You Have the Words of Eternal Life: Reflections on the readings for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Were you shocked by last week’s gospel? The crowd clearly was. Strong words and a graphic image. More to come. This is also the last sojourn into John’s gospel this liturgical year until the Feast of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (34th/last Sunday in Ordinary Time). Next week we will return to the gospel according to Mark.

This week we start with a recollection of the Exodus (recall Jesus is the “new Moses,” delivering the people from their sin as Moses delivered them from Egypt). Joshua reminds the people that they were brought into the promised land by the Lord. He tells them they must choose whom they will serve, the pagan gods of their fathers, or the pagan gods of the land where they are now, or the Lord. He boldly says, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” At least for now, the Israelites are cognizant of the good the Lord has done for them, protecting them, bringing them out of Egypt, and performing miracles. “Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.” Thus, Joshua reminds them that they have free will, that the choice is theirs, and they exercise it by declaring to follow God. This ability to choose will also figure into the gospel, as Jesus lets the crowds be free to follow or not follow him.

We return again to Psalm 34, the goodness of the Lord. This is a reminder of God’s continual presence, even when evil is about us. God still provides his saving grace and, eventually, will confront the evildoers. Those who are just are troubled but, through faith, the Lord will deliver them, and so we must “bless the Lord at all times.” Remember, God works all things for good in his own time. God’s time is not our time; he knows best when and what to do to bring about the greater good.

We also finish up the readings from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians this week. The first thing that jumps out at us from the whole reading is that there is an order to things. God made order, not chaos. Chaos is from the devil.

This segment is troublesome for many, clergy and laity alike. Most will probably hear the shorter version as it is difficult to explain the real meaning behind wives being subordinate to husbands, especially in today’s feminism charged environment. Some immediately want to read this as misogynistic. But it’s not about a macho, “I’m the boss so just do as I say” attitude. Some try to read it as manipulative, but it isn’t. One must look carefully at what Paul is saying. He is comparing the husband as “head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church.” Christ sacrificed himself for the church. He suffered and died in service to the church. He is the example for the church. Christ nourishes and cherishes the Church. Thus husbands are the first servants of their wives and the family. They must set the example for them. Rather than playing golf while the family is off to mass, the fathers must take the lead and gather the family for mass, leading them to Christ. They must love and cherish their wives as they do their own bodies. Love requires sacrifice. There is no sacrifice without love and there is no love without sacrifice. Just look at the cross to see the truth of this.

Now we get to the end of Chapter 6 of John’s gospel. Last week we read of Jesus shocking the crowd with his declaration that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood to have eternal life. Now we read many of his disciples saying, "This saying is hard; who can accept it?" These are disciples, who have been following him for some time, not just the crowd that has currently gathered because they had been fed the day before. And, like last week’s reading, Jesus does not back down, does not say, “oh, I’m sorry I shocked you. I was really only speaking symbolically.” Rather, he shocks them again speaking of his future ascension into heaven, thus also foreshadowing the resurrection. Despite the witness of his miracles, his many signs of divinity (even knowing God is all-powerful), they cannot take it, and many turned away, following him no longer. They have exercised their choice to follow or not follow God. So now he turns to the apostles to give them that same choice. Jesus is risking all he has worked on for the past several years to teach and establish the foundation for his Church. But as happens several times in the gospels, Peter boldly steps forward and says, "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." While not actually a direct declaration of Jesus’s divinity, Peter speaks from faith, faith that as the Holy One of God, he (and the apostles) must trust in Jesus.

Dr. Peter Kreeft, commenting on this gospel reading in Food for the Soul, Cycle B, notes, “Faith is first of all a gift of grace that comes from God’s free will even before it is a choice that comes from our free will. God’s grace always comes first.” Our problem arises because even a gift freely given must be accepted to have effect. How many times in our lives have we rejected God’s gift of grace to do our own thing rather than “serve the Lord?” The Divine Mercy picture has the words, “Jesus I trust in you” across the bottom. When things seem to be falling apart around us it is hard to accept that God is in charge and trust in his wisdom and mercy. Too often we think we can “do it” without him. But in his last supper discourse Jesus tells us, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) One of the problems with this is that it requires humility on our part. “God sees that we need to learn humility. And God can work with the humble who trust him; he can’t work with the proud who won’t.” Dr. Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul, Cycle C.

Trust God and let him work within you.