SundayGospelReflection.org

Gospel Reflection 20060827

The One and OnlyAugust 27, 2006
Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time
John 6:60-69Many of Jesus´ disciples who were listening said, "This saying is hard; who can accept it?" Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, "Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe." Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father." As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave?" Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."
Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, I start this week with my faith renewed, confident in your continued presence in my life. Each day you draw me out from my comfort zone by inviting me to greater degrees of generosity, self-giving and submission of my will to yours. I need your grace each day to remain in your love. Strengthen my faith, hope and love in you.
Petition: Lord Jesus, break down any obstinate prejudices that obstruct my generous and sincere surrender to your will.
1. “Does This Shock You?” Jesus never painted the picture of a rosy, comfortable life for his disciples – one that fit into their scheme of things. Rather he challenged them to new heights that demanded a paradigm shift. We don’t have to search hard or look far to find groups that demand that the Church change its teaching, which they characterize as “too hard” or “old fashioned.” But Christ’s Mystical Body remains faithful in fearlessly proclaiming truth. Christ also asks me today, “Does this shock you? Do you also want to leave?” He asks me to be obedient to legitimate Church authority, humbly renouncing any stubborn subjective judgments. He challenges me to heroically give witness to my faith in my state in life, even if it will result in ridicule or rejection from my colleagues or friends. He lovingly exhorts me not to return to a life of sin. He invites me to carry my cross daily by denying my pride and self-love to follow him. 2. “No One Can Come to Me…” Using the words of St Peter we ask, “Then who can be saved?”(Luke 18:26). Jesus tells us that God the Father has prepared the hearts of men to receive his Son. God has set a time and place for everyone. When and how he calls is as mysterious as his infinite love for us. Yet, for better or for worse, through good times or bad, in sickness and in health, our acceptance of the Son of God must be constant, persevering and faithful. If God the Father enables me to believe in and proclaim Jesus Christ as the Messiah, to believe in his presence in the Eucharist, to trust in his forgiveness in confession, then what more do I need?
3. “Master, to Whom Shall We Go?” Only truth is able to quench the thirst of our intellect. Only the Source of Life and Goodness is able to satisfy the continuous desire of our will. Only the sacrificial Lamb of God, who shed his blood to save us, is able to liberate me from the chains of sin. Only love is able to conquer my heart and fill it with unending joy. To whom could we possibly turn? To what creature, idea, or worldly treasure could we long for in the face of eternal life? Peter’s question is really an affirmation in disguise: You are the “One and Only;” there is no other, no equal. It is not a mindless remark or a default logical conclusion. Rather it emerges from positively recognizing Christ as the bearer of eternal life. By Lake Tiberius, God the Father drew Peter to Christ, and Jesus confirmed him as the “Rock” because of his profession of faith. Peter’s successor continues to strengthen the faith of his brothers throughout the centuries, professing without end, “You are the Christ” (Matthew 16:16).
Dialogue with Christ: Lord Jesus, how painful it was for you to watch those who once called themselves your disciples abandon you because your sayings were “too hard.” They were content to remain in their comfort zone and closed their heart to your challenge to greater love. Grant me the grace to humbly accept the Gospel and the faith to embrace it with love, especially when it is humanly tough to accept. Let my response be like that of St Peter: “We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:69).
Resolution: Through my words and deeds, I will resonate my faith to all those I come in contact with today.
REFLECTION:
“It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail.”
Where a life lived close to the world gives us inner turmoil, discontent, aggression, and selfishness, a life lived close to God gives us inner peace, contentment, gentleness, and charity. It is the difference between worship of the God of faith, hope, and love, and worship of the gods of money, fame, and pleasure.
Even though many disciples are leaving Him, Jesus does not soften his words or change the truth to fit what the people want to believe. In the same way the moral law never changes regardless of how twisted and chaotic the interpretations given the law by people who refuse to be inconvenienced by God’s truth.
God the Father and Creator has all authority, and has given it to His Son through the Holy Trinity. Even though he does not completely understand the words of Jesus, Simon Peter believes his words with his heart. Because he trusts in Jesus, Peter has that total faith which accepts the mysteries he cannot understand. He has embraced the Eucharist as well as the divinity and messianic mission of Jesus.
