17 March 1991
Cumana, Venezuela

My dear Friends of Jesus Christ,

At the beginning of this century there lived in the country from which I come a young man who for his part in a rebellion was executed. He was a Christian and a Catholic, a gentle person, not very practical. Perhaps you would say he was a dreamer. Shortly before he died, he wrote a little poem, entitled, "I see His Blood upon the Rose." What this young poet wanted to say was that, when he saw a red rose, he thought of the blood of Christ. When it rained, he thought of the tears of Christ. The beauty of the sea reminded him of the heart of Christ. The final line of the little poem is, "His cross is every tree."

When Jesus Christ walked on this earth and looked at trees, He must have thought of the cross and crucifixion. Crosses were made of wood and were not ornaments, as they are today. The cross was a sign of shame, a sign of defeat. Wooden crosses would have spoken to Jesus Christ of death, a shameful death, a very painful death.

Whether red roses reminded Jesus Christ of His blood, which would be poured out on the tree of the cross, we do not know. We do, however, know that a grain of wheat spoke to Him about His death and His resurrection. Listen to His words as we have them in today's Gospel: "Truly, truly l say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit." (Jn 12:24).

For a Christian, that is, for a follower of Christ, it is important that he or she knows how to die. I am not now thinking so much of death at the end of our lives, though dying is necessary, if we are to enter fully into the joy of living with Christ in heaven. I am thinking of the importance for a Christian to be able to say no to himself. One day Our Lord said: "If anyone will come after Me, he must deny himself..." (Mt 16:24). To deny oneself means to say no to oneself.

Supposing you are about to make a journey on foot and you are not too sure of the road. You will ask directions. You might consult a map. Then you set out. You reach a junction in the road. One road goes down into a valley and another road goes up a hill. You hesitate and wonder which road you will take. You know that the place to which you are going lies on the other side of the hill. The easier road goes down the hill, which will demand much less energy, but you know that it is round about and dangerous. The other road is a steep climb. You would like to go down the hill to save yourself effort, but your better judgment will suggest that you take the more difficult, uphill road, knowing it will bring you to the place to which you are going.

It is like that with us on the journey of life. We must make choices. Our instincts, our selfishness, our pride will often suggest to us to follow them. It is an easier road. But Christ, His Church and our consciences suggest another way. To follow that road, we must say no to our natural instincts. It may be difficult and demand much effort, but that effort will bring with it a peace and contentment that money will not buy. "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains a single grain of wheat; but if it dies, it brings a good harvest." Years after Our Lord had spoken those words, St. Paul told his converts: "Those who belong to Christ have crucified their lower nature with all that it loved and lusted for." (Gal 5:24).

Lent is a time when we think about doing some crucifixion of our lower nature. That does not mean that we banish all pleasure, all joy from our lives. Lent is a time when we check on the direction our lives are taking. Do we always take the easy, downhill road in every choice we make? Lent is a time when we apply the brakes to downhill movements in our lives and try to change direction and to change gear. We do that by allowing Jesus Christ to have a greater say in our lives, in our decisions, in our thoughts, in our actions. That will mean saying no to ourselves, perhaps many times a day. By saying no to ourselves, we are like the little grain of wheat that dies. Once we have said no to ourselves and have died a little, we will experience new life and a new peace.

Invite Jesus Christ, then, into your lives and He will help you on the uphill road, for, as He assures us in the final sentences of today's Gospel, "If I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw an things to Myself." (Jn 12:32).