It is not surprising that as Lent moves towards its Easter climax that the Readings become more stern, except perhaps the first Reading from Jeremiah. They are typically sober and penitential, something we Catholics recognize as typical of the Lenten call to personal renewal. But it is a call that outsiders, the new pagans, find objectionable, perhaps even a summary of the Christian moral approach that they so vigorously oppose. In the second Reading we have the Hebrews saying that the Son of God himself learnt obedience through suffering.
Modern adults aim to be autonomous, to make their own decisions.
Our Lord continues in the same vein in today s Gospel. Unless the grain of wheat dies, it cannot yield a rich harvest. We are tempted to say that it is no wonder that Our Lord during his life offered up prayers and entreaties with silent tears given these rather grim set of perspectives. You might say it is to make us humble, because only persons who battle against pride are open to the truth. And to do these things, to put it into modern terminology, we need self-discipline.