It is the Holy Spirit that enlightens our minds. Without the Spirit, our human reason could not understand the truths of the faith given us as a gift from God our Father. Not everyone retains this gift. Some do not recognize this gift, or they use their free will to ignore and reject it. Some allow the cares and enticements of the world to stifle their gift. Those who nurture and appreciate this gift are those who are aware of its infinite value.
If “Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him,” then why did He continue to treat Judas with love and friendship? Why did He weep over Jerusalem where people would shout “Crucify Him!”? Human love is mostly based on conditions of behavior and compatibility. Jesus always loves us with an unconditional love no matter how hard we work to break away from his friendship. Even knowing the future, Jesus was still giving them a chance to use their free will to repent and change.

“We have come to believe and are convinced.”
They had left everything and everyone to follow Jesus. Those who stayed were open to accepting and cherishing the gift of faith. How well Jesus had chosen Twelve simple men of simple but enduring faith and loyalty to their mission of loving all souls!
Some returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied Jesus. This does not mean they went back to a sinful way of life. They were probably very loyal to God’s commandments in their Jewish traditions of respectful distance from God. They have, however, rejected Christ’s invitation to have a close, personal and loving relationship with God. They have rejected the gift of faith and will not know the Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Through the gifts of faith and the Eucharist we become united with Jesus, in his mission, in his life, and in his death; following Him, believing in Him, and receiving His Body as nourishment for our soul.

When was the last time I said “Thank You” to God for giving me the Eucharist?

On the whole, people can be divided into 2 groups-those who welcome a challenge and those who don't. From my experience, people avoid challenges because of the risks involved. God has been offering challenges to His people (us) since the Garden of Eden.
Basically, God's challenge to us is this. Are you going to follow me or not? Are you truly committed to me or not? Do we have a 'personal' relationship-a relationship based on trust-no ifs ands or buts-no strings attached? God asks only 1 thing of us-unconditional commitment to Him. We are not to "keep our options open" when it comes to following Him.
Many people from all ages have found this message of Jesus too hard to take-too unrealistic, if you will. After all, God's teachings about chastity and fidelity and meekness and forgiveness, etc. are all concepts that sound real nice, but they just aren't very practical in our society today, are they? And so, people leave God and His church. For some, they have found a different god-a god more to their liking-a god more like themselves. You know, the god of materialism or the god of power or the god divorce and remarriage without an annulment. Whatever the reason is that they left God's true church, the church that Jesus personally set up for us, they still left. So, when Jesus asks them, "Will you, too, go away"? Their answer is "yes".
All of us have met people-some very nice and some not so nice-who have left the church. We also know people who still are members of the Catholic Church who, basically, are Catholics in name only. The question to these people ought to be, "Why are you still here"? For some, the answer is, "I was born a Catholic"? For others, the answer might be, "I meet a lot of business contacts after Mass" or "It keeps peace in the family", etc. So, when people ask you, "Why are you a Catholic", how do you answer them? I hope that your answers are a whole lot better than the ones I just mentioned.
In the Gospel Reading, Saint John tells us about an important moment in the lives of the Apostles. Jesus said to those who were gathered about him, “My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.” These words surprised many of those who were gathered there. They thought that these words were hard to understand, incomprehensible. They could not believe what they had heard. Their faith in Christ, in what he said, was not sufficiently strong. And some of them decided not to follow him anymore. It could be that they did not know the Lord long enough or, maybe, they did not know him well. The reality is that when it came to believing and following Christ, they decided not to do so. On the other hand, Peter, and the other apostles, knew the Lord better and had been with him longer. Their faith was probably greater. They probably did not understand what Jesus had said but in contrast to the others who left, they stayed and decided to follow him.
The Lord reads thoughts, in those times and, also, today. That is why he knew that among his followers there were some who criticized him and did not accept what he said. He knew that many would leave him when they heard his words. Jesus saw that the apostles also had doubts about what he had just said. He wanted to hear, from their own lips, what they were thinking. The Lord asked them, “Do you also want to leave me?” Peter, spontaneously, as always, and with faith and love in Christ, said, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life....” With these words, Peter responded for himself and for the other apostles. The Lord was surely pleased. The apostles knew that if they left Christ they would stop hearing his life-giving words. They had already come to know that Jesus was someone special and that they could not leave him because, without him, they would be lost.
