Reflection on readings for March 21st

Our second reading for this weekend includes the words that Jesus “learned obedience from what He suffered.” We hear in the Gospel that Jesus prayed to the Father, wondering if He should ask to be spared from the pain, suffering and death that He was going to endure if He continued to reveal the love of God for all people. The Father reminds Jesus that He has been and will be glorified. If Jesus continues to accept that He is the Father’s beloved Son, and chooses to continue the mission of the Father, all will be well. Therefore, the words from our second reading mean that the more Jesus listened to the Father reminding Him of His identity, the more Jesus became for us the source of eternal life. The more we let the Father remind us of our identity as God’s beloved, the more we will be able to live out the mission God has for us, which is the same mission the Father gave Jesus.