Cross and follow him to Calvary. Simon of Cyrene was seen as a perfect disciple; he carried Jesus' cross. The Way of course is not just a physical journey. It is more a way of life, a way of looking at things, confronting the world in the way that Jesus did. Jesus had a way of forgiving people, a way of calling on God, a way of identifying with the needs of others. We are followers of that way of life, his way of life, his way of love.

Jesus says that his hour has come, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. The 'hour' can mean a lot of things, but it seems to be about Jesus's confrontation with the world reaching a critical stage, a point of no return. On the one hand Jesus had never been so popular, so successful. We hear of some Greeks wanting to see him, representatives of the wider world. But the world, this week, is a fickle place, and the world - our predecessors - is finally not able to believe that Jesus is from God and so follow him. For us, opposition to what we are trying to believe in, should come as no surprise. So for St John in his Gospel, the 'hour' is the time of confrontation with the world, and, against all odds, it is also the 'hour' of victory over the opposition. 'Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.' We're in this too. Jesus shares his victory with us; it's not just about him. We have our confrontations with the world, Christians always will, because, as we are reminded daily in the news, Christianity provokes opposition, furious death-dealing energy. We can try to learn how to handle this. Holy Week shows us how. Jesus's attitude towards his impending death becomes a model for us, those seeking to believe in him. "...where I am, there will my servant be also." Life is not to be hoarded away; only those prepared to give up everything can receive the gift of eternal life, both now and hereafter.

It's almost too much to take in, but that doesn't really matter right now. The great thing about Holy Week is that the powerful story line carries us along, giving us little time to reflect on whether we are capable of or willing to play a part. We're here, we're following the Way, that's enough. It's a week for doing, not thinking about doing. So the point of attending some or all of these Holy Week services is not to get something for ourselves, more knowledge, greater insight. We come not to be served, but to serve. We must say with Jesus, I seek not mine own glory. A new strength will come, simply by taking part. We come to the Passion, to the suffering of Our Lord, to the eucharist which celebrates the whole train of events, because we know, that whatever the clever, fickle world might say, there is one life-giving command we can not evade. Well, we can evade it all year, but not this week, this 'hour'. And the command, of course, is this: If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.