Many times we also have gone through moments of doubt and crisis in our lives and, maybe, in our faith. At these times, like the apostles, we have to ask, “To whom can we go?” What should be clear in our minds is that Jesus is the only one who can help us to resolve our problems. Let us remember that Our Lord abides here, in this church building, in the Blessed Sacrament, and that he is waiting for us to ask for his help.
Jesus always exhorts us, as he did to his apostles, to follow him and to believe in his teachings. When we ask for his help we should have faith in him. If we do not, then how can he help us? Let us remember the words of Saint Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go?”
Jesus was teaching his followers the doctrine of the Eucharist, namely, that he would continue his presence among them in the form of bread and wine. His followers could not make sense out of this. Does he think they are cannibals who eat human flesh and witches who drink human blood? Failure to understand Jesus' teachings plunges his followers into a crisis and many of them respond by turning back from following Jesus. Now only Jesus' most intimate followers, the Twelve, remain. Jesus turn to them and asks, "do you also wish to go away?" Peter answers in the name of the group, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know you are the Holy One of God."
What is the difference between Peter and the Twelve who stick with Jesus and the other followers who turn back? Peter and his men did not understand the doctrine any more than the others did. They probably had as much a problem with the idea of eating flesh and drinking blood as those who left. The critical difference lay in Peter's understanding that difficulty with a particular teaching of Jesus is not enough grounds to give up following him altogether. The other followers probably thought of Jesus as one way among many, therefore, if you disagree with his teaching you shop around for another one whose message you agree with. Peter, on the contrary, saw Jesus as the way, the unique messenger of God.
He saw that it was better to follow Jesus even without intellectual enlightenment than to go out in search of intellectual enlightenment and lose Jesus.
Too many Christians today follow the footsteps of the disciples who left because they did not agree with some teaching or another. We know that faith seeks understanding but there is no guarantee that faith will always find the understanding it seeks. Today's gospel, therefore, is an invitation to put faith before and above understanding as Peter and the Twelve did, not to put understanding before faith like the unfaithful disciples and followers.
In today's gospel Jesus is asking, "ARE YOU WITH ME OR NOT?"
Jesus also suggests that faith is a "gift." If that's the case, how are we "responsible" for choosing it? That's puzzling.
Most of us "inherited" our faith from mom and dad. We're cradle Christians. In that sense, we can easily see our faith as a gift, bequeathed to us. But at some point, we have to make a personal choice to really own that gift. So, we can't, even if we've been life-long Christians, avoid Jesus' question in today's gospel: "Do you also wish to go away?"
In the gospel, Jesus had just completed His discourse on the Eucharist and the fact that he is the very life of God come down from heaven and no one can live this life or eternal life with out him. They must submit and eat his flesh and drink his blood.
"This saying is hard; who can accept it?" The Greek word in this gospel is skleros which means not hard to understand but hard to accept. The people from old had understood the bread of life and the importance of blood and the symbolism being presented. What was hard to accept was submitting to Jesus and the height to which Jesus was raising the moral bar--moral standards. Surrender and change your life to reach the highest levels of morality. "Do you also want to leave?"
Jesus in effect says, I am essential to your life- the very bread of your life. This is a truth that cannot be denied in the heart of the believer. How we react to this is at the heart of today’s gospel.
First, we could defect--Turn and walk away as many did in the gospel today. They knew Jesus was headed for big trouble if he kept challenging the authorities. So fair weather followers left him.
Second, we can let life wear us down. We can try to face life, forgetting the true bread of life and try to do it without him, knowing full well he is the answer and in a lukewarm way we can use the bread of life as an insurance policy for when we get into trouble.
The third choice is to confess as Peter did and in determination base your life on your personal relationship with the bread of life--Jesus.
