Homily: Thursday of the 5th Week of Lent - I AM

The great events of Holy Week are just a few days away; our Gospel readings see the tensions quickly mounting between Jesus and his audience as they try to come to grips with his identity and his authority.  His claim that those who listen to him will never taste death, that through him sins are forgiven come from his identity as God: “before Abraham came to be, I AM”.

The phrase, “I am” is the culmination of many “I am” statements that appear throughout scripture concerning Jesus’ divinity.  “I am the living bread”, “I am the light of the world.” “I am the gate, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the true vine.” “I am one with the Father.”

In ten days, at Easter we will be asked a series of questions in order to renew your own baptismal promises.  We will be asked if we reject sin, so as to live in the freedom of God’s children.  We will be asked if we reject the glamor of evil, and if we reject Satan the father of sin?  Then, the Church will ask us whether we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Great I AM, God Himself. 

This is the choice that changes lives. 

It is a "Yes" not only to worshipping, obeying, and witnessing for Jesus, but also to suffering, rejection, and persecution for love of Jesus.  A “yes” to that question, is a “no” to the self-worshipping religion of the world.  It is a “no” to my own will, and a “yes” to God’s will.  It is a “yes” to the “Him” increasing and the “me” decreasing.

Throughout these forty days, the purpose of our Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are to give to Jesus Christ greater reign in our life.

Let us continue to prepare for this renewal of our baptism by denying worldliness, practicing self-sacrificial charity, and entering into deeper and more intimate prayer, to deny the “I” in order to make room for the great “I AM” for the glory of God and salvation of souls.