John 12:20-26 (Tuesday of Holy Week)

Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be
glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the
earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears
much fruit…” (12:23-24)

In Agua Prieta, by the side of a busy street, there is a large cross
fixed to the bars that form the barrier between the United States and
Mexico. Attached to this cross are hundreds and hundreds of white
and purple ribbons fluttering in the wind, each having the name of
someone who has died in the desert written on it. At the center of
the cross is a wreath of flowers.

It is an Easter cross. And like Easter itself, it is layered with
meaning. At the commendation of the departed in the funeral liturgy,
the Book of Common Prayer gives us these words: “Even at the
grave we make our song, Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.”

Jesus said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it
remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Death
and resurrection are two aspects of a single reality.

How am I helping to bring life out of death?

—Jeffrey Lee