The truth is you and I have chosen the bread of life. The further truth is it is not enough. Our flesh chooses but it is the Spirit of God that allows us to achieve the joy of the relationship---.We too must constantly submit to the power of the Holy Spirit-- We must constantly accept in a world that tells us we make our decisions, we determine how we live , we choose and face the consequences ---we must not accept that we are in totoal control. We must open ourselves up to Christ by giving that over to the Holy Spirit and listen for his prompting--our flesh is free to make the choices or we can submit to God and be really happy--that "is hard" that "is shocking" at least to the flesh.
The prompting of the Spirit comes to us in the Word- the scriptures, the teachings and the tradition of the church, through the sacraments and in our personal prayer life--be still and know that I am God--submit. "Do you also want to leave?"
You and I do everything we can to make our flesh happy-- good relationships, nice home, car, vacation, retirement account. Yet we never quite get the happiness that we seek unless we do what God wants us to do. "Do you also want to leave?"
Need examples? Check out the Mother of Jesus, the saints. Want someone closer? Check out the most loving married couple you know, as today’s’ second reading suggests-- husbands who love their wives as Jesus loves us the church. With a love as big as his unselfish love. We are asked to love all people the same way , is that skleros?--to hard to accept? "Do you also want to leave?"
In the gospel,Jesus has just spoken some hard things to his followers. First, he told them that the torah--the sacred body of jewish law and literature, is going to be replaced by the living word of Jesus. That was hard for the Pharisees to accept, because they had been taught that the Torah was unchangeable. But then comes an even harder statement: "If you will have eternal life, eat my flesh and drink my blood." His unspoken question to the disciples is this: "i have cured your sick and raised your dead to life and taught you the truth in the synagogues. Will you now remain faithful to me, or will you leave me because I have tested you? The answer, apparently by all except the 12 was: "how can anyone take this seriously." And they walk no more with him. They have rejected the fidelity he asked for. Only the 12 remained faithful.
When we hear the word fidelity we are apt to think about the faithfulness of spouses to one another. But the concept of fidelity is much broader than that. Fidelity is present when I pay my bills, when I keep my promises. Your son shows fidelity when he takes out the garbage because he promised he would. Your daughter shows fidelity when she returns from a date on time because you asked her to. I am faithful when I keep an important promise like observing the terms of a will, or when I simply come on time for an appointment.
Unfaithfulness, breaking one's promise always brings sadness. I remember a long time ago when I broke a promise to my dad. I thought it was a simple thing. I promised to stay home and do some work on the yard, but went fishing instead. I won't ever never forget his anger & his disappointment when he found out what I did. He wasn't angry that the work wasn't done; I could do that another time. He was angry because I was not faithful to my promise. The anguish of Caesar when he was stabbed by the Roman senators was doubled because of of them was his friend, Brutus. You expect a lack of fidelity from enemies, but not from friends.
Fidelity and trust are companions. You always find them together. That is because fidelity creates trust in the people to whom I have been faithful. Fidelity is somewhat like the breeder reactor, which, when it makes use of plutonium, actually produces more fuel than it consumes.
There are very few human values rated more highly than fidelity and the trust that fidelity creates. Fidelity is the key to anyone's reputation. Label a man or woman untrustworthy, and they have lost the respect that is the basis of all human relations. We see either a claim for fidelity or a plea for trust in almost every area of our lives. Banks & other financial institutions often have the word "trust" in their corporate name. We set up trust funds to protect the rights of those unable to prosecute their own interests. The scout oath begins with a promise to be trustworthy. Every dollar bill has printed on it the words: "in god we trust." Without fidelity and trust, all commerce would come to a standstill. I once saw the title of a corporation that called itself the "Mutual Trust and Fidelity Company"--a classic case of overkill in the use of these respected words.
If love is the queen of virtues, then fidelity must be a close second. And when love and fidelity are combined in one person, we have what surely must be the greatest human force for good that is possible in this world.
Both love and fidelity are found in the person of Jesus. He gave his life for us. And he never broke a promise to his followers, even to his enemies. Because of his fidelity, his apostles trusted him completely. And when he promised such an unbelievable thing as his body to eat and his blood to drink, their only response could be: "lord, to whom shall we go; we love you and trust you, for you have the words of eternal life."

posted by Mike Young @ 5:50 AM